diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 14e63dd..98e2c90 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "folio",
-  "version": "0.1.3",
+  "version": "0.1.4",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "folio",
-      "version": "0.1.3",
+      "version": "0.1.4",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@tiptap/core": "^2.27.2",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ac9f264..ca9dca2 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "folio",
-  "version": "0.1.3",
+  "version": "0.1.4",
   "description": "A simple, local, open-source desktop writing app.",
   "productName": "Folio",
   "author": "Folio Contributors",
diff --git a/src/main/index.ts b/src/main/index.ts
index cabf016..8207f6c 100644
--- a/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/src/main/index.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ import {
   UPDATE_REPO,
   buildInstallerScript,
   isTrustedDownloadUrl,
+  looksTruncated,
+  verifyArchiveGzip,
   isNewer,
   parseRelease,
   pickAsset,
@@ -1116,42 +1118,53 @@ handleIpc("folio:performUpdate", async () => {
       app.getPath("temp"),
       `folio-update-${Date.now()}.tar.gz`
     );
-    const res = await fetch(asset.browser_download_url, {
-      redirect: "follow",
-      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(10 * 60 * 1000),
-    });
-    if (!res.ok || !res.body) {
-      return { error: `Download failed (HTTP ${res.status}).` };
-    }
-    const total = Number(res.headers.get("content-length")) || asset.size || 0;
+    // Downloads of the ~100MB asset have twice truncated near the end while
+    // the server copy stayed intact. The old 2-byte magic check could not
+    // see that, so the detached installer failed after the app had quit and
+    // the update silently no-oped. Now: retry the download up to 3 times,
+    // require the advertised byte count, and gunzip the whole file before
+    // handing off. A corrupt file is deleted and the user gets a real error.
     const { Readable } = await import("stream");
     const { createWriteStream } = await import("fs");
     const { pipeline } = await import("stream/promises");
-    let received = 0;
-    const source = Readable.fromWeb(res.body as never);
-    source.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
-      received += chunk.length;
-      getWindow()?.webContents.send("folio:update-progress", { received, total });
-    });
-    await pipeline(source, createWriteStream(tarball));
-    // Verify the gzip magic (2 bytes) without loading a ~100MB tarball into
-    // memory. Anything else means a truncated download or an HTML error page.
-    let head = Buffer.alloc(0);
-    try {
-      const fd = fs.openSync(tarball, "r");
+    const total = Number(asset.size) || 0;
+    let lastError = "";
+    let downloaded = false;
+    for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= 3 && !downloaded; attempt++) {
       try {
-        const buf = Buffer.alloc(2);
-        const n = fs.readSync(fd, buf, 0, 2, 0);
-        head = buf.subarray(0, n);
-      } finally {
-        fs.closeSync(fd);
+        const res = await fetch(asset.browser_download_url, {
+          redirect: "follow",
+          signal: AbortSignal.timeout(10 * 60 * 1000),
+        });
+        if (!res.ok || !res.body) {
+          lastError = `Download failed (HTTP ${res.status}).`;
+          continue;
+        }
+        let received = 0;
+        const source = Readable.fromWeb(res.body as never);
+        source.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
+          received += chunk.length;
+          getWindow()?.webContents.send("folio:update-progress", { received, total });
+        });
+        await pipeline(source, createWriteStream(tarball));
+        if (looksTruncated(received, total)) {
+          lastError = `Download truncated (${received}/${total} bytes).`;
+          continue;
+        }
+        if (!(await verifyArchiveGzip(tarball))) {
+          lastError = "Downloaded archive is corrupt (gzip stream incomplete).";
+          continue;
+        }
+        downloaded = true;
+      } catch (e) {
+        lastError = `Download failed: ${(e as Error).message}`;
       }
-    } catch {
-      head = Buffer.alloc(0);
     }
-    if (head.length < 2 || head[0] !== 0x1f || head[1] !== 0x8b) {
+    if (!downloaded) {
       fs.rmSync(tarball, { force: true });
-      return { error: "Downloaded file is not a valid archive; update aborted." };
+      return {
+        error: `${lastError || "Download failed."} The update was aborted; your current version is unchanged.`,
+      };
     }
     const script = path.join(
       app.getPath("temp"),
diff --git a/src/main/update.ts b/src/main/update.ts
index 0ea6423..1382ab8 100644
--- a/src/main/update.ts
+++ b/src/main/update.ts
@@ -116,6 +116,43 @@ export function isTrustedDownloadUrl(url: string, base: string): boolean {
   }
 }
 
+// Archive-integrity checks for the updater, as pure functions so they are
+// unit-testable without network or an app instance.
+//
+// A gzip stream is only provably complete when the decompressor reaches its
+// end without error: a download truncated near the end still carries the
+// 1f 8b magic, so magic-byte checks alone let corrupt updates through (this
+// bit us twice: 0.1.2 and 0.1.3 both downloaded truncated and the detached
+// installer silently kept the old app). verifyArchiveGzip streams the file
+// through a real gunzip and requires the stream to finish cleanly.
+import { createReadStream } from "fs";
+import { createGunzip } from "zlib";
+
+export function verifyArchiveGzip(file: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const rs = createReadStream(file);
+    const gz = createGunzip();
+    let settled = false;
+    const done = (v: boolean) => {
+      if (!settled) {
+        settled = true;
+        resolve(v);
+      }
+    };
+    rs.on("error", () => done(false));
+    gz.on("error", () => done(false));
+    gz.on("end", () => done(true));
+    // Discard output; we only care whether the stream completes.
+    gz.resume();
+    rs.pipe(gz);
+  });
+}
+
+// True when a byte-count is known and the download fell short of it.
+export function looksTruncated(received: number, total: number): boolean {
+  return total > 0 && received < total;
+}
+
 // Single-quote a path for safe interpolation into /bin/sh scripts.
 export function shQuote(p: string): string {
   return `'${String(p).replace(/'/g, `'\\''`)}'`;
diff --git a/tests/run-update-installer-test.mjs b/tests/run-update-installer-test.mjs
index c53d984..0f3b771 100644
--- a/tests/run-update-installer-test.mjs
+++ b/tests/run-update-installer-test.mjs
@@ -118,6 +118,32 @@ function writeScript(box, spec) {
   fs.rmSync(box, { recursive: true, force: true });
 }
 
+// --- archive integrity: verifyArchiveGzip + looksTruncated ---
+{
+  const box = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "folio-upd-gz-"));
+  const good = path.join(box, "good.tar.gz");
+  const zlib = await import("zlib");
+  fs.writeFileSync(good, zlib.gzipSync(Buffer.from("hello folio updater ".repeat(1000))));
+  ok(await u.verifyArchiveGzip(good), "complete gzip verifies");
+
+  // Truncate the good archive mid-stream: magic bytes present, payload short.
+  const full = fs.readFileSync(good);
+  const trunc = path.join(box, "trunc.tar.gz");
+  fs.writeFileSync(trunc, full.subarray(0, full.length - 50));
+  ok(!(await u.verifyArchiveGzip(trunc)), "truncated gzip REJECTED (the 0.1.2/0.1.3 bug)");
+
+  const notgz = path.join(box, "notgz.tar.gz");
+  fs.writeFileSync(notgz, "<html>error page</html>");
+  ok(!(await u.verifyArchiveGzip(notgz)), "non-gzip content rejected");
+  ok(!(await u.verifyArchiveGzip(path.join(box, "missing.tar.gz"))), "missing file rejected");
+
+  ok(u.looksTruncated(50, 100), "short byte count flagged");
+  ok(!u.looksTruncated(100, 100), "exact byte count passes");
+  ok(!u.looksTruncated(120, 100), "over-long passes");
+  ok(!u.looksTruncated(7, 0), "unknown total not flagged");
+  fs.rmSync(box, { recursive: true, force: true });
+}
+
 cleanupBundle();
 if (fails) { console.error(`${fails} installer check(s) FAILED`); process.exit(1); }
 console.log("All installer checks passed.");