diff --git a/scripts/i18n/scan-hardcoded.ts b/scripts/i18n/scan-hardcoded.ts
index b4139935..6aec3f89 100755
--- a/scripts/i18n/scan-hardcoded.ts
+++ b/scripts/i18n/scan-hardcoded.ts
@@ -94,6 +94,16 @@ function isHuman(value: string | undefined): value is string {
   return true;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Commented-out code is not user-facing text. `Header.tsx` carries a disabled dev-console button inside
+ * a `{/* … *\/}` block, and counting it means the area can never reach zero without editing a comment.
+ *
+ * Deliberately only two shapes, both unambiguous: a block comment, and a line whose first non-space
+ * characters are `//`. Stripping every `//` would eat the tail of any string holding a URL.
+ */
+const stripComments = (source: string): string =>
+  source.replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\//g, '').replace(/^[ \t]*\/\/.*$/gm, '');
+
 function* walk(dir: string): Generator<string> {
   let entries: string[];
   try {
@@ -125,7 +135,7 @@ function scan(root: string): { files: number; hits: Hit[] } {
     files++;
     let source: string;
     try {
-      source = readFileSync(file, 'utf8');
+      source = stripComments(readFileSync(file, 'utf8'));
     } catch {
       continue;
     }