diff --git a/docs/plans/2026-07-21-localdb-followups-live-gate.md b/docs/plans/2026-07-21-localdb-followups-live-gate.md
index d2c6ac54..d3cc61a0 100644
--- a/docs/plans/2026-07-21-localdb-followups-live-gate.md
+++ b/docs/plans/2026-07-21-localdb-followups-live-gate.md
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ scenario was believed impossible to recover from — it was a *documented limita
 gate is what turned the limitation into a reproducible case, and the second defect only existed
 behind the first.
 
-## Unrelated finding (NOT a follow-up of this work — pre-existing; filed as `lmxopcua` issue #485)
+## Unrelated finding (NOT a follow-up of this work — pre-existing; `lmxopcua` issue #485, since FIXED)
 
 While SQL was being stopped and started to drive check 4, site-b-1 took a deploy whose artifact load
 hit a transient ConfigDb error, and **emptied its served address space**:
@@ -66,3 +66,13 @@ the node recovered fully on restart (`containers=16`). But a transient ConfigDb
 served address space instead of holding last-known-good is the same failure *class* as the Phase 1
 gate's check-3 defect. Untouched by this work — site-b-1 has replication off entirely — and induced by
 this gate's own SQL flapping.
+
+**Fixed** (issue #485): `OpcUaPublishActor.HandleRebuild` now treats an artifact it could not obtain as
+*no answer* rather than *an empty configuration*, and abandons the rebuild with the served address space
+(and `_lastApplied`) intact. Nothing legitimate produces a zero-length blob — an operator who really
+deletes everything still deploys a JSON document with empty arrays — so "no bytes" can only mean the read
+failed. The log excerpt above is now impossible: the `PureRemove` never runs, and the loader's own
+"the rebuild is abandoned" line is finally true. Covered by
+`OpcUaPublishActorRebuildTests.Rebuild_keeps_the_last_known_good_address_space_when_the_artifact_load_fails`,
+with a positive control proving a *readable* artifact that genuinely drops an equipment still tears its
+subtree down.
diff --git a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/OpcUa/OpcUaPublishActor.cs b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/OpcUa/OpcUaPublishActor.cs
index f19127ab..8cd39d07 100644
--- a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/OpcUa/OpcUaPublishActor.cs
+++ b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/OpcUa/OpcUaPublishActor.cs
@@ -112,6 +112,10 @@ public sealed class OpcUaPublishActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
     private int _writes;
     private byte _lastServiceLevel;
     private bool _publishedAtLeastOnce;
+    /// <summary>True once a real composition has been applied, i.e. there is a served address space worth
+    /// protecting. Distinguishes "the artifact went missing under a running server" (issue #485 — warn, and
+    /// hold what is materialised) from "nothing has been deployed here yet" (a quiet no-op at boot).</summary>
+    private bool _hasAppliedComposition;
     private DbHealthProbeActor.DbHealthStatus? _lastDbHealth;
     private RedundancyStateChanged? _lastSnapshot;
     private (bool Ok, DateTime At)? _probeAboutMe;
@@ -364,6 +368,28 @@ public sealed class OpcUaPublishActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
             // carry neither.
             var artifact = msg.Artifact
                 ?? (msg.DeploymentId is { } depId ? LoadArtifact(depId) : LoadLatestArtifact());
+
+            // Issue #485 — an artifact we could not obtain is NOT an empty configuration. Parsing zero
+            // bytes yields an empty composition, which the planner diffs against the live one as a
+            // PureRemove and the applier then faithfully tears down: a transient ConfigDb blip empties the
+            // served address space. Nothing legitimate produces a zero-length blob (an operator who really
+            // deletes everything still deploys a JSON document with empty arrays), so the only honest
+            // reading of "no bytes" is "no answer" — hold the last-known-good address space and let the
+            // next deploy (or the next boot) supply a real one. Returning here also leaves _lastApplied
+            // intact, so the retry diffs against what is actually materialised.
+            if (artifact is null or { Length: 0 })
+            {
+                if (_hasAppliedComposition)
+                    _log.Warning(
+                        "OpcUaPublish: no usable artifact for deployment {Id} (correlation={Correlation}) — KEEPING the currently served address space rather than tearing it down",
+                        msg.DeploymentId, msg.Correlation);
+                else
+                    _log.Debug(
+                        "OpcUaPublish: no artifact to materialise yet (deployment={Id}, correlation={Correlation})",
+                        msg.DeploymentId, msg.Correlation);
+                return;
+            }
+
             var composition = _localNode is { } ln
                 ? DeploymentArtifact.ParseComposition(artifact, ln.Value,
                     inconsistency => _log.Warning("OpcUaPublish {Node}: cross-cluster binding — {Message}", ln, inconsistency))
@@ -379,6 +405,7 @@ public sealed class OpcUaPublishActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
 
             var outcome = _applier.Apply(plan);
             _lastApplied = composition;
+            _hasAppliedComposition = true;
 
             // Sum swallowed per-node materialise failures across every pass together with Apply's own
             // removal-pass tally (archreview 01/S-1). A degraded apply used to vanish into per-node
@@ -443,7 +470,8 @@ public sealed class OpcUaPublishActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
     }
 
     /// <summary>Read a specific deployment's artifact blob from ConfigDb (the one just applied,
-    /// which may not be Sealed yet). Empty array on any failure — parser treats it as "no composition".</summary>
+    /// which may not be Sealed yet). Empty array on any failure — <see cref="HandleRebuild"/> treats that as
+    /// "no answer" and abandons the rebuild, leaving the served address space untouched (issue #485).</summary>
     private byte[] LoadArtifact(DeploymentId deploymentId)
     {
         try
@@ -456,13 +484,13 @@ public sealed class OpcUaPublishActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
-            _log.Warning(ex, "OpcUaPublish: failed to load artifact for deployment {Id}; rebuild becomes no-op", deploymentId);
+            _log.Warning(ex, "OpcUaPublish: failed to load artifact for deployment {Id}; the rebuild is abandoned", deploymentId);
             return Array.Empty<byte>();
         }
     }
 
     /// <summary>Read the most recent <c>Sealed</c> deployment's artifact blob from ConfigDb.
-    /// Empty array on any failure — the parser treats empty blob as "no composition".</summary>
+    /// Empty array on any failure — see <see cref="LoadArtifact"/> for how that is handled.</summary>
     private byte[] LoadLatestArtifact()
     {
         try
@@ -476,7 +504,7 @@ public sealed class OpcUaPublishActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
-            _log.Warning(ex, "OpcUaPublish: failed to load latest deployment artifact; rebuild becomes no-op");
+            _log.Warning(ex, "OpcUaPublish: failed to load latest deployment artifact; the rebuild is abandoned");
             return Array.Empty<byte>();
         }
     }
diff --git a/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/OpcUa/OpcUaPublishActorRebuildTests.cs b/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/OpcUa/OpcUaPublishActorRebuildTests.cs
index be94b075..ba619faf 100644
--- a/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/OpcUa/OpcUaPublishActorRebuildTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime.Tests/OpcUa/OpcUaPublishActorRebuildTests.cs
@@ -279,6 +279,85 @@ public sealed class OpcUaPublishActorRebuildTests : RuntimeActorTestBase
         sink.Calls.Count(c => c.StartsWith("NA:")).ShouldBe(naAfterFirst);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    ///     Issue #485 — a transient ConfigDb error while loading a deploy's artifact must NOT empty the
+    ///     served address space. The loader's own log already claims "rebuild becomes no-op", but an
+    ///     unreadable artifact used to become an EMPTY composition, which the planner then diffed against
+    ///     the live one as a PureRemove and tore every node down. A blip on the way to the database is not
+    ///     evidence that the operator deployed an empty configuration: the last-known-good address space
+    ///     must stand until a real artifact says otherwise.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void Rebuild_keeps_the_last_known_good_address_space_when_the_artifact_load_fails()
+    {
+        var db = new FlakyDbFactory(NewInMemoryDbFactory());
+        var sink = new RecordingSink();
+        var applier = new AddressSpaceApplier(sink, NullLogger<AddressSpaceApplier>.Instance);
+        var dep1 = SeedNamedEquipmentDeployment(db, ("eq-1", "Pump-1"), ("eq-2", "Pump-2"));
+
+        var actor = Sys.ActorOf(OpcUaPublishActor.PropsForTests(sink: sink, dbFactory: db, applier: applier));
+        actor.Tell(new OpcUaPublishActor.RebuildAddressSpace(CorrelationId.NewId(), new DeploymentId(dep1)));
+        AwaitAssert(() => sink.Calls.ShouldContain("EF:eq-2"), duration: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+        var callsAfterFirst = sink.Calls.Count;
+
+        // The next deploy arrives while the ConfigDb is briefly unreachable.
+        db.Fail = true;
+        actor.Tell(new OpcUaPublishActor.RebuildAddressSpace(CorrelationId.NewId(), new DeploymentId(Guid.NewGuid())));
+        Thread.Sleep(200);
+
+        sink.Calls.ShouldNotContain(c => c.StartsWith("RE:"));   // no equipment subtree torn down
+        sink.RebuildCalls.ShouldBe(0);
+        sink.Calls.Count.ShouldBe(callsAfterFirst);              // the failed load touched nothing at all
+
+        // …and the actor still remembers WHAT is applied: once the database is back, re-applying the same
+        // composition diffs to an empty plan. A clobbered _lastApplied would re-materialise everything.
+        db.Fail = false;
+        actor.Tell(new OpcUaPublishActor.RebuildAddressSpace(CorrelationId.NewId(), new DeploymentId(dep1)));
+        Thread.Sleep(200);
+        sink.Calls.Count.ShouldBe(callsAfterFirst);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    ///     Positive control for <see cref="Rebuild_keeps_the_last_known_good_address_space_when_the_artifact_load_fails"/>:
+    ///     the guard suppresses teardown ONLY when the artifact could not be read. A real deploy that
+    ///     genuinely drops an equipment still tears its subtree down, so the removal path is not simply dead.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void Rebuild_still_removes_equipment_a_readable_artifact_genuinely_dropped()
+    {
+        var db = new FlakyDbFactory(NewInMemoryDbFactory());
+        var sink = new RecordingSink();
+        var applier = new AddressSpaceApplier(sink, NullLogger<AddressSpaceApplier>.Instance);
+        var dep1 = SeedNamedEquipmentDeployment(db, ("eq-1", "Pump-1"), ("eq-2", "Pump-2"));
+
+        var actor = Sys.ActorOf(OpcUaPublishActor.PropsForTests(sink: sink, dbFactory: db, applier: applier));
+        actor.Tell(new OpcUaPublishActor.RebuildAddressSpace(CorrelationId.NewId(), new DeploymentId(dep1)));
+        AwaitAssert(() => sink.Calls.ShouldContain("EF:eq-2"), duration: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+
+        // eq-2 really is gone from the next artifact — that IS a configuration change, so it must apply.
+        var dep2 = SeedNamedEquipmentDeployment(db, ("eq-1", "Pump-1"));
+        actor.Tell(new OpcUaPublishActor.RebuildAddressSpace(CorrelationId.NewId(), new DeploymentId(dep2)));
+
+        AwaitAssert(() => sink.Calls.ShouldContain("RE:eq-2"), duration: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2));
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>An <see cref="IDbContextFactory{TContext}"/> whose <c>CreateDbContext</c> can be made to
+    /// throw the way a real transient ConfigDb outage does, so the artifact load fails exactly where issue
+    /// #485 observed it failing.</summary>
+    private sealed class FlakyDbFactory(IDbContextFactory<OtOpcUaConfigDbContext> inner)
+        : IDbContextFactory<OtOpcUaConfigDbContext>
+    {
+        /// <summary>Gets or sets a value indicating whether the next context creation should throw.</summary>
+        public bool Fail { get; set; }
+
+        /// <summary>Creates a context, or throws when <see cref="Fail"/> is set.</summary>
+        /// <returns>A new context.</returns>
+        public OtOpcUaConfigDbContext CreateDbContext() => Fail
+            ? throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                "An error occurred using the connection to database 'OtOpcUa' on server 'sql,1433'.")
+            : inner.CreateDbContext();
+    }
+
     /// <summary>Seal a deployment carrying the given (equipmentId, name) rows under a shared line, returning
     /// the new DeploymentId so a test can target THAT artifact. Renaming an equipment across two such
     /// deployments produces a ChangedEquipment delta (Rebuild), while adding a row is a PureAdd.</summary>