diff --git a/src/ir/jni_descriptor.test.zig b/src/ir/jni_descriptor.test.zig
index cadf9a8..21d0a83 100644
--- a/src/ir/jni_descriptor.test.zig
+++ b/src/ir/jni_descriptor.test.zig
@@ -160,6 +160,58 @@ test "cross-class *Foo with empty registry errors" {
     try std.testing.expectError(desc.DeriveError.UnknownClassAlias, result);
 }
 
+test "deriveMethod respects #jni_method_descriptor override verbatim" {
+    const a = std.testing.allocator;
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(a);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const aa = arena.allocator();
+
+    // The actual sx signature `(self: *Self) -> s32` would derive to
+    // `()I`. The override should win regardless.
+    const self_te = try makeTypeExpr(aa, "Self");
+    const self_ptr = try makePointer(aa, self_te);
+    const ret = try makeTypeExpr(aa, "s32");
+
+    const method: ast.ForeignMethodDecl = .{
+        .name = "weirdMethod",
+        .params = &.{self_ptr},
+        .param_names = &.{"self"},
+        .return_type = ret,
+        .is_static = false,
+        .jni_descriptor_override = "(Ljava/lang/Object;)Ljava/util/List;",
+    };
+    const out = try desc.deriveMethod(a, .{ .enclosing_path = "com/example/Foo" }, method);
+    defer a.free(out);
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings("(Ljava/lang/Object;)Ljava/util/List;", out);
+}
+
+test "deriveMethod override bypasses unresolvable cross-class refs" {
+    const a = std.testing.allocator;
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(a);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const aa = arena.allocator();
+
+    // The signature references `*UnknownClass` that isn't in the
+    // registry — would normally fail with `UnknownClassAlias`. The
+    // override short-circuits derivation, so it succeeds.
+    const self_te = try makeTypeExpr(aa, "Self");
+    const self_ptr = try makePointer(aa, self_te);
+    const unknown = try makeTypeExpr(aa, "UnknownClass");
+    const unknown_ptr = try makePointer(aa, unknown);
+
+    const method: ast.ForeignMethodDecl = .{
+        .name = "weirdMethod",
+        .params = &.{self_ptr},
+        .param_names = &.{"self"},
+        .return_type = unknown_ptr,
+        .is_static = false,
+        .jni_descriptor_override = "()V",
+    };
+    const out = try desc.deriveMethod(a, .{ .enclosing_path = "com/example/Foo" }, method);
+    defer a.free(out);
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings("()V", out);
+}
+
 test "deriveMethod chains *Foo returns and params" {
     const a = std.testing.allocator;
     var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(a);
diff --git a/src/ir/jni_descriptor.zig b/src/ir/jni_descriptor.zig
index 0eafd5c..c0b2085 100644
--- a/src/ir/jni_descriptor.zig
+++ b/src/ir/jni_descriptor.zig
@@ -105,6 +105,13 @@ pub fn deriveMethod(
     ctx: Context,
     method: ast.ForeignMethodDecl,
 ) DeriveError![]u8 {
+    // `#jni_method_descriptor("(Sig)Ret")` short-circuits derivation
+    // entirely. Allocate a copy so the caller has uniform ownership
+    // semantics regardless of which branch ran.
+    if (method.jni_descriptor_override) |override| {
+        return allocator.dupe(u8, override);
+    }
+
     var buf: std.ArrayList(u8) = .empty;
     errdefer buf.deinit(allocator);