diff --git a/deploy/deploy.sh b/deploy/deploy.sh
index 32ec12ba..49012cc0 100644
--- a/deploy/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy/deploy.sh
@@ -407,8 +407,11 @@ verify_backup_file_shape() {
 report_backup() {
   local target="$1" size
   if ! chmod 600 "$target" 2>/dev/null; then
-    docker run --rm -v "$BACKUP_DIR":/backup -e BACKUP_FILE="$(basename "$target")" \
-      alpine:3 sh -c 'chmod 600 "/backup/$BACKUP_FILE"'
+    if ! docker run --rm -v "$BACKUP_DIR":/backup -e BACKUP_FILE="$(basename "$target")" \
+        alpine:3 sh -c 'chmod 600 "/backup/$BACKUP_FILE"'; then
+      echo "Could not restrict backup permissions for ${target}. Aborting deploy."
+      return 1
+    fi
   fi
   size="$(du -h "$target" | cut -f1)"
   echo "Backup verified: ${target} (${size})"
diff --git a/scripts/test-deploy-backup.py b/scripts/test-deploy-backup.py
index 13835b66..9e228042 100644
--- a/scripts/test-deploy-backup.py
+++ b/scripts/test-deploy-backup.py
@@ -294,5 +294,68 @@ class BackupRetentionTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIn('DEPLOY WOULD CONTINUE', result.stdout)
 
 
+class BackupPermissionTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def permission_gate(self, kind, host_status, fallback_status):
+        source = (ROOT / 'deploy/deploy.sh').read_text(encoding='utf-8')
+        functions = []
+        for name in ['report_backup', 'verify_sql_backup', 'verify_volume_backup']:
+            start = source.index(name + '() {')
+            functions.append(source[start:source.index('\n}\n', start) + 3])
+        caller = 'backup_database' if kind == 'database' else 'backup_recovery_volumes'
+        start = source.index('if ! ' + caller + '; then')
+        gate = source[start:source.index('\nfi\n', start) + 4]
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix='backup-permission-') as directory:
+            target = Path(directory) / 'synthetic-backup.gz'
+            payload = b'synthetic permission fixture'
+            target.write_bytes(payload)
+            script = '\n'.join([
+                'set -euo pipefail',
+                'BACKUP_DIR=' + shlex.quote(Path(directory).as_posix()),
+                'TARGET=' + shlex.quote(target.as_posix()),
+                'chmod() { echo "HOST PERMISSIONS"; return ' + str(host_status) + '; }',
+                'docker() { if [[ "${@: -1}" == *chmod* ]]; then echo "FALLBACK PERMISSIONS"; return ' + str(fallback_status) + '; fi; return 0; }',
+                'du() { printf "1K\\tsynthetic\\n"; }',
+                'rm() { echo "UNEXPECTED REMOVAL"; return 99; }',
+                'gzip() { printf "CREATE TABLE synthetic (id int);\\n-- Dump completed\\n"; }',
+                'verify_backup_file_shape() { [ -s "$1" ]; }',
+                *functions,
+                'backup_database() { verify_sql_backup "$TARGET"; }',
+                'backup_recovery_volumes() { verify_volume_backup "$TARGET"; }',
+                gate,
+                'echo "NEXT DEPLOY GATE WOULD START"',
+            ])
+            result = subprocess.run([BASH, '--noprofile', '--norc'], input=script, text=True,
+                                    encoding='utf-8', capture_output=True, cwd=ROOT)
+            self.assertEqual(payload, target.read_bytes(), 'Permission failure must not remove the backup artifact')
+            self.assertNotIn('UNEXPECTED REMOVAL', result.stdout)
+            return result
+
+    def test_host_permission_success_does_not_need_fallback(self):
+        for kind in ['database', 'recovery']:
+            with self.subTest(kind=kind):
+                result = self.permission_gate(kind, 0, 23)
+                self.assertEqual(0, result.returncode, result.stdout + result.stderr)
+                self.assertNotIn('FALLBACK PERMISSIONS', result.stdout)
+                self.assertIn('Backup verified', result.stdout)
+                self.assertIn('NEXT DEPLOY GATE WOULD START', result.stdout)
+
+    def test_fallback_permission_success_preserves_verification(self):
+        for kind in ['database', 'recovery']:
+            with self.subTest(kind=kind):
+                result = self.permission_gate(kind, 1, 0)
+                self.assertEqual(0, result.returncode, result.stdout + result.stderr)
+                self.assertIn('FALLBACK PERMISSIONS', result.stdout)
+                self.assertIn('Backup verified', result.stdout)
+                self.assertIn('NEXT DEPLOY GATE WOULD START', result.stdout)
+
+    def test_both_permission_failures_block_verification_and_next_gate(self):
+        for kind in ['database', 'recovery']:
+            with self.subTest(kind=kind):
+                result = self.permission_gate(kind, 1, 23)
+                self.assertNotEqual(0, result.returncode, result.stdout + result.stderr)
+                self.assertNotIn('Backup verified', result.stdout)
+                self.assertNotIn('NEXT DEPLOY GATE WOULD START', result.stdout)
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()