diff --git a/nerve/coerce.py b/nerve/coerce.py
index 3f8a6f47..885a9174 100644
--- a/nerve/coerce.py
+++ b/nerve/coerce.py
@@ -168,6 +168,11 @@ def _scalar_to_list(value: Any, base: type) -> list[Any] | None:
     A blank string yields the empty list rather than one empty entry, and a lone
     non-string scalar (``exclude_chats: 42``) is wrapped so it reaches the
     element coercion below.
+
+    A tuple is copied element-wise. YAML never parses to one, so a tuple can
+    only be a code-side default — a builder handing a module-level tuple
+    constant to a ``list[X]`` field — where the elements are already the
+    intended entries and only the container is wrong.
     """
     if value is None:
         return []
@@ -177,6 +182,8 @@ def _scalar_to_list(value: Any, base: type) -> list[Any] | None:
         return [part.strip() for part in value.split(",") if part.strip()]
     if isinstance(value, (bool, int, float)):
         return [value]
+    if isinstance(value, tuple):
+        return list(value)
     return None
 
 
diff --git a/nerve/config.py b/nerve/config.py
index 43415345..feefae8f 100644
--- a/nerve/config.py
+++ b/nerve/config.py
@@ -2473,15 +2473,19 @@ def from_dict(cls, d: dict) -> "LangfuseConfig":
         # A bare ``redact_patterns:`` parses to None, which the shared list
         # handling reads as the empty list. That is the right answer for most
         # fields and the wrong one here, because it would turn secret redaction
-        # off on a blank line. An explicit ``[]`` still means off.
-        patterns = d.get("redact_patterns", _DEFAULT_LANGFUSE_REDACT_PATTERNS)
+        # off on a blank line. An explicit ``[]`` still means off. The default
+        # is materialized as a ``list`` so the field arrives as its declared
+        # type — handing the tuple through made ``coerce_scalars`` warn about
+        # a "non-list config value" on every load of a config that never
+        # mentions Langfuse.
+        patterns = d.get("redact_patterns")
+        if patterns is None:
+            patterns = list(_DEFAULT_LANGFUSE_REDACT_PATTERNS)
         return cls(
             public_key=d.get("public_key", ""),
             secret_key=d.get("secret_key", ""),
             host=d.get("host", "https://cloud.langfuse.com"),
-            redact_patterns=_str_list(
-                _DEFAULT_LANGFUSE_REDACT_PATTERNS if patterns is None else patterns
-            ),
+            redact_patterns=_str_list(patterns),
         )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_config_env.py b/tests/test_config_env.py
index 8a051364..7248d235 100644
--- a/tests/test_config_env.py
+++ b/tests/test_config_env.py
@@ -587,3 +587,72 @@ def test_every_declared_list_field_wraps_a_bare_scalar(self):
                 f"{name} is list[{element}], which has no probe above — add one "
                 "rather than leaving the field unchecked"
             )
+
+    def test_defaults_arrive_as_lists_not_tuples(self):
+        """`from_dict({})` must hand every `list[X]` field an actual list.
+
+        The sweeps above feed values in; none of them ever checked what falls
+        out when a section is absent and the builder supplies its own default.
+        A default spelled as a module-level tuple (immutable, safe to share)
+        that a builder passes through unconverted reaches `coerce_scalars` as
+        a non-list — one "ignoring non-list config value" warning per config
+        load, on configs that never mention the section at all. That is how
+        `langfuse.redact_patterns` shipped. Tuples now normalize like any
+        other code-side scalar, and this sweep pins the container type of
+        every built default so the next tuple constant fails here instead of
+        warning in production.
+        """
+        import dataclasses
+        import inspect
+        import typing
+
+        import nerve.config as cfg
+
+        two_arg = {"McpServerConfig"}  # from_dict(cls, name, d)
+        broken, checked = [], 0
+        for _name, klass in sorted(vars(cfg).items()):
+            if not (inspect.isclass(klass) and dataclasses.is_dataclass(klass)):
+                continue
+            from_dict = getattr(klass, "from_dict", None)
+            if not callable(from_dict):
+                continue
+            hints = typing.get_type_hints(klass)
+            list_fields = [
+                f.name
+                for f in dataclasses.fields(klass)
+                if typing.get_origin(hints.get(f.name)) is list
+            ]
+            if not list_fields:
+                continue
+            built = from_dict("probe", {}) if klass.__name__ in two_arg \
+                else from_dict({})
+            for name in list_fields:
+                checked += 1
+                got = getattr(built, name)
+                if not isinstance(got, list):
+                    broken.append(
+                        f"{klass.__name__}.{name}: from_dict({{}}) built a "
+                        f"{type(got).__name__}: {got!r}"
+                    )
+        assert checked >= 19, f"probe reached only {checked} list fields — did it break?"
+        assert not broken, (
+            "list fields whose built defaults are not lists:\n" + "\n".join(broken)
+        )
+
+    def test_langfuse_default_redact_patterns_load_cleanly(self, caplog):
+        """An absent langfuse block keeps the default redact set, silently.
+
+        Regression: the defaults constant is a tuple, and `from_dict` used to
+        hand it through verbatim — the patterns still compiled (the consumer
+        `list()`s the field), but every single config load logged a
+        `nerve.coerce` warning about it.
+        """
+        import logging
+
+        from nerve.config import _DEFAULT_LANGFUSE_REDACT_PATTERNS, LangfuseConfig
+
+        with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="nerve.coerce"):
+            lf = LangfuseConfig.from_dict({})
+        assert lf.redact_patterns == list(_DEFAULT_LANGFUSE_REDACT_PATTERNS)
+        coerce_records = [r for r in caplog.records if r.name == "nerve.coerce"]
+        assert not coerce_records, [r.getMessage() for r in coerce_records]