diff --git a/scripts/common.py b/scripts/common.py
index 3d3d6baa..f2e98204 100644
--- a/scripts/common.py
+++ b/scripts/common.py
@@ -1938,13 +1938,17 @@ def group_identical_platforms(
             inherits[platform] = False
             continue
 
-        entries = []
-        for sys_id, system in sorted(config.get("systems", {}).items()):
-            for fe in system.get("files", []):
-                dest = fe.get("destination", fe.get("name", ""))
-                sha1 = fe.get("sha1", "")
-                md5 = fe.get("md5", "")
-                entries.append(f"{dest}|{sha1}|{md5}")
+        # Every field of every entry: the builder reads required, zipped_file,
+        # size and crc32 too, so two lists that differ only there are two
+        # packs. So is the way the frontend checks a file.
+        entries = [
+            json.dumps(fe, sort_keys=True, default=str)
+            for _sys_id, system in sorted(config.get("systems", {}).items())
+            for fe in system.get("files", [])
+        ]
+        entries.append(
+            f"mode={config.get('verification_mode', '')}|rule={config.get('hash_rule', '')}"
+        )
 
         fp = hashlib.sha1("|".join(sorted(entries)).encode()).hexdigest()
         cores = config.get("cores")
diff --git a/tests/test_pack_grouping.py b/tests/test_pack_grouping.py
index e60125fd..d24674c4 100644
--- a/tests/test_pack_grouping.py
+++ b/tests/test_pack_grouping.py
@@ -75,5 +75,33 @@ class VariantGroupSpansSystems(unittest.TestCase):
             self.assertNotIn(name, names)
 
 
+class AFrontendCheckSeparatesPacks(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Two lists of the same files under different checks are two packs: a
+    hash platform drops a file whose hash disagrees, an existence one ships
+    it. The fingerprint read destination, sha1 and md5 only."""
+
+    def test_verification_mode_and_entry_fields_split_groups(self):
+        import tempfile
+
+        import yaml
+
+        import common
+
+        files = [{"name": "a.bin", "destination": "a.bin", "md5": "0" * 32}]
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            for name, mode, extra in (("one", "existence", {}), ("two", "md5", {}),
+                                      ("three", "existence", {"required": False})):
+                entry = {**files[0], **extra}
+                Path(tmp, f"{name}.yml").write_text(yaml.dump({
+                    "platform": name, "verification_mode": mode,
+                    "systems": {"s": {"files": [entry]}},
+                }))
+            Path(tmp, "_registry.yml").write_text(yaml.dump({"platforms": {}}))
+            common._platform_config_cache.clear()
+            self.addCleanup(common._platform_config_cache.clear)
+            groups = common.group_identical_platforms(["one", "two", "three"], tmp)
+        self.assertEqual(sorted(g for g, _ in groups), [["one"], ["three"], ["two"]])
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()