diff --git a/src/lib/client.c b/src/lib/client.c
index 01aec83d..4caeea0d 100644
--- a/src/lib/client.c
+++ b/src/lib/client.c
@@ -323,6 +323,15 @@ int xcecli_jobdispatch(xcecli_ctx_t c, xce_job_dispatch_t* info)
                                 xce_jobdispatch(&(ctx->ctx), info));
 }
 
+/* bug-1425: see the doc comment on the declaration in client_internal.h for
+ * the full mechanism this closes. */
+void jobsubmit_finalize_jobid(uint64_t* jobid, uint64_t submitted_jobid,
+                              int overall_rc)
+{
+    if (jobid != NULL && overall_rc >= 0)
+        *jobid = submitted_jobid;
+}
+
 int xcecli_jobsubmit(xcecli_ctx_t c, xce_job_submit_t* submit, uint64_t* jobid)
 {
     api_ctx_t* ctx = (api_ctx_t*)c;
@@ -331,8 +340,10 @@ int xcecli_jobsubmit(xcecli_ctx_t c, xce_job_submit_t* submit, uint64_t* jobid)
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
-    return XCECLI_FAILOVER_CALL(ctx, /*is_write=*/true,
-                                xce_jobsubmit(&(ctx->ctx), submit, jobid));
+    int rc = XCECLI_FAILOVER_CALL(ctx, /*is_write=*/true,
+                                  xce_jobsubmit(&(ctx->ctx), submit, jobid));
+    jobsubmit_finalize_jobid(jobid, submit->jobid, rc);
+    return rc;
 }
 
 int xcecli_joblist(xcecli_ctx_t c, xce_job_t*** jobs)
diff --git a/src/lib/client_internal.h b/src/lib/client_internal.h
index 6484a58d..3341ef55 100644
--- a/src/lib/client_internal.h
+++ b/src/lib/client_internal.h
@@ -301,6 +301,44 @@ bool xcecli_ff_needs_reconnect(const api_ctx_t* ac);
         _ff_rc;                                                                \
     })
 
+/*
+ * jobsubmit_finalize_jobid (bug-1425) — guarantee xcecli_jobsubmit()'s *jobid
+ * output param is populated on every overall success, including one the
+ * XCecliRetryLoop's idempotent-replay rule (5.2, xce_failover_classify)
+ * produced by normalizing an EEXIST/E_XCE_DUP_JOB reply from a RETRIED
+ * resend into rc == 0.
+ *
+ * The gap: that normalization happens in the generic, type-erased
+ * xcecli_retry_decide() layer, one level above xce_jobsubmit() (xceapi.c) —
+ * which only ever copies the reply's jobid into *jobid on ITS OWN raw
+ * non-negative status. The dup-rejection reply itself carries NO payload
+ * (handle_jobsubmit's EEXIST/inflight-collision branches reply with
+ * RequestReply_data_nodata, job.c), so *jobid is never written on the
+ * winning (dup) attempt, and was never written on the earlier failing
+ * attempt either (whose raw status was already negative). Caller-visible
+ * result: xcecli_jobsubmit() returns 0 (success) with *jobid left at
+ * whatever the caller initialized it to — reproduced live via a concurrent
+ * 9-client submit burst immediately after a fresh single-node election
+ * (~10.0-10.1s: one full 10s cbuf_timedget deadline on the failing first
+ * attempt, then a fast dup-rejection reply on the resend).
+ *
+ * The job a successful submission belongs to is unambiguously the one THIS
+ * client generated and put on the wire in the first place (submit->jobid —
+ * job submission ids are client-generated; the controller commits/echoes
+ * this exact value verbatim on every genuine success reply, bug-786,
+ * job.c:1439's `jobid = submit->jobid`). So on ANY overall success this is
+ * always the correct id to report, regardless of which attempt in the retry
+ * sequence actually produced the winning rc. No socket/reply-decode
+ * dependency — pure, and exposed non-static so it is unit-testable without
+ * a live connection (test_libxce_retry.c).
+ *
+ * Called by xcecli_jobsubmit() (client.c) immediately after
+ * XCECLI_FAILOVER_CALL returns. A no-op (jobid left untouched) when
+ * overall_rc < 0 (the call genuinely failed) or jobid is NULL.
+ */
+void jobsubmit_finalize_jobid(uint64_t* jobid, uint64_t submitted_jobid,
+                              int overall_rc);
+
 /*
  * xcecli_invoke_rejoin (task 4.1) — invoke the consumer rejoin hook once after a
  * successful reconnect/recovery and BEFORE the interrupted op resumes. Socket-
diff --git a/src/lib/testsuite/test_libxce_retry.c b/src/lib/testsuite/test_libxce_retry.c
index e637817b..41933716 100644
--- a/src/lib/testsuite/test_libxce_retry.c
+++ b/src/lib/testsuite/test_libxce_retry.c
@@ -1027,6 +1027,47 @@ static void test_decide_dup_on_resent_write_is_success(void)
     printf("test_decide_dup_on_resent_write_is_success: PASS\n");
 }
 
+/* bug-1425: the test above proves xcecli_retry_decide() can return rc == 0
+ * (success) on a DUP-replay WITHOUT any side channel for the underlying
+ * op's output data (e.g. a job's id) — the classify/decide layer is
+ * generic and knows nothing about jobid. jobsubmit_finalize_jobid() is the
+ * jobsubmit-specific repair xcecli_jobsubmit() applies right after
+ * XCECLI_FAILOVER_CALL returns, so that gap never reaches the caller. */
+static void test_jobsubmit_finalize_populates_jobid_on_success(void)
+{
+    /* Simulates the reported bug exactly: no attempt in the retry sequence
+     * ever wrote *jobid (it is still the caller's initial 0), yet the
+     * overall call succeeded (rc == 0, e.g. via the DUP-replay rule). */
+    uint64_t jobid = 0;
+    jobsubmit_finalize_jobid(&jobid, /*submitted_jobid=*/424242ULL,
+                             /*overall_rc=*/0);
+    TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL_UINT64(424242ULL, jobid);
+
+    printf("test_jobsubmit_finalize_populates_jobid_on_success: PASS\n");
+}
+
+/* A genuine failure must never be masked by inventing a jobid — the caller's
+ * *jobid is left exactly as xce_jobsubmit() last set it (untouched on a
+ * negative overall rc, by xce_jobsubmit's own `if (status >= 0)` guard). */
+static void test_jobsubmit_finalize_leaves_jobid_untouched_on_failure(void)
+{
+    uint64_t jobid = 0;
+    jobsubmit_finalize_jobid(&jobid, 424242ULL, -ETIMEDOUT);
+    TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL_UINT64(0ULL, jobid);
+
+    printf("test_jobsubmit_finalize_leaves_jobid_untouched_on_failure: PASS\n");
+}
+
+/* xcecli_jobsubmit() is called with a NULL *jobid by no real caller today,
+ * but the finalize step must not assume otherwise -- it runs unconditionally
+ * after every call. */
+static void test_jobsubmit_finalize_null_jobid_safe(void)
+{
+    jobsubmit_finalize_jobid(NULL, 424242ULL, 0); /* must not crash */
+
+    printf("test_jobsubmit_finalize_null_jobid_safe: PASS\n");
+}
+
 /* Req 3.4 (D6): a transport-only cause that outlasts the budget keeps the LAST
  * transport rc (not -E_XCE_NOT_READY — that mapping is reserved for no-primary
  * exhaustion). Proves the two exhaustion causes are distinguished. */
@@ -1737,6 +1778,9 @@ void test_libxce_retry(void)
     RUN_TEST(test_decide_backoff_grows_and_is_bounded);
     RUN_TEST(test_decide_terminal_surfaces_unchanged);
     RUN_TEST(test_decide_dup_on_resent_write_is_success);
+    RUN_TEST(test_jobsubmit_finalize_populates_jobid_on_success);
+    RUN_TEST(test_jobsubmit_finalize_leaves_jobid_untouched_on_failure);
+    RUN_TEST(test_jobsubmit_finalize_null_jobid_safe);
     RUN_TEST(test_decide_transport_exhaustion_keeps_last_rc);
     RUN_TEST(test_decide_known_dead_ctx_retries_not_terminal);
     RUN_TEST(test_decide_jitter_staggers_many_clients);