diff --git a/src/ding/mod.rs b/src/ding/mod.rs
index 1b9e4463..b7650104 100644
--- a/src/ding/mod.rs
+++ b/src/ding/mod.rs
@@ -3292,6 +3292,87 @@ Enter to select · ↑/↓ to navigate · Esc to cancel";
         );
     }
 
+    /// Platforms that cannot hardlink through the open-file descriptor path (macOS fdescfs
+    /// rejects linkat(AT_SYMLINK_FOLLOW) on /dev/fd/N with EPERM) fall back to a byte-copy
+    /// archive receipt. The differentiated supersession semantics must hold unchanged on that
+    /// path, the receipt must carry exactly the validated bytes, and no staging file may leak
+    /// into the archive.
+    #[test]
+    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+    fn archive_copy_fallback_preserves_supersede_ownership_without_staging_leftovers() {
+        crate::event::TEST_FORCE_ARCHIVE_RECEIPT_COPY.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+        struct ResetGuard;
+        impl Drop for ResetGuard {
+            fn drop(&mut self) {
+                crate::event::TEST_FORCE_ARCHIVE_RECEIPT_COPY.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
+            }
+        }
+        let _guard = ResetGuard;
+
+        let (catalog, inbox) = event_catalog();
+        let root = catalog.path();
+        let archive = crate::message::archive_dir(&root.join("hetz").join("worker"));
+
+        let failure_filename = emit_ci(root, "failure", true);
+        let mut seen = HashSet::new();
+        let mut pending: VecDeque<PendingNotice> = new_arrivals(&inbox, &mut seen)
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(PendingNotice::message)
+            .collect();
+        assert_eq!(pending.len(), 1);
+        let failure_bytes =
+            std::fs::read(inbox.join(&failure_filename)).expect("staged event bytes");
+        let failure_text = pending[0].text(
+            DingContext {
+                catalog_root: root,
+                this_host: "hetz",
+                recipient: "hetz.worker",
+            },
+            &mut None,
+        );
+
+        let poker = OwnershipPoker {
+            pokes: Mutex::new(Vec::new()),
+            retries: Mutex::new(Vec::new()),
+            poke_outcomes: Mutex::new(VecDeque::from([PokeOutcome::Staged])),
+            retry_outcomes: Mutex::new(VecDeque::from([PokeOutcome::Staged])),
+        };
+        flush_in(root, &mut pending, &poker);
+
+        emit_ci(root, "success", true);
+        pending.extend(
+            new_arrivals(&inbox, &mut seen)
+                .into_iter()
+                .map(PendingNotice::message),
+        );
+        prune_archived_pending(&inbox, &mut pending);
+        flush_in(root, &mut pending, &poker);
+
+        assert_eq!(pending.len(), 2, "later FIFO work remains blocked");
+        assert_eq!(
+            poker.pokes.lock().unwrap().as_slice(),
+            [failure_text.as_str()],
+            "the successor is never pasted on top of a retained payload"
+        );
+        assert!(!inbox.join(&failure_filename).exists(), "head was archived");
+        let receipt = std::fs::read(archive.join(&failure_filename))
+            .expect("byte-copy archive receipt exists");
+        assert_eq!(
+            receipt, failure_bytes,
+            "the copy receipt carries exactly the validated bytes"
+        );
+        let staging_leftovers: Vec<_> = std::fs::read_dir(&archive)
+            .unwrap()
+            .filter_map(Result::ok)
+            .map(|entry| entry.file_name().to_string_lossy().into_owned())
+            .filter(|name| name.starts_with(".st2-archive-"))
+            .collect();
+        assert!(
+            staging_leftovers.is_empty(),
+            "no staging files survive in the archive: {staging_leftovers:?}"
+        );
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn archived_not_retained_releases_fifo_without_repasting_owned_notice() {
         let agent = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
diff --git a/src/event.rs b/src/event.rs
index 8b955ae3..298e624d 100644
--- a/src/event.rs
+++ b/src/event.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use std::os::unix::fs::DirBuilderExt as _;
 use std::os::unix::fs::MetadataExt as _;
 use std::os::unix::fs::OpenOptionsExt as _;
 use std::path::Path;
-use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU64, Ordering};
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, AtomicU64, Ordering};
 
 use anyhow::Context as _;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
@@ -672,7 +672,14 @@ fn archive_validated_file(
     };
     if result < 0 {
         let error = std::io::Error::last_os_error();
-        if error.kind() != std::io::ErrorKind::AlreadyExists {
+        if error.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::AlreadyExists {
+            // A receipt for this predecessor already exists; the readback below proves it
+            // carries exactly the validated bytes.
+        } else if capability_link_unsupported(&error) {
+            // The platform cannot hardlink through the open-file descriptor path at all;
+            // degrade to a byte-copy receipt instead of failing publication.
+            write_archive_receipt_copy(file, &archive_dir, archive, filename)?;
+        } else {
             return Err(error).context("archive the validated predecessor capability");
         }
     }
@@ -690,6 +697,77 @@ fn archive_validated_file(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Whether linkat through the open-file capability path is unsupported by the platform rather
+/// than a real failure. macOS fdescfs answers linkat(AT_SYMLINK_FOLLOW) on /dev/fd/N with
+/// EPERM; ENOSYS/EOPNOTSUPP cover kernels lacking the syscall or its symlink-follow semantics.
+/// Everything else stays a hard error so genuine failures (permissions, cross-device, ...)
+/// surface instead of being silently degraded to a copy.
+fn capability_link_unsupported(error: &std::io::Error) -> bool {
+    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+    if TEST_FORCE_ARCHIVE_RECEIPT_COPY.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
+        return true;
+    }
+    matches!(
+        error.raw_os_error(),
+        Some(libc::EPERM) | Some(libc::ENOSYS) | Some(libc::EOPNOTSUPP)
+    )
+}
+
+/// Debug-only switch letting tests exercise the byte-copy fallback on platforms where the real
+/// capability linkat would succeed. Not a supported configuration knob. Flipping this mid-run
+/// is safe: the fallback receipt is verified against the validated bytes exactly like the
+/// hardlink path, and the same-inode unlink treats a copy receipt as "archived" regardless.
+#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+pub(crate) static TEST_FORCE_ARCHIVE_RECEIPT_COPY: AtomicBool = AtomicBool::new(false);
+
+/// Materialize the archive receipt as a byte copy of the validated file, for platforms that
+/// cannot hardlink through the open-file descriptor path.
+///
+/// The staged temp keeps a concurrent archiver from observing a partial receipt, and
+/// rename_noreplace turns an install race into a no-op: whichever receipt wins, the caller's
+/// readback proves it carries exactly the validated bytes. The tradeoff against the hardlink
+/// fast path is inode identity -- a crash between the copy and the conditional unlink leaves
+/// the retained inbox entry in place until revalidation, which the same-inode checks read as
+/// "still present", never as data loss.
+fn write_archive_receipt_copy(
+    file: &File,
+    archive_dir: &File,
+    archive: &Path,
+    filename: &str,
+) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let mut source = file.try_clone()?;
+    source.rewind()?;
+    let mut bytes = Vec::new();
+    source.read_to_end(&mut bytes)?;
+    drop(source);
+
+    let staged = archive.join(format!(
+        ".st2-archive-{}-{}",
+        std::process::id(),
+        TMP_COUNTER.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed)
+    ));
+    let mut staged_file = OpenOptions::new()
+        .read(true)
+        .write(true)
+        .create_new(true)
+        .mode(0o600)
+        .custom_flags(libc::O_NOFOLLOW | libc::O_CLOEXEC)
+        .open(&staged)?;
+    staged_file.write_all(&bytes)?;
+    staged_file.sync_all()?;
+    drop(staged_file);
+
+    let target = archive.join(filename);
+    if let Err(error) = crate::catalog_transaction::rename_noreplace(&staged, &target) {
+        fs::remove_file(&staged).context("remove staging copy after failed receipt install")?;
+        if error.kind() != std::io::ErrorKind::AlreadyExists {
+            return Err(error).context("install archived predecessor receipt");
+        }
+    }
+    archive_dir.sync_all()?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 fn conditional_unlink_same_inode(
     inbox_file: &File,
     expected_file: &File,