diff --git a/resources/views/components/carousel-item.blade.php b/resources/views/components/carousel-item.blade.php
index 1dc80f68..99ba077b 100644
--- a/resources/views/components/carousel-item.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/components/carousel-item.blade.php
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@
      `label` lays a short line of text over the bottom of the art, on a scrim, pinned to the
      item's visible edge and fading out as the item narrows — Compose's carousel sample, which
      fades its label chip in once the mask is wide enough to hold it. The scrim is what M3 asks
-     for under text on an image; the text itself is `inverse-on-surface`, a role a scheme and a
-     contrast profile follow, rather than a literal white.
+     for under text on an image, and the scrim is `--md-sys-color-scrim` — black in every scheme,
+     theme and contrast level — so its ink is the one absolute the theme keeps, `white`; a role
+     (`inverse-on-surface`) is dark ink in a dark scheme and fails on the scrim there.
 
      A focusable `group` with `aria-roledescription="slide"`, named "n of m" by the carousel
      around it. M3 puts the tab stop on the item, not on the row: Tab reaches the first item, the
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@
                 data-material-carousel-label
                 class="pointer-events-none absolute inset-x-0 bottom-0 flex bg-linear-to-t from-scrim/60 to-transparent px-4 pt-10 pb-4 opacity-(--material-carousel-label)"
             >
-                <span class="truncate type-title-md text-inverse-on-surface translate-x-(--material-carousel-label-shift)">{{ $label }}</span>
+                <span class="truncate type-title-md text-white translate-x-(--material-carousel-label-shift)">{{ $label }}</span>
             </div>
         @endif
     </div>
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Components/CarouselTest.php b/tests/Feature/Components/CarouselTest.php
index b66d932a..60e7a894 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Components/CarouselTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Components/CarouselTest.php
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ it('lays a label over an item on a scrim, and passes attributes to the item', fu
         ->toContain('data-material-carousel-label')
         ->toContain('Lake Constance')
         ->toContain('from-scrim/60')
-        ->toContain('type-title-md text-inverse-on-surface')
+        ->toContain('type-title-md text-white')
         ->toContain('[&>img]:size-full [&>img]:object-cover')
         ->and((string) $this->blade('<x-carousel-item>A</x-carousel-item>'))
         ->not->toContain('data-material-carousel-label');