diff --git a/src/core/storage.rs b/src/core/storage.rs
index cf51381..402b53d 100644
--- a/src/core/storage.rs
+++ b/src/core/storage.rs
@@ -1,17 +1,29 @@
 use rusqlite::{params, Connection};
 use sha2::{Digest, Sha256};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
-use std::sync::Mutex;
+use std::sync::{Mutex, MutexGuard};
 
 /// SQLite-backed storage for adaptive element relocation.
 pub struct SqliteStorage {
     conn: Mutex<Connection>,
     url: String,
+    db_path: String,
 }
 
 impl SqliteStorage {
     /// Create storage backed by SQLite file. URL is normalized to lowercase.
     pub fn new(db_path: &str, url: &str) -> Result<Self, StorageError> {
+        let conn = Self::open(db_path)?;
+        Ok(Self {
+            conn: Mutex::new(conn),
+            url: url.to_lowercase(),
+            db_path: db_path.to_string(),
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Open and initialize the SQLite connection at `db_path`. Used both at
+    /// construction and to recover after a poisoned mutex.
+    fn open(db_path: &str) -> Result<Connection, StorageError> {
         let conn = Connection::open(db_path)?;
         conn.execute_batch("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;")?;
         conn.execute(
@@ -24,10 +36,24 @@ impl SqliteStorage {
             )",
             [],
         )?;
-        Ok(Self {
-            conn: Mutex::new(conn),
-            url: url.to_lowercase(),
-        })
+        Ok(conn)
+    }
+
+    /// Lock the connection. If the mutex is poisoned (a previous holder
+    /// panicked), recover by reopening a fresh connection — rusqlite does not
+    /// guarantee a `Connection` remains usable after a panic mid-operation,
+    /// so reopening is safer than reusing the recovered handle.
+    fn locked_conn(&self) -> MutexGuard<'_, Connection> {
+        match self.conn.lock() {
+            Ok(guard) => guard,
+            Err(poison) => {
+                let mut guard = poison.into_inner();
+                if let Ok(fresh) = Self::open(&self.db_path) {
+                    *guard = fresh;
+                }
+                guard
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /// Save element data. Uses INSERT OR REPLACE for upsert.
@@ -38,7 +64,7 @@ impl SqliteStorage {
     ) -> Result<(), StorageError> {
         let hash = Self::get_hash(identifier);
         let json = serde_json::to_string(data)?;
-        let conn = self.conn.lock().unwrap();
+        let conn = self.locked_conn();
         conn.execute(
             "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO storage (url, identifier, element_data) VALUES (?1, ?2, ?3)",
             params![self.url, hash, json],
@@ -52,7 +78,7 @@ impl SqliteStorage {
         identifier: &str,
     ) -> Result<Option<HashMap<String, serde_json::Value>>, StorageError> {
         let hash = Self::get_hash(identifier);
-        let conn = self.conn.lock().unwrap();
+        let conn = self.locked_conn();
         let mut stmt =
             conn.prepare("SELECT element_data FROM storage WHERE url = ?1 AND identifier = ?2")?;
         let result: Option<String> = stmt
@@ -81,3 +107,47 @@ pub enum StorageError {
     #[error("JSON error: {0}")]
     Json(#[from] serde_json::Error),
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::sync::Arc;
+    use std::thread;
+    use tempfile::tempdir;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn storage_recovers_after_mutex_poisoning() {
+        let dir = tempdir().unwrap();
+        let db = dir.path().join("storage.db");
+        let storage =
+            Arc::new(SqliteStorage::new(db.to_str().unwrap(), "https://example.com").unwrap());
+
+        // Poison the mutex by panicking *while* holding the guard.
+        let s = storage.clone();
+        let _ = thread::spawn(move || {
+            let _guard = s.conn.lock().unwrap();
+            panic!("intentional poisoning while holding the guard");
+        })
+        .join();
+
+        // Confirm the recovery path is actually exercised.
+        assert!(
+            storage.conn.is_poisoned(),
+            "mutex should be poisoned after the thread panicked while holding the guard"
+        );
+
+        let mut data = HashMap::new();
+        data.insert("k".to_string(), serde_json::Value::String("v".to_string()));
+        storage
+            .save("after-poison", &data)
+            .expect("save must recover from poisoned mutex");
+        let got = storage
+            .retrieve("after-poison")
+            .expect("retrieve must recover from poisoned mutex")
+            .expect("the row written after recovery should be present");
+        assert_eq!(
+            got.get("k").cloned(),
+            Some(serde_json::Value::String("v".to_string()))
+        );
+    }
+}