diff --git a/libink/match.c b/libink/match.c
index add721b4..eaaa87f5 100644
--- a/libink/match.c
+++ b/libink/match.c
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@
  * keys cause the whole rule to be rejected so a peer learns its
  * filter didn't take, rather than silently receiving everything.
  *
+ * The exceptions are sender, destination, and eavesdrop, which are
+ * accepted and then ignored.  Clients send them as a matter of
+ * course, and refusing the rule leaves such a peer with no signals at
+ * all, which serves it far worse than a filter wider than it asked
+ * for.  Widening is safe here: Finit is the only sender on this bus,
+ * and everything it emits through the match table is state any peer
+ * that reached the bus may already read.
+ *
  * Copyright (c) 2026  Joachim Wiberg <troglobit@gmail.com>
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
  */
@@ -103,7 +111,18 @@ struct link_match *__match_parse(const char *rule)
 		else if (!strcmp(key, "interface")) slot = &m->interface;
 		else if (!strcmp(key, "member"))    slot = &m->member;
 		else if (!strcmp(key, "path"))      slot = &m->path;
-		else {
+		else if (!strcmp(key, "sender") ||
+			 !strcmp(key, "destination") ||
+			 !strcmp(key, "eavesdrop")) {
+			/* Understood well enough to accept, see above. */
+			free(key);
+			free(value);
+			continue;
+		} else {
+			/* XXX: argN and argNpath land here, so a rule
+			 * using them takes nothing rather than too
+			 * much.  They narrow on body contents, which
+			 * means parsing the body to honour them. */
 			free(key);
 			free(value);
 			goto bad;
diff --git a/test/dbus-bus.sh b/test/dbus-bus.sh
index 7bd53704..57a21da8 100755
--- a/test/dbus-bus.sh
+++ b/test/dbus-bus.sh
@@ -54,6 +54,26 @@ case "$(cat /tmp/dbus-match.out)" in
     *) fail "Unexpected reply: $(cat /tmp/dbus-match.out)" ;;
 esac
 
+# A client that sends these must still get its signals: refusing the
+# rule would leave it with none at all.  The sender here is deliberately
+# wrong, so a delivered signal proves the key was ignored and not
+# quietly honoured.
+say "AddMatch accepts, and ignores, sender/destination/eavesdrop"
+rm -f /tmp/dbus-ignored.out
+( texec "$CLIENT" monitor-signal "$BUS" \
+    "type='signal',sender='org.freedesktop.DBus',destination=':1.99',eavesdrop='false',interface='org.finit.Cond1',member='ConditionChanged'" \
+    5000 > /tmp/dbus-ignored.out 2>&1 ) &
+ign_pid=$!
+sleep 0.5
+texec "$CLIENT" call-s "$BUS" /org/finit/cond \
+    org.finit.Cond1 Set "dbus-ignored-keys" >/dev/null \
+    || fail "Cond1.Set returned non-zero"
+set +e
+wait "$ign_pid"
+ign_rc=$?
+set -e
+assert "Signal still delivered through the wider rule (rc=$ign_rc)" "$ign_rc" -eq 0
+
 say "Unknown method on a Finit interface gets an org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.* reply"
 set +e
 texec "$CLIENT" unknown "$BUS"