diff --git a/csaxs_bec/macros/run_cont_grid_scan_for_table_row.py b/csaxs_bec/macros/run_cont_grid_scan_for_table_row.py
index cdfbd530..ce19b5a3 100644
--- a/csaxs_bec/macros/run_cont_grid_scan_for_table_row.py
+++ b/csaxs_bec/macros/run_cont_grid_scan_for_table_row.py
@@ -69,11 +69,14 @@ def run_cont_grid_scan_for_table_row(
         try:
             # Move motors to the starting position of the scan
             move_command = []
-            roty_motor = dev.devices[row["roty_axis"]]
+            # NOTE `dev` IS the device container (bec_lib client binds
+            # dev = device_manager.devices), so `dev.devices[...]` asks the container for a
+            # device named "devices" and raises DeviceConfigError before any motor moves.
+            roty_motor = dev[row["roty_axis"]]
             setpoint_roty = roty_motor.setpoint.get(cached=True)
             if not np.isclose(setpoint_roty, row["roty"]):
                 move_command.extend([row["roty_axis"], row["roty"]])
-            setpoint_rotx = dev.devices[row["rotx_axis"]].setpoint.get(cached=True)
+            setpoint_rotx = dev[row["rotx_axis"]].setpoint.get(cached=True)
             if not np.isclose(setpoint_rotx, row["rotx"]):
                 move_command.extend([row["rotx_axis"], row["rotx"]])
             # Wait for all motor movements to complete
diff --git a/tests/tests_macros/test_macro_device_access.py b/tests/tests_macros/test_macro_device_access.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f46dcc60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/tests_macros/test_macro_device_access.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+"""Static checks on the user macros.
+
+Macros run in the BEC client namespace and are not covered by unit tests, so mistakes in
+them surface only at the beamline -- and, because several macros wrap their body in a
+try/except that reports to SciLog, often only as a generic message with the traceback
+discarded. These checks catch the failure modes that are decidable statically.
+"""
+
+import ast
+import pathlib
+
+import pytest
+
+MACRO_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "csaxs_bec" / "macros"
+MACROS = sorted(p for p in MACRO_DIR.glob("*.py") if p.name != "__init__.py")
+
+
+def test_macro_directory_is_found():
+    """Guard against the glob silently matching nothing if the layout changes."""
+    assert MACROS, f"no macros found under {MACRO_DIR}"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("macro", MACROS, ids=lambda p: p.name)
+def test_macros_do_not_go_through_dev_devices(macro: pathlib.Path):
+    """`dev` is already the device container, so `dev.devices` cannot resolve.
+
+    bec_lib binds `dev = device_manager.devices` in the client namespace, and
+    DeviceContainer.__getattr__ raises DeviceConfigError for an unknown attribute. So
+    `dev.devices[name]` asks for a device literally called "devices" and fails before
+    doing anything useful. Use `dev[name]`.
+    """
+    tree = ast.parse(macro.read_text(), filename=str(macro))
+    offenders = [
+        node.lineno
+        for node in ast.walk(tree)
+        if isinstance(node, ast.Attribute)
+        and node.attr == "devices"
+        and isinstance(node.value, ast.Name)
+        and node.value.id == "dev"
+    ]
+    assert not offenders, (
+        f"{macro.name}: line(s) {offenders} use dev.devices -- `dev` is the device "
+        "container itself, so this raises DeviceConfigError at runtime. Use dev[<name>]."
+    )