diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 73c8ab7f..a92536c6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@ loosely while pre-1.0 (breaking changes can land on minor bumps).
 ## [Unreleased]
 
 ### Fixed
+- **Reconcile rollback no longer wipes the workspace on a failed restore.**
+  `restore_workspace` now copies the snapshot into a staging directory
+  under `.arbiter-reconcile-snapshots` before clearing the live tree.
+  If that copy fails (unreadable snapshot, I/O error), the original
+  files stay in place and restore returns false. Previously
+  `clear_dir_contents` ran first, so a subsequent `copy_tree` failure
+  left the workspace empty while `run_reconcile` reported `failed`
+  rather than `rolled_back`.
 - **LaTeX math recursion depth.** `latex_math_to_plain` now stops converting
   after 64 nested `\frac` / `^` / `_` / `\sqrt` / `\text` groups and emits
   the remaining raw fragment, matching the JSON parser's nesting cap so
diff --git a/include/reconcile.h b/include/reconcile.h
index 69afd93e..1bcb2c80 100644
--- a/include/reconcile.h
+++ b/include/reconcile.h
@@ -159,6 +159,9 @@ VerificationEvidence run_verification(const ReconcileSpec& spec,
 bool snapshot_workspace(const std::string& root,
                         const std::string& dest,
                         std::string* err);
+// Copy `snapshot` into `root`.  The snapshot is staged first so a
+// failed copy cannot clear the live tree; only a successful stage
+// replaces workspace contents (`.arbiter-reconcile-snapshots` is kept).
 bool restore_workspace(const std::string& snapshot,
                        const std::string& root,
                        std::string* err);
diff --git a/src/reconcile.cpp b/src/reconcile.cpp
index 0179806b..7cfc6bf9 100644
--- a/src/reconcile.cpp
+++ b/src/reconcile.cpp
@@ -926,8 +926,31 @@ bool restore_workspace(const std::string& snapshot,
         if (err) *err = "workspace root is missing";
         return false;
     }
+
+    // Stage the snapshot copy first.  clear_dir_contents(root) is not
+    // reversible, so a copy_tree failure after clearing used to leave
+    // the live workspace empty (or partial) even though restore
+    // returned false.  Staging lives under .arbiter-reconcile-snapshots
+    // so clear_dir_contents skips it (same rule as the `pre` snapshot).
+    const fs::path snap_dir = fs::path(root) / ".arbiter-reconcile-snapshots";
+    const fs::path staging = snap_dir / ".restore-staging";
+    fs::create_directories(snap_dir, ec);
+    if (ec) {
+        if (err) *err = "cannot create snapshot dir: " + ec.message();
+        return false;
+    }
+    fs::remove_all(staging, ec);
+    if (!copy_tree(snapshot, staging.string(), err)) {
+        fs::remove_all(staging, ec);
+        return false;
+    }
+
     clear_dir_contents(root);
-    return copy_tree(snapshot, root, err);
+    const bool ok = copy_tree(staging.string(), root, err);
+    if (ok) fs::remove_all(staging, ec);
+    // On a failed install into root, leave staging in place so the
+    // staged tree is still recoverable under .restore-staging.
+    return ok;
 }
 
 std::string format_reconcile_brief(const StateContract& c,
diff --git a/tests/test_reconcile.cpp b/tests/test_reconcile.cpp
index 2864feaa..5c250740 100644
--- a/tests/test_reconcile.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_reconcile.cpp
@@ -227,6 +227,53 @@ TEST_CASE("broken tests never satisfy") {
     CHECK_FALSE(r.verification.passed);
 }
 
+TEST_CASE("restore_workspace does not wipe the live tree when snapshot copy fails") {
+    TempDir dir;
+    const fs::path root = dir.path / "ws";
+    const fs::path snap = dir.path / "snap";
+    fs::create_directories(root);
+    fs::create_directories(snap);
+    write_file(root / "keep.txt", "original\n");
+    write_file(snap / "secret.txt", "from-snap\n");
+    fs::permissions(snap / "secret.txt", fs::perms::none);
+
+    std::string err;
+    CHECK_FALSE(restore_workspace(snap.string(), root.string(), &err));
+    CHECK(fs::exists(root / "keep.txt"));
+    CHECK_FALSE(fs::exists(root / "secret.txt"));
+    {
+        std::ifstream in(root / "keep.txt");
+        std::string body((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(in)), {});
+        CHECK(body == "original\n");
+    }
+
+    std::error_code ec;
+    fs::permissions(snap / "secret.txt",
+                    fs::perms::owner_read | fs::perms::owner_write, ec);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("restore_workspace replaces live files from a readable snapshot") {
+    TempDir dir;
+    const fs::path root = dir.path / "ws";
+    const fs::path snap = dir.path / "snap";
+    fs::create_directories(root);
+    fs::create_directories(snap);
+    write_file(root / "keep.txt", "original\n");
+    write_file(root / "debris.py", "partial\n");
+    write_file(snap / "keep.txt", "restored\n");
+
+    std::string err;
+    CHECK(restore_workspace(snap.string(), root.string(), &err));
+    CHECK(fs::exists(root / "keep.txt"));
+    CHECK_FALSE(fs::exists(root / "debris.py"));
+    {
+        std::ifstream in(root / "keep.txt");
+        std::string body((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(in)), {});
+        CHECK(body == "restored\n");
+    }
+    CHECK_FALSE(fs::exists(root / ".arbiter-reconcile-snapshots" / ".restore-staging"));
+}
+
 TEST_CASE("rollbackOnFailure restores pre-run tree") {
     TempDir dir;
     write_file(dir.path / "keep.txt", "original\n");