diff --git a/docs/changes/unreleased/1756-hosted-drive-opt-l.md b/docs/changes/unreleased/1756-hosted-drive-opt-l.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4c94461b41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changes/unreleased/1756-hosted-drive-opt-l.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+kind: fixed
+title: the hosted drive passes on a Mac whose task column starts open
+pr: 1756
+surface: [build]
+invalidates:
+  - "On a Mac, scripts/hosted-drive.sh failed seven of its fourteen checks whenever the profile's task column started open, which reads as a broken binary. It now recognises the column's opt+l key and passes."
+---
diff --git a/scripts/hosted-drive.sh b/scripts/hosted-drive.sh
index e8ab66f017..96076e976c 100755
--- a/scripts/hosted-drive.sh
+++ b/scripts/hosted-drive.sh
@@ -238,7 +238,11 @@ only_my_file() { [ "$(git -C "$WORK" status --short)" = "?? notes.txt" ]; }
 one_copy() { [ "$(copies | wc -l | tr -d ' ')" = "1" ]; }
 second_on_the_list() { screen | cut -c119- | grep -q 'write README'; }
 first_on_the_list() { screen | cut -c119- | grep -q 'add Mul and Div'; }
-column_open() { screen | grep -Eq '│ Tasks [0-9]+.*alt\+l'; }
+# THE COLUMN'S KEY IS SPELLED FOR THE KEYBOARD IT IS DRAWN ON: `alt+l` on
+# Linux and `opt+l` on a Mac (internal/tui3/chords.go). A needle that knows
+# only one spelling reads an open column as closed on the other system, and the
+# key pressed to open it closes it instead.
+column_open() { screen | grep -Eq '│ Tasks [0-9]+.*(alt|opt)\+l'; }
 first_run_home() { [ -f "$WORK/README.md" ] && [ -f "$WORK/muldiv.go" ]; }
 one_new_commit() { [ "$(git -C "$WORK" log --oneline | wc -l | tr -d ' ')" = "2" ]; }
 my_file_untouched() { [ "$(cat "$WORK/notes.txt")" = "mine, unsaved" ] && only_my_file; }