diff --git a/src/put/mod.rs b/src/put/mod.rs
index e8f123a..1d58f8c 100644
--- a/src/put/mod.rs
+++ b/src/put/mod.rs
@@ -99,7 +99,15 @@ pub async fn put(
     // Pre-flight checks for everything the upload queue only rejects after
     // processing: a valid Section, a known target series, and the target
     // PPA actually existing (the SFTP queue itself is a blind write)
-    check_control_section(&opts.cwd, "ubuntu")?;
+    match section_check_target(opts.changes.as_deref(), &opts.cwd) {
+        SectionCheckTarget::Dir(dir) => check_control_section(&dir, "ubuntu")?,
+        SectionCheckTarget::Skip => log::warn!(
+            "cannot check the Section: '{}' has no debian/control next to \
+             it, skipping the pre-flight (the archive still rejects uploads \
+             with unknown sections)",
+            changes_path.display()
+        ),
+    }
 
     let checking = multi.add(ProgressBar::new(0));
     checking.set_style(ui::spinner_style());
@@ -323,6 +331,40 @@ fn check_control_section(cwd: &Path, dist: &str) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::erro
     .into())
 }
 
+/// What the Section pre-flight decided to validate: a directory holding a
+/// `debian/control` ([`check_control_section`]'s expected layout), or that
+/// it cannot run where the upload lives and must be skipped.
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+enum SectionCheckTarget {
+    /// Validate `debian/control` in this directory
+    Dir(PathBuf),
+    /// No `debian/control` next to the `.changes`: skip the check
+    Skip,
+}
+
+/// Decide which tree the Section pre-flight validates. An explicit
+/// `--changes` file must be followed by its own directory — it can name a
+/// different package than the current tree — so the check runs against the
+/// `.changes`' directory when it directly holds a `debian/control` (the
+/// `.changes` inside the package root), and is skipped otherwise: pkh
+/// writes the `.changes` next to the source tree (an artifacts-only
+/// directory as far as `debian/control` goes), and checking `cwd` there
+/// would validate whatever package the user happens to be in. Without
+/// `--changes` the upload comes from the current tree, which keeps getting
+/// checked exactly as before. Pure decision, factored out so the
+/// wrong-tree rule is testable with plain tempdirs.
+fn section_check_target(changes_path: Option<&Path>, cwd: &Path) -> SectionCheckTarget {
+    let Some(changes) = changes_path else {
+        return SectionCheckTarget::Dir(cwd.to_path_buf());
+    };
+    let dir = changes.parent().unwrap_or_else(|| Path::new("."));
+    if dir.join("debian/control").is_file() {
+        SectionCheckTarget::Dir(dir.to_path_buf())
+    } else {
+        SectionCheckTarget::Skip
+    }
+}
+
 /// The highest version among `published` that parses as a Debian version,
 /// `None` when the list is empty or nothing in it parses (entries that
 /// cannot be parsed are skipped rather than failing the check: the API
@@ -699,6 +741,75 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(err.contains("has no Section"), "unexpected: {err}");
     }
 
+    /// An explicit `--changes` file of a different package must be checked
+    /// in its own directory (A), not in the current tree (B): B's control
+    /// file decided the pre-flight before the fix
+    #[test]
+    fn section_check_follows_explicit_changes_directory() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let artifacts = dir.path().join("artifacts");
+        let elsewhere = dir.path().join("elsewhere");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(artifacts.join("debian")).unwrap();
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(elsewhere.join("debian")).unwrap();
+        let changes = artifacts.join("hello_1.0-1_source.changes");
+        std::fs::write(&changes, b"changes").unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(
+            artifacts.join("debian/control"),
+            "Source: hello\nSection: utils\n",
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(
+            elsewhere.join("debian/control"),
+            "Source: other\nSection: unknown\n",
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            section_check_target(Some(&changes), &elsewhere),
+            SectionCheckTarget::Dir(artifacts.clone())
+        );
+
+        // The decided directory carries the valid section, while the tree
+        // the old code checked would have failed the upload
+        match section_check_target(Some(&changes), &elsewhere) {
+            SectionCheckTarget::Dir(d) => check_control_section(&d, "ubuntu").unwrap(),
+            SectionCheckTarget::Skip => panic!("the .changes directory has debian/control"),
+        }
+        assert!(check_control_section(&elsewhere, "ubuntu").is_err());
+    }
+
+    /// A `.changes` in a directory without `debian/control` — pkh's own
+    /// layout puts it next to the source tree, and artifacts can be
+    /// collected away from any source — skips the check instead of
+    /// validating whatever tree `cwd` points at
+    #[test]
+    fn section_check_skips_when_changes_dir_has_no_control() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let artifacts = dir.path().join("artifacts");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&artifacts).unwrap();
+        let changes = artifacts.join("hello_1.0-1_source.changes");
+        std::fs::write(&changes, b"changes").unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            section_check_target(Some(&changes), dir.path()),
+            SectionCheckTarget::Skip
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Without `--changes` the upload comes from the current tree: the
+    /// decision stays the cwd, byte-identical to the pre-fix behavior
+    #[test]
+    fn section_check_without_changes_validates_cwd() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let pkg = dir.path().join("hello");
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(pkg.join("debian")).unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            section_check_target(None, &pkg),
+            SectionCheckTarget::Dir(pkg)
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn discover_errors_when_several_candidates() {
         let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();