diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 13d86bb..8484566 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -329,13 +329,18 @@ pub struct Chisel {
 impl Chisel {
     /// Open or create a Chisel database at `path`.
     ///
-    /// The "exists" check deliberately treats a zero-length file as
+    /// The "exists" check deliberately treats a **zero-length** file as
     /// nonexistent: a freshly-created-but-unwritten file (e.g. from a crash
     /// between `creat(2)` and the first superblock write, or from a user
     /// `touch`) has no valid superblock and must go through the
     /// `create_new` path. Without this, `open_existing` would try to parse
     /// an empty file and fail with a corruption error.
     ///
+    /// A file that is non-empty but shorter than one page is *not* treated
+    /// as nonexistent. It cannot be a valid database, but it is somebody's
+    /// data, so `open` refuses with `CorruptSuperblock` rather than creating
+    /// over it — regardless of `create_if_missing`.
+    ///
     /// Acquires an exclusive `flock` on the file before any parsing, so a
     /// second concurrent `open()` on the same path fails fast with
     /// `LockFailed` rather than racing on the superblock.
@@ -343,7 +348,9 @@ impl Chisel {
     /// # Errors
     /// `InvalidSuperblockCount` (the `superblock_count` option is out of
     /// range), `FileNotFound` (no file at `path` and `create_if_missing` is
-    /// false), or `LockFailed` (another handle holds the exclusive flock).
+    /// false), `CorruptSuperblock` (the file has content but is shorter than
+    /// one page, so it cannot be a database and must not be created over),
+    /// or `LockFailed` (another handle holds the exclusive flock).
     /// For an encrypted database: `NoEncryptionKey` (file is encrypted but
     /// no `encryption_key` given), `InvalidEncryptionKey` (key unwraps no
     /// key slot), or `EncryptionNotSupported` (key given for a plaintext
@@ -372,7 +379,7 @@ impl Chisel {
             return Err(ChiselError::FileNotFound);
         }
 
-        let io = PageIo::open(path, options.read_only)?;
+        let mut io = PageIo::open(path, options.read_only)?;
         // I143: decide create-vs-open from the file length observed AFTER the
         // flock is held (page_count() returns the count cached from the post-lock
         // length), NOT from the pre-lock `file_exists` stat. The pre-lock stat
@@ -382,6 +389,37 @@ impl Chisel {
         // stays above only for the create_if_missing gate, which must remain
         // pre-lock so a refused open never materializes an empty file.
         let existed = io.page_count()? > 0;
+        if !existed {
+            // `existed` is `len / stride > 0`, so it is false for BOTH an empty
+            // file and a file that has content but is shorter than one page.
+            // Those two need opposite answers, and only a post-lock length can
+            // tell them apart — the `file_exists` stat above is length-based
+            // but must stay pre-lock, so it cannot serve here.
+            //
+            // Creating over a short non-empty file destroys its contents
+            // irrecoverably, and nothing shorter than a page can be a valid
+            // database, so refuse. A mistyped path that lands on a small user
+            // file is the motivating case.
+            let len = io.byte_len()?;
+            if len > 0 {
+                return Err(ChiselError::CorruptSuperblock {
+                    defects: vec![SlotDefect {
+                        slot: 0,
+                        defect: SuperblockDefect::TooShort,
+                    }],
+                });
+            }
+            // Empty file. The pre-lock gate already refused this when
+            // `create_if_missing` is false, so reaching here with it false
+            // means the file was removed between that stat and our lock —
+            // honour the option rather than creating anyway. (Our own
+            // `.create(true)` has materialized an empty file by now; that is
+            // the pre-existing cost of deciding after the lock, and it is
+            // strictly better than adopting a file we were told not to create.)
+            if !options.create_if_missing {
+                return Err(ChiselError::FileNotFound);
+            }
+        }
         let cache = PageCache::new(
             io,
             options.cache_max_bytes,
diff --git a/src/page_io.rs b/src/page_io.rs
index bdb4650..618f6c9 100644
--- a/src/page_io.rs
+++ b/src/page_io.rs
@@ -522,6 +522,21 @@ impl PageIo {
         Ok(self.cached_page_count.get())
     }
 
+    /// Byte length of the backing store, measured now.
+    ///
+    /// `page_count()` is `len / stride`, so it floors every file shorter than
+    /// one stride-unit to zero and cannot distinguish "empty" from "has bytes
+    /// but not a whole page". `Chisel::open` needs exactly that distinction:
+    /// an empty file is a legitimate create target, a short non-empty one is
+    /// somebody else's data. Unlike `page_count()` this costs a seek, so it is
+    /// for the open path only — not for anything on a hot path.
+    pub fn byte_len(&mut self) -> Result<u64> {
+        match &mut self.backing {
+            Backing::File { file } => Ok(file.seek(SeekFrom::End(0))?),
+            Backing::Memory { bytes } => Ok(bytes.len() as u64),
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Truncate (or extend) the file to exactly `n` stride-units (pages).
     ///
     /// File length is `n * stride` bytes. Used by defrag/truncate paths.
diff --git a/src/superblock/mod.rs b/src/superblock/mod.rs
index b1b3362..15045db 100644
--- a/src/superblock/mod.rs
+++ b/src/superblock/mod.rs
@@ -140,6 +140,13 @@ pub enum SuperblockDefect {
     BadChecksum,
     BadMagic,
     BadCount(u32), // the out-of-range superblock_count value
+    // The file is too short to contain this slot at all. Distinct from
+    // BadMagic: there are no bytes to have magic, so the slot was never
+    // read. Raised by `Chisel::open` for a file that has content but is
+    // shorter than one page — `page_count()` floors such a file to zero
+    // pages, and without a distinct defect the create path could not tell
+    // it apart from an absent file.
+    TooShort,
 }
 
 impl fmt::Display for SuperblockDefect {
@@ -148,6 +155,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for SuperblockDefect {
             SuperblockDefect::BadChecksum => write!(f, "bad checksum"),
             SuperblockDefect::BadMagic => write!(f, "bad magic"),
             SuperblockDefect::BadCount(n) => write!(f, "bad superblock_count {n}"),
+            SuperblockDefect::TooShort => write!(f, "file too short to contain this slot"),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/api_edge_cases.rs b/tests/api_edge_cases.rs
index 19e4380..4a97289 100644
--- a/tests/api_edge_cases.rs
+++ b/tests/api_edge_cases.rs
@@ -536,3 +536,72 @@ dual_backing_test!(
     test_file_size_bytes_matches_stats,
     test_file_size_bytes_matches_stats_body
 );
+
+// --- Refusing to create a database over a file that already has content ---
+//
+// `PageIo::open` uses `.create(true).truncate(false)`, so `Chisel::open` will
+// happily adopt whatever file is at `path`. The create-vs-open decision is made
+// on the post-lock page count, which is `len / stride` and therefore 0 for ANY
+// file shorter than one page. Nothing below a page is a valid database, so the
+// only safe answer for a short-but-non-empty file is to refuse: creating over
+// it destroys the user's bytes irrecoverably.
+
+/// A file too short to hold a superblock must not be adopted and overwritten.
+#[test]
+fn open_refuses_to_create_over_a_sub_page_file() {
+    let tmp = NamedTempFile::new().unwrap();
+    let original: &[u8] = b"IMPORTANT USER DATA - not a chisel database\n";
+    std::fs::write(tmp.path(), original).unwrap();
+
+    let err = Chisel::open(tmp.path(), Options::default())
+        .err()
+        .expect("opening a non-empty sub-page file must not succeed");
+    assert!(
+        matches!(err, ChiselError::CorruptSuperblock { .. }),
+        "expected CorruptSuperblock for a short non-database file, got {err:?}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        std::fs::read(tmp.path()).unwrap(),
+        original,
+        "the existing file's contents must be left untouched"
+    );
+}
+
+/// The same file with `create_if_missing(false)`: the option must be honoured.
+/// Before the fix this returned `Ok` — the length-based pre-lock gate saw a
+/// non-empty file and let the call through, then the page-count-based decision
+/// treated it as absent and created over it.
+#[test]
+fn open_with_create_if_missing_false_does_not_create_over_a_sub_page_file() {
+    let tmp = NamedTempFile::new().unwrap();
+    let original: &[u8] = b"IMPORTANT USER DATA - not a chisel database\n";
+    std::fs::write(tmp.path(), original).unwrap();
+
+    let err = Chisel::open(tmp.path(), Options::default().create_if_missing(false))
+        .err()
+        .expect("create_if_missing(false) must never create a database");
+    assert!(
+        matches!(err, ChiselError::CorruptSuperblock { .. }),
+        "expected CorruptSuperblock, got {err:?}"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(
+        std::fs::read(tmp.path()).unwrap(),
+        original,
+        "the existing file's contents must be left untouched"
+    );
+}
+
+/// A zero-length file is still legitimately "nonexistent" — a crash between
+/// `creat(2)` and the first superblock write, or a bare `touch`, must keep
+/// going through the create path. This pins the boundary so the fix above
+/// cannot regress it into refusing empty files.
+#[test]
+fn open_still_creates_over_a_zero_length_file() {
+    let tmp = NamedTempFile::new().unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(std::fs::metadata(tmp.path()).unwrap().len(), 0);
+
+    let db = Chisel::open(tmp.path(), Options::default())
+        .expect("a zero-length file must go through the create path");
+    drop(db);
+    assert!(std::fs::metadata(tmp.path()).unwrap().len() > 0);
+}