diff --git a/mempalace/dedup.py b/mempalace/dedup.py
index 7a88a6e..4c019d8 100644
--- a/mempalace/dedup.py
+++ b/mempalace/dedup.py
@@ -183,6 +183,19 @@ def dedup_palace(
 
     col = get_collection(palace_path, COLLECTION_NAME)
 
+    # Preflight HNSW divergence before this function's own count() print --
+    # get_source_groups's palace_path guard (added alongside this one) only
+    # covers its own internal count(), not this earlier one. count() on a
+    # diverged segment can hard-crash the process (#1222); a try/except
+    # cannot catch that, so it must never be reached at all when diverged.
+    from .backends.chroma import hnsw_capacity_status
+
+    capacity_info = hnsw_capacity_status(palace_path, COLLECTION_NAME)
+    if capacity_info.get("diverged"):
+        print(f"\n  HNSW index is diverged: {capacity_info.get('message', '')}")
+        print("  Run `mempalace repair --mode from-sqlite --archive-existing` first.")
+        return
+
     print(f"  Palace: {palace_path}")
     print(f"  Drawers: {col.count():,}")
     print(f"  Threshold: {threshold}")
diff --git a/tests/test_dedup.py b/tests/test_dedup.py
index ece9ffd..5812393 100644
--- a/tests/test_dedup.py
+++ b/tests/test_dedup.py
@@ -259,6 +259,26 @@ def test_dedup_palace_dry_run(mock_get_collection, mock_groups, mock_dedup_group
     mock_dedup_group.assert_called_once()
 
 
+@patch("mempalace.dedup.get_source_groups")
+@patch("mempalace.dedup.get_collection")
+def test_dedup_palace_aborts_on_hnsw_divergence(mock_get_collection, mock_groups, tmp_path):
+    """dedup_palace's OWN count() print (a few lines before it calls
+    get_source_groups) is a separate call site from #92 -- count() on a
+    diverged segment can hard-crash the process, so this print must never
+    be reached either when hnsw_capacity_status reports divergence."""
+    mock_col = MagicMock()
+    mock_col.count.side_effect = AssertionError("count() must not be called when diverged")
+    _install_mock_collection(mock_get_collection, mock_col)
+
+    with patch(
+        "mempalace.backends.chroma.hnsw_capacity_status",
+        return_value={"diverged": True, "message": "test divergence"},
+    ):
+        dedup.dedup_palace(palace_path=str(tmp_path), dry_run=True)
+
+    mock_groups.assert_not_called()
+
+
 @patch("mempalace.dedup.dedup_source_group")
 @patch("mempalace.dedup.get_source_groups")
 @patch("mempalace.dedup.get_collection")