diff --git a/settings/shell.nix b/settings/shell.nix
index e8bc240..b62b1b2 100644
--- a/settings/shell.nix
+++ b/settings/shell.nix
@@ -162,8 +162,10 @@ in
       set -l secs 10
       test (count $argv) -gt 0; and set secs $argv[1]
       # find, not a glob: an unmatched wildcard is an error in fish and would
-      # abort the function before the emptiness check below.
-      set -l cards (find /sys/class/drm -maxdepth 3 -name gpu_busy_percent 2>/dev/null | sort)
+      # abort the function before the emptiness check below. -L is required —
+      # /sys/class/drm/cardN is a symlink, so a plain find never descends into
+      # it and silently reports no GPUs at all.
+      set -l cards (find -L /sys/class/drm -maxdepth 3 -name gpu_busy_percent 2>/dev/null | sort)
       if test (count $cards) -eq 0
         echo "no gpu_busy_percent found (amdgpu/i915 only — nvidia doesn't expose it)"
         return 1