diff --git a/cmd/tsconnect/driveprobe/driveprobe.go b/cmd/tsconnect/driveprobe/driveprobe.go
index ac80cb13e..70cc56bc7 100644
--- a/cmd/tsconnect/driveprobe/driveprobe.go
+++ b/cmd/tsconnect/driveprobe/driveprobe.go
@@ -83,12 +83,24 @@ func HasShares(ctx context.Context, c *http.Client, peerAPIURL string) (bool, er
 	return hasChild(io.LimitReader(resp.Body, maxResponseBytes), drivePath)
 }
 
-// hasChild reports whether a multistatus body contains a response for anything
-// below root. It decodes as a stream and stops at the first child, so a peer
-// with many shares costs no more than a peer with one.
+// hasChild reports whether a multistatus body lists anything besides the
+// collection we asked about. It decodes as a stream and stops at the first
+// child, so a peer with many shares costs no more than a peer with one.
+//
+// RFC 4918 §9.1 says a Depth-1 PROPFIND answers with the collection itself
+// followed by its members, so anything after the first href is a share. The
+// first href counts only if it is itself below root, which catches a peer that
+// answers about a subtree rather than the collection we asked for.
+//
+// A peer that omits the collection entirely is not understood: ipnlocal strips
+// the taildrive prefix before handing the request to the share server, so a
+// real peer's members are named "/docs" rather than "/v0/drive/docs" and a lone
+// member is indistinguishable from the collection. Such a peer is reported as
+// having no shares, which is the safe direction for a positive filter.
 func hasChild(body io.Reader, root string) (bool, error) {
 	dec := xml.NewDecoder(body)
-	inHref := false
+	var href string
+	inHref, first := false, true
 	for {
 		tok, err := dec.Token()
 		if err == io.EOF {
@@ -99,11 +111,24 @@ func hasChild(body io.Reader, root string) (bool, error) {
 		}
 		switch t := tok.(type) {
 		case xml.StartElement:
-			inHref = t.Name.Space == "DAV:" && t.Name.Local == "href"
-		case xml.EndElement:
-			inHref = false
+			if t.Name.Space == "DAV:" && t.Name.Local == "href" {
+				inHref, href = true, ""
+			}
 		case xml.CharData:
-			if inHref && isBelow(string(t), root) {
+			// Character data can arrive in several tokens for one element.
+			if inHref {
+				href += string(t)
+			}
+		case xml.EndElement:
+			if !inHref {
+				continue
+			}
+			inHref = false
+			if !first {
+				return true, nil
+			}
+			first = false
+			if isBelow(href, root) {
 				return true, nil
 			}
 		}
@@ -111,9 +136,8 @@ func hasChild(body io.Reader, root string) (bool, error) {
 }
 
 // isBelow reports whether href points below root. Peers may answer with an
-// absolute URL or a path, percent-encoded, with or without a trailing slash,
-// and may or may not include the taildrive prefix we asked under, so compare
-// cleaned path segments rather than strings.
+// absolute URL or a path, percent-encoded and with or without a trailing
+// slash, so compare cleaned paths rather than strings.
 func isBelow(href, root string) bool {
 	u, err := url.Parse(strings.TrimSpace(href))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -124,9 +148,7 @@ func isBelow(href, root string) bool {
 	if p == r || p == "/" {
 		return false
 	}
-	// A peer that strips the prefix answers "/share"; one that keeps it
-	// answers "/v0/drive/share". Both are a share.
-	return true
+	return r == "/" || strings.HasPrefix(p, r+"/")
 }
 
 // HasSharesMulti probes every URL and returns one result per input, in input
diff --git a/cmd/tsconnect/driveprobe/driveprobe_test.go b/cmd/tsconnect/driveprobe/driveprobe_test.go
index 647a80663..4265a943e 100644
--- a/cmd/tsconnect/driveprobe/driveprobe_test.go
+++ b/cmd/tsconnect/driveprobe/driveprobe_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,18 @@ func TestHasChild(t *testing.T) {
 		{"percent-encoded share name", multistatus("/v0/drive/", "/v0/drive/my%20share"), true},
 		{"unicode share name", multistatus("/v0/drive/", "/v0/drive/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC"), true},
 		{"empty multistatus", multistatus(), false},
+		// The collection comes first per RFC 4918 §9.1, so anything after it
+		// is a share whatever the peer names it.
+		{"unrelated collection href, no members", multistatus("/somewhere/else/"), false},
+		{"unrelated collection href with a member", multistatus("/somewhere/else/", "/somewhere/else/docs"), true},
+		// A peer that omits the collection from a Depth-1 listing violates
+		// RFC 4918 §9.1, and once the taildrive prefix is stripped there is
+		// nothing left to tell its lone member apart from the collection. It
+		// loses the benefit of the doubt: hasShares excludes what it cannot
+		// confirm.
+		{"single member, collection omitted", multistatus("/docs"), false},
+		{"href split by an entity reference", multistatus("/v0/drive/", "/v0/drive/a&b"), true},
+		{"empty href", multistatus("/v0/drive/", ""), true},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {