diff --git a/backend/fluksio/flow/pipeline.py b/backend/fluksio/flow/pipeline.py
index 4cfb331..01ba8a4 100644
--- a/backend/fluksio/flow/pipeline.py
+++ b/backend/fluksio/flow/pipeline.py
@@ -151,16 +151,24 @@ class RunCacheLookup(Protocol):
         """What an equal execution produced, or None when there is no entry."""
 
 
-def run_cache_key(fingerprint: str, inputs: dict[str, Any]) -> str:
+def run_cache_key(fingerprint: str, inputs: dict[str, Any], flow: str = "") -> str:
     """What this node, with these inputs, is known by.
 
     An artifact input counts as its digest: the reference carries a name and a
     size beside it, and the same bytes under another name are the same input.
     A value JSON cannot carry cannot be part of a key, and a node reading one
     is simply not cacheable.
+
+    Inputs are keyed by the *node's* name for them, not the flow's: the same
+    node reading the same values through ``study`` and through ``quick`` did
+    the same work, and the fingerprint beside it already says what the node is.
+    A name belonging to some other flow keeps its prefix — reading
+    ``other.metric`` is part of what makes this execution what it is.
     """
     reduced = {
-        name: value["digest"] if is_reference(value) else value
+        (name.removeprefix(f"{flow}.") if flow else name): (
+            value["digest"] if is_reference(value) else value
+        )
         for name, value in inputs.items()
     }
     try:
@@ -932,7 +940,7 @@ class Pipeline:
 
             key = ""
             if self.run_cache is not None and node.fingerprint:
-                key = run_cache_key(node.fingerprint, inputs)
+                key = run_cache_key(node.fingerprint, inputs, node.flow)
             if key:
                 hit, restored = self._from_cache(node, key, state, entry_id)
                 if hit:
diff --git a/backend/tests/flow/test_runs.py b/backend/tests/flow/test_runs.py
index b53bd36..9b06221 100644
--- a/backend/tests/flow/test_runs.py
+++ b/backend/tests/flow/test_runs.py
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ def test_a_cache_hit_restores_the_outputs_without_running_the_node():
     node, calls = counting_node()
     state = MemoryState()
     seen: list[NodeOutcome] = []
-    key = run_cache_key("fp-train", {"study.lr": 0.5})
+    key = run_cache_key("fp-train", {"study.lr": 0.5}, "study")
     cache = FakeCache({key: {"study.loss": 99.0}})
 
     Pipeline(nodes=[node], state=state, observer=seen.append, run_cache=cache).run(
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ def test_a_hit_from_another_flow_restores_under_this_flow_s_names():
     node, calls = counting_node()
     state = MemoryState()
     seen: list[NodeOutcome] = []
-    key = run_cache_key("fp-train", {"study.lr": 0.5})
+    key = run_cache_key("fp-train", {"study.lr": 0.5}, "study")
     # Recorded by a run of "other", which is what a node shared between two
     # flows gets a hit from — the values are the same, the namespace is not.
     cache = FakeCache({key: {"other.loss": 99.0}}, flow="other")
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ def test_a_miss_runs_the_node_and_carries_what_would_be_stored():
     ).run(seed_values(flow, {"lr": 0.5}))
 
     assert calls == [1]
-    assert cache.asked == [run_cache_key("fp-train", {"study.lr": 0.5})]
+    assert cache.asked == [run_cache_key("fp-train", {"study.lr": 0.5}, "study")]
     assert not seen[0].cached
     assert seen[0].cache_key and seen[0].output_values == {"study.loss": 1.0}
 
@@ -467,6 +467,19 @@ def test_the_key_follows_the_inputs():
     assert first == run_cache_key("fp", {"lr": 0.5})
 
 
+def test_the_key_does_not_follow_the_flow_an_input_hangs_in():
+    # The same node reading the same value through two flows did the same work,
+    # so a run of one is a hit for the other.
+    assert run_cache_key("fp", {"study.lr": 0.5}, "study") == run_cache_key(
+        "fp", {"quick.lr": 0.5}, "quick"
+    )
+    # A name belonging to neither keeps its prefix: reading another flow's
+    # message is part of what this execution is.
+    assert run_cache_key("fp", {"other.lr": 0.5}, "study") != run_cache_key(
+        "fp", {"other.lr": 0.5}, "other"
+    )
+
+
 def test_an_artifact_input_counts_as_its_digest():
     digest = "sha256:" + "0" * 64
     # The same bytes under another name, of a size recorded differently, are