diff --git a/src/buildsuites/suite_tcl90/suite.tcl b/src/buildsuites/suite_tcl90/suite.tcl
index 7a86e45c..2e6760c0 100644
--- a/src/buildsuites/suite_tcl90/suite.tcl
+++ b/src/buildsuites/suite_tcl90/suite.tcl
@@ -230,6 +230,17 @@ proc fossil_source {name url branch dir} {
         run fossil update $branch
         cd $savedpwd
     }
+    #provenance: materialize manifest.uuid regardless of the upstream repo's
+    #versioned 'manifest' setting (tcl/tk/thread enable it; tclvfs/tcllib/tklib
+    #do not - the G-103-era artifact metadata recorded 'unrecorded' for those).
+    #The LOCAL checkout-scoped setting 'u' generates manifest.uuid immediately
+    #and keeps it current across updates; idempotent on every build. (The zon
+    #bootstrap flow's tarballs share the limitation for those repos - checkin
+    #uuids there would come from the pin URLs; recorded, not yet wired.)
+    set savedpwd [pwd]
+    cd $dir
+    run fossil settings manifest u
+    cd $savedpwd
 }
 
 proc git_source {name url ref dir} {