diff --git a/scripts/CHANGELOG.md b/scripts/CHANGELOG.md
index 1811ac2..5c112b5 100644
--- a/scripts/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/scripts/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,32 @@
+## 1.24.0 — a pre-existing backup target is granted too (2026-08-03, R-185)
+
+**`configure_backup_target` has two arms and only one of them granted.** The Case A arm creates the
+storage and calls `felhom-backup-target-apply grant` in the same breath — a box that builds its own
+target has always been fine. The **Scenario-F arm** — *"the target already exists, leave it exactly as
+it is"* — returned without ever granting.
+
+So a box whose `felhom-backup` pre-dated the install (created by the vzdump-target-move runbook, or
+surviving a reinstall) ended up with `local_backup_target: felhom-backup` while its token held
+`FelhomAgentStore` on only `local`, `local-lvm` and `felhom-pbs`. Measured on **both** demo boxes
+2026-08-03: the content API answers `{"data":[]}` through the agent's token while root lists three
+archives. That tier was invisible to the agent and never restore-tested — and nothing said so,
+because an empty listing is also what a brand-new tier returns.
+
+The reuse arm now ensures the ACL through the same guarded wrapper, so both arms leave the box in the
+same state. **Scenario F is unviolated:** the storage DEFINITION is still untouched — granting the
+role the agent is supposed to have on the target this script is about to write into `agent.json` is
+finishing the job, not retargeting the box. `pveum acl modify` is idempotent, so a box that already
+has the grant is unchanged and a box whose token was rotated gets it back.
+
+`$BACKUP_TARGET_ID` is deliberately **not** added to `PVE_STORAGES`, and the comment now says why: that
+list is granted in step 4/5, before the target has been resolved in step 6, and `--acl-storages`
+entries are preflight-checked for existence. The grant belongs with the resolution, which is where it
+already was for a newly created target.
+
+**A gate now asserts it** (`hostinstall_gates.py`): every arm of `configure_backup_target` that
+resolves the target must also grant on it. Red-proved by reverting the reuse arm — `resolves the
+backup target in 2 place(s) but grants in only 1`.
+
 ## v1.23.0 — the installer is published, not pushed (2026-08-03, R-110 + R-183)
 
 **Two channels moved off `main` in the same change, because either one left behind makes the other
diff --git a/scripts/felhom-host-install.sh b/scripts/felhom-host-install.sh
index df5193f..e6fabd7 100644
--- a/scripts/felhom-host-install.sh
+++ b/scripts/felhom-host-install.sh
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-SCRIPT_VERSION="1.23.0"   # the SINGLE version source (F-1): -h and the run banners follow it.
+SCRIPT_VERSION="1.24.0"   # the SINGLE version source (F-1): -h and the run banners follow it.
                           # The hub used to carry a copy for its Setup tab; R-94 DELETED it
                           # (2026-08-02) because the hub cannot know which version a box runs —
                           # the Setup command fetches this script at run time. scripts/
@@ -307,6 +307,14 @@ PVE_PRIVS_STORE="Datastore.Allocate Datastore.AllocateSpace"
 PVE_PRIVS_BASE="Sys.Audit SDN.Use Datastore.Audit"
 # Storages the agent reads/writes (archive+dump=local, restore=local-lvm, offsite DR=felhom-pbs). The
 # offsite felhom-pbs MUST be included or the agent's DR backup 403s (SPIKE residual #1). --acl-storages overrides.
+#
+# `$BACKUP_TARGET_ID` is deliberately NOT in this list, and the reason matters because the obvious
+# tidy-up is to add it (R-185, 2026-08-03). This list is granted in STEP 4/5, before
+# configure_backup_target has run in STEP 6 — so at this point the target may not exist yet, and
+# --acl-storages entries are preflight-checked for existence. The target's grant therefore belongs
+# with the target's RESOLUTION, where it already is for a freshly created one, and now also for a
+# pre-existing one. Adding it here would grant on a storage that may not exist and would still leave
+# the resolution path as the single owner of that decision, split across two places.
 PVE_STORAGES=(local local-lvm felhom-pbs)
 # E-2: the whole-guest backup target storage id, and what configure_backup_target resolved to.
 # BACKUP_TARGET_RESOLVED feeds agent.json's local_backup_target; "local" means DEGRADED (Case B).
@@ -652,8 +660,31 @@ configure_backup_target() {
     # existing id is an error, and repointing a live target is exactly the silent retarget this
     # whole arc closes.
     if pvesm status --storage "$BACKUP_TARGET_ID" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        log_skip "  backup target '$BACKUP_TARGET_ID' already exists — leaving it exactly as it is (Scenario F)"
+        log_skip "  backup target '$BACKUP_TARGET_ID' already exists — leaving its DEFINITION exactly as it is (Scenario F)"
         BACKUP_TARGET_RESOLVED="$BACKUP_TARGET_ID"
+        # R-185: …but STILL ensure the ACL. "The storage already exists" says nothing about whether
+        # the agent may READ it, and this early return is where the two came apart.
+        #
+        # THE DEFECT THIS CLOSES, measured on both demo boxes 2026-08-03. The CASE A path below
+        # creates the storage and grants in the same breath, so a box that built its own target is
+        # fine. A box whose target ALREADY existed — created by the vzdump-target-move runbook, or
+        # surviving a reinstall — returned here and never granted. The result: `local_backup_target`
+        # pointed at `felhom-backup` while the token held FelhomAgentStore only on local, local-lvm
+        # and felhom-pbs, so the API answered `{"data":[]}` for that storage while root saw three
+        # archives. The tier was invisible to the agent and never restore-tested, and nothing said so
+        # — because an empty listing is also what a brand-new tier returns.
+        #
+        # Scenario F is UNVIOLATED: the storage definition is still untouched. Granting a role the
+        # agent is supposed to have on the target this same script is about to write into
+        # agent.json is not "touching the box's target", it is finishing the job. `pveum acl modify`
+        # is idempotent, so a box that already has the grant is unchanged, and a box that had its
+        # token rotated gets it back.
+        if $DRY_RUN; then
+            log_dry "felhom-backup-target-apply grant $BACKUP_TARGET_ID   # R-185: ACL on a pre-existing target"
+        else
+            /usr/local/sbin/felhom-backup-target-apply grant "$BACKUP_TARGET_ID" \
+                || die "backup target grant failed on the pre-existing target — the agent could not read its own backup tier (R-185)"
+        fi
         return 0
     fi
     local mp
diff --git a/scripts/hostinstall_gates.py b/scripts/hostinstall_gates.py
index 0f9e35d..96c5ed6 100644
--- a/scripts/hostinstall_gates.py
+++ b/scripts/hostinstall_gates.py
@@ -202,6 +202,37 @@ if wp is not None:
         fail("manifests/webpage.yaml no longer tracks main for the website — pinning the SITE to "
              "the installer tag turns every copy edit into a release")
 
+# ── R-185: every path that RESOLVES the backup target must also grant on it ──────────────────
+#
+# THE DEFECT THIS WOULD HAVE CAUGHT, measured on both demo boxes 2026-08-03. `configure_backup_target`
+# has two arms. The CASE A arm creates the storage and grants in the same breath. The Scenario-F arm —
+# "the target already exists, leave it alone" — returned WITHOUT granting, so a box whose target
+# pre-dated the install pointed `local_backup_target` at a storage its own token could not read. The
+# API answered `{"data":[]}` while root saw three archives, and nothing said so, because an empty
+# listing is also what a brand-new tier returns.
+#
+# The assertion is deliberately about the FUNCTION, not about PVE_STORAGES: the target's grant belongs
+# with the target's resolution (PVE_STORAGES is granted a step earlier, before the target exists), so
+# what must hold is that no arm of that function can resolve a target and skip the grant.
+fn = re.search(r'^configure_backup_target\(\)\s*\{(.*?)^\}', src, re.S | re.M)
+if not fn:
+    fail("cannot find configure_backup_target() — the backup-target ACL assertion cannot run, and a "
+         "check that cannot run must never report OK (R-185)")
+else:
+    body = fn.group(1)
+    resolutions = len(re.findall(r'BACKUP_TARGET_RESOLVED="\$BACKUP_TARGET_ID"', body))
+    grants = len(re.findall(r'felhom-backup-target-apply grant', body))
+    if resolutions == 0:
+        fail("configure_backup_target no longer resolves BACKUP_TARGET_ID anywhere — re-read it")
+    elif grants >= resolutions:
+        ok("every arm that resolves the backup target also grants on it (%d resolution(s), %d grant(s))"
+           % (resolutions, grants))
+    else:
+        fail("configure_backup_target resolves the backup target in %d place(s) but grants in only %d "
+             "— an arm resolves a target the agent may not READ. That is R-185: the tier's archives are "
+             "invisible to the agent, it is never restore-tested, and an empty listing looks exactly "
+             "like a brand-new tier." % (resolutions, grants))
+
 print()
 if fails:
     print("hostinstall gates: %d FAILURE(S)" % len(fails))