Non-permalink custom taxonomy not found

The problem was 'exclude_from_search' => true in the register_post_type options.

Given that setting 'public' => true defaults to exluding from search by default I assumed that this was the correct setting.

However this is in the WordPress codex for register_post_type exclude_from_search:

Note: If you want to show the posts’s list that are associated to taxonomy’s terms, you must set exclude_from_search to false (ie : for call site_domaine/?taxonomy_slug=term_slug or site_domaine/taxonomy_slug/term_slug). If you set to true, on the taxonomy page (ex: taxonomy.php) WordPress will not find your posts and/or pagination will make 404 error…