diff --git a/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol b/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol
index 962a2cb..6b1c0ba 100644
--- a/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol
+++ b/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ import {console2} from "forge-std-1.16.1/src/console2.sol";
 library LibRainDeploy {
     /// Thrown when deployment via Zoltu factory fails. This could be either an
     /// explicit revert that manifests as non success, or a silent failure that
-    /// results in the deployed address being empty somehow.
+    /// results in the deployed address being empty somehow. `deployedAddress`
+    /// is zero whenever `success` is false, as a failed factory call returns no
+    /// address.
     error DeployFailed(bool success, address deployedAddress);
 
     /// Thrown when a dependency is missing on a network before deployment.
@@ -161,7 +163,11 @@ library LibRainDeploy {
             // Writing 20 bytes at offset 12 (= 32 - 20) right-aligns the address
             // in scratch space so that mload(0) produces a correctly padded value.
             success := call(gas(), zoltuFactory, 0, add(creationCode, 0x20), mload(creationCode), 12, 20)
-            deployedAddress := mload(0)
+            // The EVM copies revert data into the output region too, so only a
+            // successful call leaves an address there. A failed call leaves
+            // `deployedAddress` zero rather than reporting revert bytes as an
+            // address.
+            if success { deployedAddress := mload(0) }
         }
         if (!success || deployedAddress == address(0) || deployedAddress.code.length == 0) {
             console2.log("Zoltu deployment failed. Success:", success, "Deployed Address:", deployedAddress);
diff --git a/test/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.t.sol b/test/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.t.sol
index c08ec54..be7de7f 100644
--- a/test/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.t.sol
+++ b/test/src/lib/LibRainDeploy.t.sol
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ pragma solidity ^0.8.25;
 
 import {Test} from "forge-std-1.16.1/src/Test.sol";
 import {LibRainDeploy} from "../../../src/lib/LibRainDeploy.sol";
+import {MockAddressRevertingFactory} from "./MockAddressRevertingFactory.sol";
 import {MockDeployable} from "./MockDeployable.sol";
 import {MockReverter} from "./MockReverter.sol";
 
@@ -297,6 +298,22 @@ contract LibRainDeployTest is Test {
         this.externalDeployZoltu(type(MockReverter).creationCode);
     }
 
+    /// `deployZoltu` MUST report the zero address when the factory call fails,
+    /// even when the factory reverts with data that reads as an address. The
+    /// call output buffer holds revert data on the failure path, so anything
+    /// read from it there is not an address the factory returned.
+    function testDeployZoltuFailedCallReportsZeroAddress() external {
+        vm.createSelectFork(LibRainDeploy.ARBITRUM_ONE);
+        vm.etch(LibRainDeploy.ZOLTU_FACTORY, address(new MockAddressRevertingFactory()).code);
+        // The factory reverts with its own address, which has code, so the
+        // reported address is only zero if the failure path never reads the
+        // output buffer.
+        assertGt(LibRainDeploy.ZOLTU_FACTORY.code.length, 0);
+
+        vm.expectRevert(abi.encodeWithSelector(LibRainDeploy.DeployFailed.selector, false, address(0)));
+        this.externalDeployZoltu(type(MockDeployable).creationCode);
+    }
+
     /// `deployToNetworks` MUST revert with `UnexpectedDeployedAddress` when the
     /// deployed address does not match the expected address.
     function testUnexpectedDeployedAddressReverts() external {
diff --git a/test/src/lib/MockAddressRevertingFactory.sol b/test/src/lib/MockAddressRevertingFactory.sol
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b38fea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/src/lib/MockAddressRevertingFactory.sol
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-DCL-1.0
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2020 Rain Open Source Software Ltd
+pragma solidity ^0.8.25;
+
+/// @title MockAddressRevertingFactory
+/// Zoltu factory stand-in whose calls always fail, reverting with exactly the
+/// twenty bytes of its own address. A caller that reads its call output buffer
+/// without checking the call succeeded sees the address of a contract that has
+/// code.
+contract MockAddressRevertingFactory {
+    fallback() external {
+        bytes20 self = bytes20(address(this));
+        assembly ("memory-safe") {
+            mstore(0, self)
+            revert(0, 20)
+        }
+    }
+}