diff --git a/inc/Abilities/WorkspaceAbilities.php b/inc/Abilities/WorkspaceAbilities.php
index e7bacca8..f299ddae 100644
--- a/inc/Abilities/WorkspaceAbilities.php
+++ b/inc/Abilities/WorkspaceAbilities.php
@@ -3062,12 +3062,18 @@ private static function gitRebaseOutputSchema(): array {
 	 * @return array
 	 */
 	public static function gitStatus( array $input ): array|\WP_Error {
+		$workspace = new Workspace();
+		if ( RemoteWorkspaceBackend::should_handle() && null !== self::showLocalWorkspaceHandleIfPresent($workspace, (string) ( $input['name'] ?? '' )) ) {
+			return $workspace->git_status($input['name'] ?? '');
+		}
+
 		if ( RemoteWorkspaceBackend::should_handle() ) {
 			$result = ( new RemoteWorkspaceBackend() )->git_status($input['name'] ?? '');
-			return self::decorate_remote_workspace_result('git_status', $result);
+			if ( ! self::shouldFallbackToLocalWorkspace($result) ) {
+				return self::decorate_remote_workspace_result('git_status', $result);
+			}
 		}
 
-		$workspace = new Workspace();
 		return $workspace->git_status($input['name'] ?? '');
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/smoke-workspace-local-fallback.php b/tests/smoke-workspace-local-fallback.php
index cb867b6a..9d47fda5 100644
--- a/tests/smoke-workspace-local-fallback.php
+++ b/tests/smoke-workspace-local-fallback.php
@@ -24,11 +24,13 @@ class RemoteWorkspaceBackend
 		public static array $read_input = array();
 		public static array $list_input = array();
 		public static array $grep_input = array();
+		public static array $git_status_input = array();
 		public static array $worktree_input = array();
 		public static bool $show_returns_remote_success = false;
 		public static bool $read_returns_remote_success = false;
 		public static bool $list_returns_remote_success = false;
 		public static bool $grep_returns_remote_success = false;
+		public static bool $git_status_returns_remote_success = false;
 		public static bool $worktree_returns_remote_success = false;
 
 		public static function should_handle(): bool
@@ -130,16 +132,42 @@ public function grep( string $handle, string $pattern, ?string $path = null, ?st
 				'Remote workspace repository "wpcom-codebox" is not registered. Call workspace_clone first.'
 			);
 		}
+
+		public function git_status( string $handle ): array|\WP_Error
+		{
+			self::$git_status_input = compact('handle');
+			if ( self::$git_status_returns_remote_success ) {
+				return array(
+					'success' => true,
+					'backend' => 'github_api',
+					'name'    => $handle,
+					'path'    => 'github://Automattic/' . str_replace('@', '#', $handle),
+					'dirty'   => 0,
+					'files'   => array(),
+				);
+			}
+
+			return new \WP_Error(
+				'remote_workspace_repo_not_found',
+				'Remote workspace repository "wpcom-codebox" is not registered. Call workspace_clone first.'
+			);
+		}
 	}
 
 	class Workspace
 	{
 		public static array $show_input = array();
+		public static array $git_status_input = array();
 		public static array $worktree_input = array();
+		public static bool $show_returns_local_success = true;
 
-		public function show_repo( string $handle ): array
+		public function show_repo( string $handle ): array|\WP_Error
 		{
 			self::$show_input = compact('handle');
+			if ( ! self::$show_returns_local_success ) {
+				return new \WP_Error('workspace_repo_not_found', 'Workspace repository not found.');
+			}
+
 			$parsed = explode('@', $handle, 2);
 			$repo   = $parsed[0];
 			$slug   = $parsed[1] ?? '';
@@ -175,6 +203,18 @@ public function worktree_add(
 				'path'    => '/Users/chubes/Developer/' . $repo . '@' . str_replace('/', '-', $branch),
 			);
 		}
+
+		public function git_status( string $handle ): array
+		{
+			self::$git_status_input = compact('handle');
+			return array(
+				'success' => true,
+				'name'    => $handle,
+				'path'    => '/Users/chubes/Developer/' . $handle,
+				'dirty'   => 1,
+				'files'   => array( ' M README.md' ),
+			);
+		}
 	}
 
 	class WorkspaceReader
@@ -376,6 +416,34 @@ function is_wp_error( $value ): bool
 	$assert('grep preserves options locally', '*.php' === ( \DataMachineCode\Workspace\WorkspaceReader::$grep_input['include_pattern'] ?? '' ) && 7 === ( \DataMachineCode\Workspace\WorkspaceReader::$grep_input['max_results'] ?? null ) && 2 === ( \DataMachineCode\Workspace\WorkspaceReader::$grep_input['context_lines'] ?? null ));
 	$assert('grep returns local matches', is_array($grep) && 1 === ( $grep['count'] ?? null ));
 
+	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\RemoteWorkspaceBackend::$git_status_returns_remote_success = true;
+	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\RemoteWorkspaceBackend::$git_status_input = array();
+	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\Workspace::$git_status_input = array();
+	$git_status = \DataMachineCode\Abilities\WorkspaceAbilities::gitStatus(
+		array(
+			'name' => 'wpcom-codebox',
+		)
+	);
+
+	$assert('remote git status is not consulted when local primary exists', array() === \DataMachineCode\Workspace\RemoteWorkspaceBackend::$git_status_input);
+	$assert('local git status attempted for local primary', 'wpcom-codebox' === ( \DataMachineCode\Workspace\Workspace::$git_status_input['handle'] ?? '' ));
+	$assert('git status returns local dirty state', is_array($git_status) && 1 === ( $git_status['dirty'] ?? null ));
+
+	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\Workspace::$show_returns_local_success = false;
+	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\RemoteWorkspaceBackend::$git_status_returns_remote_success = false;
+	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\RemoteWorkspaceBackend::$git_status_input = array();
+	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\Workspace::$git_status_input = array();
+	$miss_status = \DataMachineCode\Abilities\WorkspaceAbilities::gitStatus(
+		array(
+			'name' => 'wpcom-codebox',
+		)
+	);
+
+	$assert('remote git status miss is consulted before fallback', 'wpcom-codebox' === ( \DataMachineCode\Workspace\RemoteWorkspaceBackend::$git_status_input['handle'] ?? '' ));
+	$assert('remote git status miss falls back locally', 'wpcom-codebox' === ( \DataMachineCode\Workspace\Workspace::$git_status_input['handle'] ?? '' ));
+	$assert('git status fallback returns local result', is_array($miss_status) && '/Users/chubes/Developer/wpcom-codebox' === ( $miss_status['path'] ?? '' ));
+	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\Workspace::$show_returns_local_success = true;
+
 	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\RemoteWorkspaceBackend::$worktree_returns_remote_success = true;
 	\DataMachineCode\Workspace\RemoteWorkspaceBackend::$worktree_input = array();
 	$worktree = \DataMachineCode\Abilities\WorkspaceAbilities::worktreeAdd(