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SPF void lookup limit exceeded — dead includes in your record

A void lookup is a DNS query made during SPF evaluation that returns NXDOMAIN or no records. RFC 7208 §4.6.4 allows at most two before evaluation fails with PermError.

Void lookups almost always mean an include: points at a vendor that has shut down or changed their SPF hostname. The record looks fine to a human and is broken to a receiver.

How to fix it

  1. 1Identify which include: or redirect= targets return no SPF record.
  2. 2Remove every one belonging to a service you no longer use.
  3. 3For services you still use, get the current include hostname from their documentation — vendors do rename these.
  4. 4Re-scan and confirm the void count is back to zero.

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