diff --git a/controller/internal/storage/attach_linux.go b/controller/internal/storage/attach_linux.go
index 786da65..16a5e87 100644
--- a/controller/internal/storage/attach_linux.go
+++ b/controller/internal/storage/attach_linux.go
@@ -359,15 +359,7 @@ func appendBindFstabEntry(fstabPath, source, target string) error {
 	entry := fmt.Sprintf("\n# Bind mount (auto-generated by felhom-controller)\n%s\t%s\tnone\tbind,nofail\t0 0\n", source, target)
 	newContent := append(existing, []byte(entry)...)
 
-	tmpPath := fstabPath + ".tmp"
-	if err := os.WriteFile(tmpPath, newContent, 0644); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot write fstab tmp file: %w", err)
-	}
-	if err := os.Rename(tmpPath, fstabPath); err != nil {
-		os.Remove(tmpPath)
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot rename fstab tmp file: %w", err)
-	}
-	return nil
+	return safeWriteFile(fstabPath, newContent, 0644)
 }
 
 // removeBindFstabEntry removes the bind mount fstab entry for the given target mount path.
@@ -395,14 +387,5 @@ func removeBindFstabEntry(fstabPath, targetMountPath string) error {
 		kept = append(kept, line)
 	}
 
-	newContent := strings.Join(kept, "\n")
-	tmpPath := fstabPath + ".tmp"
-	if err := os.WriteFile(tmpPath, []byte(newContent), 0644); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot write fstab tmp file: %w", err)
-	}
-	if err := os.Rename(tmpPath, fstabPath); err != nil {
-		os.Remove(tmpPath)
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot rename fstab tmp file: %w", err)
-	}
-	return nil
+	return safeWriteFile(fstabPath, []byte(strings.Join(kept, "\n")), 0644)
 }
diff --git a/controller/internal/storage/safety_linux.go b/controller/internal/storage/safety_linux.go
index 8616d25..fc71f4e 100644
--- a/controller/internal/storage/safety_linux.go
+++ b/controller/internal/storage/safety_linux.go
@@ -105,10 +105,10 @@ func BackupFstab(fstabPath string) error {
 	return os.WriteFile(backupPath, data, 0644)
 }
 
-// AppendFstabEntry appends a UUID-based fstab entry atomically (write tmp + rename).
-// H8: Direct write to /etc/fstab risks corruption on crash — use atomic write pattern.
+// AppendFstabEntry appends a UUID-based fstab entry.
+// Uses atomic rename when possible, falls back to direct overwrite for bind-mounted files
+// (Docker mounts /etc/fstab as /host-fstab — rename fails with EBUSY on bind mounts).
 func AppendFstabEntry(fstabPath, uuid, mountPoint, fsType, options string) error {
-	// Read existing content
 	existing, err := os.ReadFile(fstabPath)
 	if err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot read fstab: %w", err)
@@ -117,19 +117,10 @@ func AppendFstabEntry(fstabPath, uuid, mountPoint, fsType, options string) error
 	entry := fmt.Sprintf("\nUUID=%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\t0 2\n", uuid, mountPoint, fsType, options)
 	newContent := append(existing, []byte(entry)...)
 
-	// Write to .tmp then rename — atomic on same filesystem
-	tmpPath := fstabPath + ".tmp"
-	if err := os.WriteFile(tmpPath, newContent, 0644); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot write fstab tmp file: %w", err)
-	}
-	if err := os.Rename(tmpPath, fstabPath); err != nil {
-		os.Remove(tmpPath)
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot rename fstab tmp file: %w", err)
-	}
-	return nil
+	return safeWriteFile(fstabPath, newContent, 0644)
 }
 
-// RemoveFstabEntry removes any line containing the given UUID from fstab, atomically.
+// RemoveFstabEntry removes any line containing the given UUID from fstab.
 // H19: Called as rollback if mount fails after fstab was written.
 func RemoveFstabEntry(fstabPath, uuid string) error {
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(fstabPath)
@@ -145,13 +136,24 @@ func RemoveFstabEntry(fstabPath, uuid string) error {
 	}
 	newContent := strings.Join(kept, "\n")
 
-	tmpPath := fstabPath + ".tmp"
-	if err := os.WriteFile(tmpPath, []byte(newContent), 0644); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot write fstab tmp file: %w", err)
+	return safeWriteFile(fstabPath, []byte(newContent), 0644)
+}
+
+// safeWriteFile writes content to a file. It tries atomic rename first (write to .tmp,
+// then rename). If rename fails (e.g., bind-mounted files where rename returns EBUSY),
+// it falls back to a direct truncate-and-write to the target file.
+func safeWriteFile(path string, content []byte, perm os.FileMode) error {
+	tmpPath := path + ".tmp"
+	if err := os.WriteFile(tmpPath, content, perm); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot write tmp file %s: %w", tmpPath, err)
 	}
-	if err := os.Rename(tmpPath, fstabPath); err != nil {
-		os.Remove(tmpPath)
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot rename fstab tmp file: %w", err)
+	if err := os.Rename(tmpPath, path); err == nil {
+		return nil // atomic rename succeeded
+	}
+	// Rename failed (likely bind mount) — fall back to direct write
+	os.Remove(tmpPath)
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, content, perm); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot write %s: %w", path, err)
 	}
 	return nil
 }