diff --git a/src/cypher/cypher.c b/src/cypher/cypher.c
index 234f49087..8bf69af24 100644
--- a/src/cypher/cypher.c
+++ b/src/cypher/cypher.c
@@ -2803,6 +2803,96 @@ static bool eval_where(const cbm_where_clause_t *w, binding_t *b) {
     return is_and;
 }
 
+/* Three-valued WHERE evaluation for the early (seed-row) pass in
+ * execute_single: only the first MATCH alias is bound there, so a leaf on
+ * any other alias is UNKNOWN rather than true. The two-valued evaluator
+ * returns true for an unbound alias, which NOT / XOR then invert -- pruning
+ * every seed before relationship expansion (distilled from PR #1245). The
+ * full evaluation reruns after expansion (Step 3), so the early pass only has
+ * to prune on a definite false. Allocation-free, O(expression nodes). */
+typedef enum { CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE = 0, CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE, CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN } cyp_partial_t;
+
+static cyp_partial_t partial_and(cyp_partial_t l, cyp_partial_t r) {
+    if (l == CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE || r == CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE;
+    }
+    return (l == CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE && r == CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE) ? CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE
+                                                            : CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN;
+}
+
+static cyp_partial_t partial_or(cyp_partial_t l, cyp_partial_t r) {
+    if (l == CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE || r == CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE;
+    }
+    return (l == CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE && r == CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE) ? CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE
+                                                              : CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN;
+}
+
+/* A condition whose alias is not bound yet is UNKNOWN; a literal-only LHS
+ * (func condition with no variable arg) has nothing to wait for. */
+static cyp_partial_t eval_condition_partial(const cbm_condition_t *c, binding_t *b) {
+    if (c->variable && !binding_get(b, c->variable) && !binding_get_edge(b, c->variable)) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN;
+    }
+    return eval_condition(c, b) ? CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE : CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE;
+}
+
+static cyp_partial_t eval_expr_partial(const cbm_expr_t *e, // NOLINT(misc-no-recursion)
+                                       binding_t *b) {
+    if (!e) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE;
+    }
+    if (e->type == EXPR_CONDITION) {
+        return eval_condition_partial(&e->cond, b);
+    }
+    cyp_partial_t left = eval_expr_partial(e->left, b);
+    if (e->type == EXPR_NOT) {
+        if (left == CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN) {
+            return CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN;
+        }
+        return left == CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE ? CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE : CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE;
+    }
+    /* Same short-circuits as eval_expr: a definite left decides AND / OR. */
+    if (e->type == EXPR_AND && left == CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE;
+    }
+    if (e->type == EXPR_OR && left == CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE;
+    }
+    cyp_partial_t right = eval_expr_partial(e->right, b);
+    if (e->type == EXPR_AND) {
+        return partial_and(left, right);
+    }
+    if (e->type == EXPR_OR) {
+        return partial_or(left, right);
+    }
+    /* EXPR_XOR */
+    if (left == CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN || right == CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_UNKNOWN;
+    }
+    return left != right ? CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE : CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE;
+}
+
+static cyp_partial_t eval_where_partial(const cbm_where_clause_t *w, binding_t *b) {
+    if (!w) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE;
+    }
+    if (w->root) {
+        return eval_expr_partial(w->root, b);
+    }
+    /* Legacy flat evaluation */
+    if (w->count == 0) {
+        return CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE;
+    }
+    bool is_and = (w->op && strcmp(w->op, "AND") == 0) != 0;
+    cyp_partial_t result = is_and ? CYP_PARTIAL_TRUE : CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE;
+    for (int i = 0; i < w->count; i++) {
+        cyp_partial_t r = eval_condition_partial(&w->conditions[i], b);
+        result = is_and ? partial_and(result, r) : partial_or(result, r);
+    }
+    return result;
+}
+
 /* Check if a string value looks like a regex pattern. */
 static bool looks_like_regex(const char *s) {
     if (!s) {
@@ -5135,7 +5225,7 @@ static int execute_single(cbm_store_t *store, cbm_query_t *q, const char *projec
         binding_t b = {0};
         b.store = store;
         binding_set(&b, var_name, &scanned[i]);
-        bool pass = !q->where || eval_where(q->where, &b);
+        bool pass = eval_where_partial(q->where, &b) != CYP_PARTIAL_FALSE;
         if (pass) {
             bindings[bind_count++] = b;
         } else {
diff --git a/src/foundation/recursion_whitelist.h b/src/foundation/recursion_whitelist.h
index c3e2b5c8c..73a38cc50 100644
--- a/src/foundation/recursion_whitelist.h
+++ b/src/foundation/recursion_whitelist.h
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
  *   - parse_or_expr, parse_xor_expr, parse_and_expr, parse_not_expr
  *   - parse_atom_expr, parse_post_where, cbm_parse
  *
- * Cypher expression evaluator (bounded by WHERE clause depth ~5):
- *   - eval_expr
+ * Cypher expression evaluators (bounded by WHERE clause depth ~5):
+ *   - eval_expr, eval_expr_partial
  *
  * Glob pattern matcher (bounded by pattern nesting ~3):
  *   - glob_match, glob_match_star, glob_match_doublestar
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@
  * To add a function: add it below AND add NOLINT(misc-no-recursion) on
  * the function definition line. The lint gate verifies both match.
  */
-#define CBM_RECURSION_WHITELIST                                                               \
-    "parse_or_expr", "parse_xor_expr", "parse_and_expr", "parse_not_expr", "parse_atom_expr", \
-        "parse_post_where", "cbm_parse", "eval_expr", "glob_match", "glob_match_star",        \
-        "glob_match_doublestar", "glob_match_doublestar_slash", "glob_match_doublestar_any",  \
-        "parse_bool_expr", "parse_bool_atom", "r_collect_imports",                            \
+#define CBM_RECURSION_WHITELIST                                                                 \
+    "parse_or_expr", "parse_xor_expr", "parse_and_expr", "parse_not_expr", "parse_atom_expr",   \
+        "parse_post_where", "cbm_parse", "eval_expr", "eval_expr_partial", "glob_match",        \
+        "glob_match_star", "glob_match_doublestar", "glob_match_doublestar_slash",              \
+        "glob_match_doublestar_any", "parse_bool_expr", "parse_bool_atom", "r_collect_imports", \
         "find_first_descendant_by_kind", "find_first_descendant_of"
diff --git a/tests/test_cypher.c b/tests/test_cypher.c
index 8bdee76c9..853abc266 100644
--- a/tests/test_cypher.c
+++ b/tests/test_cypher.c
@@ -3111,6 +3111,74 @@ TEST(cypher_exec_where_not) {
     PASS();
 }
 
+/* Regression (distilled from PR #1245, Andrew Hundt): the early WHERE pass in
+ * execute_single runs on seed rows with only the first alias bound. A
+ * comparison on an unbound alias used to evaluate to true, which NOT / XOR
+ * then inverted -- so every seed was pruned before CALLS expansion and the
+ * query returned zero rows. Unbound leaves must stay UNKNOWN there. */
+TEST(cypher_exec_where_not_on_relationship_target) {
+    cbm_store_t *s = setup_cypher_store();
+    cbm_cypher_result_t r = {0};
+    int rc = cbm_cypher_execute(s,
+                                "MATCH (a:Function)-[:CALLS]->(b:Function) "
+                                "WHERE NOT b.name CONTAINS \"Order\" RETURN b.name",
+                                "test", 0, &r);
+    ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+    ASSERT_EQ(r.row_count, 1);
+    ASSERT_STR_EQ(r.rows[0][0], "LogError");
+    cbm_cypher_result_free(&r);
+    cbm_store_close(s);
+    PASS();
+}
+
+TEST(cypher_exec_where_mixed_alias_and) {
+    cbm_store_t *s = setup_cypher_store();
+    cbm_cypher_result_t r = {0};
+    int rc = cbm_cypher_execute(
+        s,
+        "MATCH (a:Function)-[:CALLS]->(b:Function) "
+        "WHERE a.name = \"HandleOrder\" AND NOT b.name CONTAINS \"Order\" RETURN b.name",
+        "test", 0, &r);
+    ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+    ASSERT_EQ(r.row_count, 1);
+    ASSERT_STR_EQ(r.rows[0][0], "LogError");
+    cbm_cypher_result_free(&r);
+    cbm_store_close(s);
+    PASS();
+}
+
+TEST(cypher_exec_where_mixed_alias_or) {
+    cbm_store_t *s = setup_cypher_store();
+    cbm_cypher_result_t r = {0};
+    int rc = cbm_cypher_execute(
+        s,
+        "MATCH (a:Function)-[:CALLS]->(b:Function) "
+        "WHERE a.name = \"NoSuchFunction\" OR NOT b.name CONTAINS \"Order\" RETURN b.name",
+        "test", 0, &r);
+    ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+    ASSERT_EQ(r.row_count, 1);
+    ASSERT_STR_EQ(r.rows[0][0], "LogError");
+    cbm_cypher_result_free(&r);
+    cbm_store_close(s);
+    PASS();
+}
+
+TEST(cypher_exec_where_mixed_alias_xor) {
+    cbm_store_t *s = setup_cypher_store();
+    cbm_cypher_result_t r = {0};
+    int rc =
+        cbm_cypher_execute(s,
+                           "MATCH (a:Function)-[:CALLS]->(b:Function) "
+                           "WHERE a.name = \"HandleOrder\" XOR b.name = \"LogError\" RETURN b.name",
+                           "test", 0, &r);
+    ASSERT_EQ(rc, 0);
+    ASSERT_EQ(r.row_count, 1);
+    ASSERT_STR_EQ(r.rows[0][0], "ValidateOrder");
+    cbm_cypher_result_free(&r);
+    cbm_store_close(s);
+    PASS();
+}
+
 TEST(cypher_exec_where_in) {
     cbm_store_t *s = setup_cypher_store();
     cbm_cypher_result_t r = {0};
@@ -4769,6 +4837,10 @@ SUITE(cypher) {
     RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_neq_bang);
     RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_ends_with);
     RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_not);
+    RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_not_on_relationship_target);
+    RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_mixed_alias_and);
+    RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_mixed_alias_or);
+    RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_mixed_alias_xor);
     RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_in);
     RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_not_in);
     RUN_TEST(cypher_exec_where_is_null);