diff --git a/tools/push3-evolution/evolve.sh b/tools/push3-evolution/evolve.sh
index bb6a860..95d334e 100755
--- a/tools/push3-evolution/evolve.sh
+++ b/tools/push3-evolution/evolve.sh
@@ -828,9 +828,9 @@ if not new_items:
     sys.exit(0)
 
 # ── 5. Separate pinned (hand-written) from evolved; top-100 cap on evolved only
-pinned  = [(int(e.get('fitness', 0)), e, None) for e in existing
+pinned  = [(int(e.get('fitness') or 0), e, None) for e in existing
            if e.get('origin') != 'evolved']
-evolved = [(int(e.get('fitness', 0)), e, None) for e in existing
+evolved = [(int(e.get('fitness') or 0), e, None) for e in existing
            if e.get('origin') == 'evolved']
 for fitness, push3_path, entry in new_items:
     evolved.append((fitness, entry, push3_path))