diff --git a/src/main/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/CorruptRestoreFileException.java b/src/main/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/CorruptRestoreFileException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..164c7ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/CorruptRestoreFileException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package home.gateway.adapters.store;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+
+/**
+ * The restore file cannot be trusted. It was renamed to {@link #quarantined()}, so the pending
+ * restores it held are not lost; starting without them is the caller's explicit decision.
+ */
+public class CorruptRestoreFileException extends IOException {
+
+    private final Path quarantined;
+
+    CorruptRestoreFileException(Path file, Path quarantined, Throwable cause) {
+        super("restore file " + file + " is corrupt and was moved to " + quarantined + ": "
+                + cause.getMessage(), cause);
+        this.quarantined = quarantined;
+    }
+
+    public Path quarantined() {
+        return quarantined;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/JsonRestoreStore.java b/src/main/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/JsonRestoreStore.java
index 5931514..681d94d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/JsonRestoreStore.java
+++ b/src/main/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/JsonRestoreStore.java
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package home.gateway.adapters.store;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationFeature;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.MapperFeature;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializationFeature;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype.jsr310.JavaTimeModule;
@@ -22,25 +24,41 @@ public class JsonRestoreStore implements RestoreStore {
     private final Path file;
     private final ObjectMapper json = new ObjectMapper()
             .registerModule(new JavaTimeModule())
-            .disable(SerializationFeature.WRITE_DATES_AS_TIMESTAMPS);
+            .disable(SerializationFeature.WRITE_DATES_AS_TIMESTAMPS)
+            // Jackson would otherwise turn a missing or null number into 0, i.e. a restore of register 0.
+            .enable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_MISSING_CREATOR_PROPERTIES)
+            .enable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_NULL_CREATOR_PROPERTIES)
+            .enable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_NULL_FOR_PRIMITIVES)
+            .enable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES)
+            .disable(MapperFeature.ALLOW_COERCION_OF_SCALARS);
 
     public JsonRestoreStore(Path file) {
         this.file = file;
     }
 
+    /** @throws CorruptRestoreFileException after moving an unusable file aside */
     @Override
     public List<Restore> load() throws IOException {
         if (!Files.exists(file)) {
             return List.of();
         }
         try {
-            return json.readValue(file.toFile(), new TypeReference<List<Restore>>() { });
+            var restores = json.readValue(file.toFile(), new TypeReference<List<Restore>>() { });
+            if (restores == null || restores.contains(null)) {
+                throw new IOException("not a list of restores");
+            }
+            return restores;
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new IOException("restore file " + file + " is unreadable, fix or remove it by hand: "
-                    + e.getMessage(), e);
+            throw quarantine(e);
         }
     }
 
+    private CorruptRestoreFileException quarantine(IOException cause) throws IOException {
+        var aside = file.resolveSibling(file.getFileName() + ".bad-" + System.currentTimeMillis());
+        Files.move(file, aside, StandardCopyOption.ATOMIC_MOVE);
+        return new CorruptRestoreFileException(file, aside, cause);
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void save(List<Restore> restores) throws IOException {
         var temp = file.resolveSibling(file.getFileName() + ".tmp");
diff --git a/src/test/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/JsonRestoreStoreTest.java b/src/test/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/JsonRestoreStoreTest.java
index fd36171..f25113a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/JsonRestoreStoreTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/home/gateway/adapters/store/JsonRestoreStoreTest.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import java.time.Instant;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 
@@ -59,15 +60,47 @@ class JsonRestoreStoreTest {
         assertEquals(List.of(restore), store.load());
     }
 
+    private static String restoreJson(String register, String original) {
+        return "[{\"setpoint\":\"x\",\"register\":" + register + ",\"originalValue\":" + original
+                + ",\"appliedValue\":9,\"due\":\"2026-10-24T11:00:00Z\"}]";
+    }
+
     @Test
-    void corruptFileFailsWithAClearMessageAndIsKept() throws IOException {
+    void anUnusableFileIsMovedAsideAndReportedNeverSilentlyDropped() throws IOException {
+        var cases = List.of("{not json", "", "garbage \u0000\u0001", "null", "{}", "[null]",
+                "[{\"setpoint\":\"x\"}]", restoreJson("4144", "\"5\""), restoreJson("null", "5"),
+                restoreJson("4144", "5").replace("}]", ",\"extra\":1}]"));
+        for (var content : cases) {
+            var file = dir.resolve("restores.json");
+            Files.writeString(file, content);
+
+            var error = assertThrows(CorruptRestoreFileException.class,
+                    () -> new JsonRestoreStore(file).load(), content);
+
+            assertTrue(error.getMessage().contains(file.toString()), content);
+            assertFalse(Files.exists(file), content);
+            assertTrue(error.quarantined().getFileName().toString().startsWith("restores.json.bad-"));
+            assertEquals(content, Files.readString(error.quarantined()));
+            Files.delete(error.quarantined());
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void validFileWithAllFieldsStillLoads() throws IOException {
+        var file = dir.resolve("restores.json");
+        Files.writeString(file, restoreJson("4144", "450"));
+
+        assertEquals(1, new JsonRestoreStore(file).load().size());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void afterTheRenameTheNextLoadIsEmpty() throws IOException {
         var file = dir.resolve("restores.json");
         Files.writeString(file, "{not json");
+        var store = new JsonRestoreStore(file);
+        assertThrows(CorruptRestoreFileException.class, store::load);
 
-        var error = assertThrows(IOException.class, () -> new JsonRestoreStore(file).load());
-
-        assertTrue(error.getMessage().contains(file.toString()));
-        assertEquals("{not json", Files.readString(file));
+        assertEquals(List.of(), store.load());
     }
 
     @Test