diff --git a/Source/FileManager/PersistentDictionary.cs b/Source/FileManager/PersistentDictionary.cs
index a148abf4..2a40a4fc 100644
--- a/Source/FileManager/PersistentDictionary.cs
+++ b/Source/FileManager/PersistentDictionary.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using Newtonsoft.Json;
+using Dinah.Core.IO;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
@@ -21,6 +22,9 @@ public class PersistentDictionary : IJsonBackedDictionary
 	// the UI thread, BackgroundWorker callbacks and download workers simultaneously. Every cache and
 	// file access below must be serialized: unsynchronized Dictionary writes corrupt the cache, and
 	// unsynchronized file access lets a reader observe a half-written file.
+	// This lock cannot reach a second process (the GUI and the CLI share Settings.json), which is why
+	// every write goes through AtomicFileWriter: an outside reader sees either the old file or the new
+	// one, never a truncated one.
 	private Lock locker { get; } = new();
 
 	public PersistentDictionary(string filepath, bool isReadOnly = false)
@@ -182,7 +186,7 @@ public class PersistentDictionary : IJsonBackedDictionary
 
 				var endContents = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jObject, Formatting.Indented);
 
-				File.WriteAllText(Filepath, endContents);
+				writeFileContents(endContents);
 				success = true;
 			}
 			Serilog.Log.Logger.Information("Removed property. {propertyName}", propertyName);
@@ -209,7 +213,7 @@ public class PersistentDictionary : IJsonBackedDictionary
 		if (startContents == endContents)
 			return false;
 
-		File.WriteAllText(Filepath, endContents);
+		writeFileContents(endContents);
 		return true;
 	}
 
@@ -252,7 +256,7 @@ public class PersistentDictionary : IJsonBackedDictionary
 					return false;
 
 				token[propertyName] = newValue;
-				File.WriteAllText(Filepath, JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jObject, Formatting.Indented));
+				writeFileContents(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jObject, Formatting.Indented));
 			}
 		}
 		catch (Exception exDebug)
@@ -281,6 +285,23 @@ public class PersistentDictionary : IJsonBackedDictionary
 		: value.Length > 100 ? $"[Length={value.Length}] {value[0..50]}...{value[^50..^0]}"
 		: value;
 
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Replaces the settings file in one step, so a concurrent reader - including one in another
+	/// Libation process - sees either the whole old file or the whole new one. Mirrors how
+	/// <see cref="Dinah.Core.IO.JsonFilePersister{T}"/> saves AccountsSettings.json.
+	/// </summary>
+	private void writeFileContents(string contents)
+		=> AtomicFileWriter.WriteAllText(Filepath, contents, validateJsonTempFile);
+
+	/// <summary>Throws before the temp file replaces the real one, leaving the real one untouched.</summary>
+	private static void validateJsonTempFile(string tempPath)
+	{
+		var contents = File.ReadAllText(tempPath);
+		if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(contents))
+			throw new JsonSerializationException($"Refusing to write an empty settings file to {tempPath}");
+		JToken.Parse(contents);
+	}
+
 	/// <summary>Caller must hold <see cref="locker"/>.</summary>
 	private JObject readFile()
 	{
@@ -315,7 +336,7 @@ public class PersistentDictionary : IJsonBackedDictionary
 
 	private void createNewFile()
 	{
-		File.WriteAllText(Filepath, "{}");
+		writeFileContents("{}");
 	}
 
 	public JObject GetJObject()
diff --git a/Source/_Tests/FileManager.Tests/PersistentDictionaryConcurrencyTests.cs b/Source/_Tests/FileManager.Tests/PersistentDictionaryConcurrencyTests.cs
index 215896a0..8e86aa49 100644
--- a/Source/_Tests/FileManager.Tests/PersistentDictionaryConcurrencyTests.cs
+++ b/Source/_Tests/FileManager.Tests/PersistentDictionaryConcurrencyTests.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Threading;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 
 namespace FileManager.Tests;
@@ -195,6 +196,71 @@ public class PersistentDictionaryConcurrencyTests
 		}
 	}
 
+	/// <summary>
+	/// The lock cannot reach a second process - the GUI and the CLI share one Settings.json - so a
+	/// write must never leave the file truncated. Reading it straight off disk, bypassing the
+	/// dictionary, stands in for that outside reader.
+	/// </summary>
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void ExternalReaderNeverSeesAPartiallyWrittenFile()
+	{
+		var file = createSettingsFile();
+		try
+		{
+			var dictionary = new PersistentDictionary(file);
+
+			// a payload big enough that a non-atomic write has a window to be caught mid-flight
+			var padding = new string('x', 64 * 1024);
+			var done = false;
+
+			runConcurrently(thread =>
+			{
+				if (thread == 0)
+				{
+					try
+					{
+						for (var i = 0; i < Keys; i++)
+							dictionary.SetString("Padded", $"{padding}{i}");
+					}
+					finally
+					{
+						Volatile.Write(ref done, true);
+					}
+					return;
+				}
+
+				while (!Volatile.Read(ref done))
+				{
+					string contents;
+					try
+					{
+						// share the file the way a cooperative outside reader would, so an atomic
+						// replace is never blocked by this test
+						using var stream = new FileStream(file, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite | FileShare.Delete);
+						using var reader = new StreamReader(stream);
+						contents = reader.ReadToEnd();
+					}
+					catch (IOException)
+					{
+						// a sharing violation is the OS refusing the read, not a corrupt file
+						continue;
+					}
+
+					Assert.IsFalse(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(contents), "read an empty Settings.json mid-write");
+					// throws JsonReaderException on a truncated file
+					Assert.IsNotNull(JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JObject>(contents));
+				}
+			});
+
+			// no temp files left behind
+			Assert.AreEqual(1, Directory.GetFiles(Path.GetDirectoryName(file)!).Length);
+		}
+		finally
+		{
+			deleteSettingsFile(file);
+		}
+	}
+
 	[TestMethod]
 	public void ReadWhileWriting_DoesNotThrow()
 	{