diff --git a/src/ScadaLink.NotificationOutbox/NotificationOutboxActor.cs b/src/ScadaLink.NotificationOutbox/NotificationOutboxActor.cs
index 430ed37..947a2cc 100644
--- a/src/ScadaLink.NotificationOutbox/NotificationOutboxActor.cs
+++ b/src/ScadaLink.NotificationOutbox/NotificationOutboxActor.cs
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ public class NotificationOutboxActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
         Receive<InternalMessages.DispatchTick>(_ => HandleDispatchTick());
         Receive<InternalMessages.DispatchComplete>(_ => _dispatching = false);
         Receive<InternalMessages.PurgeTick>(_ => HandlePurgeTick());
+        // No-op: purge has no in-flight guard to lower, and the outcome is already logged
+        // by the PipeTo projections, so PurgeComplete carries nothing to act on.
         Receive<InternalMessages.PurgeComplete>(_ => { });
         Receive<NotificationOutboxQueryRequest>(HandleQuery);
         Receive<NotificationStatusQuery>(HandleStatusQuery);
@@ -297,9 +299,11 @@ public class NotificationOutboxActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
     /// <summary>
     /// Handles a purge tick by launching an asynchronous sweep that bulk-deletes terminal
     /// notification rows older than <see cref="NotificationOutboxOptions.TerminalRetention"/>.
-    /// Purges are daily and idempotent, so no in-flight guard is needed; the outcome is piped
-    /// back to <see cref="Self"/> only so a faulted purge is logged on the actor thread and
-    /// never wedges anything.
+    /// Purges are daily and idempotent, so no in-flight guard is needed. <see cref="RunPurgePass"/>
+    /// self-isolates its faults — it logs internally and never faults its task — so the
+    /// success projection is the normal completion path that logs the deleted count. The
+    /// failure projection is kept as a belt-and-braces backup, consistent with
+    /// <see cref="HandleDispatchTick"/>/<see cref="RunDispatchPass"/>.
     /// </summary>
     private void HandlePurgeTick()
     {
@@ -324,13 +328,26 @@ public class NotificationOutboxActor : ReceiveActor, IWithTimers
     /// <summary>
     /// Runs a single purge sweep: resolves a scoped <see cref="INotificationOutboxRepository"/>
     /// and bulk-deletes terminal rows created before <paramref name="cutoff"/>, returning the
-    /// deleted count.
+    /// deleted count. The whole body is wrapped in a try/catch so the returned task never
+    /// faults — scope creation, service resolution, and the bulk delete can all throw, and
+    /// self-isolating the fault here keeps the fault-handling strategy symmetric with
+    /// <see cref="RunDispatchPass"/>. On failure the exception is logged and 0 is returned.
     /// </summary>
     private async Task<int> RunPurgePass(DateTimeOffset cutoff)
     {
-        using var scope = _serviceProvider.CreateScope();
-        var repository = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<INotificationOutboxRepository>();
-        return await repository.DeleteTerminalOlderThanAsync(cutoff);
+        try
+        {
+            using var scope = _serviceProvider.CreateScope();
+            var repository = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<INotificationOutboxRepository>();
+            return await repository.DeleteTerminalOlderThanAsync(cutoff);
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            // Scope/service resolution or the bulk delete faulted; swallow and log so the
+            // returned task completes normally, mirroring RunDispatchPass.
+            _logger.LogError(ex, "Purge sweep failed unexpectedly.");
+            return 0;
+        }
     }
 
     /// <summary>