diff --git a/worker/lyra_worker/library.py b/worker/lyra_worker/library.py
index 7d288dd..de0efbb 100644
--- a/worker/lyra_worker/library.py
+++ b/worker/lyra_worker/library.py
@@ -64,20 +64,34 @@ def import_album(staging: str, final: str) -> str:
     Assembles into a sibling temp dir, then swaps via rename so a mid-assembly failure never
     destroys the existing copy. Non-audio artifacts/subfolders in `staging` are left behind.
     Tolerates a missing `staging`. Returns `final`."""
+    # Recover from a swap interrupted by a crash: {final}.old holds the previous copy.
+    old = final + ".old"
+    if os.path.isdir(old) and not os.path.isdir(final):
+        os.rename(old, final)                       # restore the last-good copy
+    shutil.rmtree(old, ignore_errors=True)          # drop a leftover .old (swap had completed)
+    shutil.rmtree(final + ".importing", ignore_errors=True)  # drop a stale half-assembly
     os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(final), exist_ok=True)
     tmp = final + ".importing"
     shutil.rmtree(tmp, ignore_errors=True)
     os.makedirs(tmp)
+    imported = False
     if os.path.isdir(staging):
         for name in sorted(os.listdir(staging)):
             src = os.path.join(staging, name)
             if os.path.isfile(src) and os.path.splitext(name)[1].lower() in _AUDIO_EXT:
                 shutil.move(src, os.path.join(tmp, name))
+                imported = True
         cover = _find_cover(staging)
         if cover is not None:
             shutil.move(cover, os.path.join(tmp, "cover.jpg"))
+            imported = True
     # swap: keep the old copy until the new one is assembled, then rename into place
     if os.path.isdir(final):
+        if not imported:
+            # Nothing new to import (e.g. a bare recovery pass with no/empty staging): leave the
+            # existing (possibly just-recovered) `final` untouched rather than swapping in empty.
+            shutil.rmtree(tmp, ignore_errors=True)
+            return final
         old = final + ".old"
         shutil.rmtree(old, ignore_errors=True)
         os.rename(final, old)
diff --git a/worker/tests/test_staging.py b/worker/tests/test_staging.py
index b1bb320..d5d434a 100644
--- a/worker/tests/test_staging.py
+++ b/worker/tests/test_staging.py
@@ -55,6 +55,29 @@ def test_import_album_leaves_no_temp_siblings(tmp_path):
     assert os.listdir(tmp_path / "Artist") == ["Album"]        # no .importing / .old leftovers
 
 
+def test_import_album_recovers_from_interrupted_swap(tmp_path):
+    final = str(tmp_path / "Artist" / "Album (2020)")
+    os.makedirs(final + ".old")
+    open(os.path.join(final + ".old", "01 Song.flac"), "w").close()
+    # `final` is missing (crash happened after rename(final, old), before rename(tmp, final))
+    staging = str(tmp_path / "staging")  # empty/missing staging
+    import_album(staging, final)
+    # previous good copy restored to `final`; no leftover .old
+    assert os.path.isfile(os.path.join(final, "01 Song.flac"))
+    assert not os.path.isdir(final + ".old")
+
+
+def test_import_album_drops_stale_old_when_final_present(tmp_path):
+    final = str(tmp_path / "Artist" / "Album (2020)")
+    os.makedirs(final)
+    open(os.path.join(final, "keep.flac"), "w").close()
+    os.makedirs(final + ".old")  # leftover from a completed swap
+    open(os.path.join(final + ".old", "stale.flac"), "w").close()
+    import_album(str(tmp_path / "staging"), final)
+    assert not os.path.isdir(final + ".old")           # stale .old removed
+    assert os.path.isfile(os.path.join(final, "keep.flac"))  # existing copy untouched by preamble
+
+
 def test_clear_staging_root_removes_jobs_but_keeps_root(tmp_path):
     # Clears per-job dirs (and stray files) under the root, but leaves the root itself so a
     # mounted staging volume stays mounted.