diff --git a/src/engine/postgres_psql.rs b/src/engine/postgres_psql.rs
index 1c8bee3..90634a9 100644
--- a/src/engine/postgres_psql.rs
+++ b/src/engine/postgres_psql.rs
@@ -530,11 +530,23 @@ impl PSQL {
 
         let status = child.wait().await?;
 
+        let writer_err = match writer_result {
+            Err(join_err) => Some(std::io::Error::other(join_err)), // the task panicked
+            Ok(Err(e)) => Some(e),
+            Ok(Ok(())) => None,
+        };
+
         // Takes precedence over psql's own status: an aborted render can leave
-        // psql exiting 0 (e.g. a quiet rollback on early EOF).
-        writer_result
-            .map_err(|e| EngineError::Io(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, e)))
-            .and_then(|r| r.map_err(EngineError::Io))?;
+        // psql exiting 0 (e.g. a quiet rollback on early EOF). Unless the pipe
+        // broke, which means psql had already exited: then its error is the
+        // cause and ours only the symptom.
+        if let Some(e) = writer_err {
+            let psql_died_first = e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::BrokenPipe && !status.success();
+            if !psql_died_first {
+                return Err(EngineError::Io(e));
+            }
+            // Dropped: the status check below reports psql's error instead.
+        }
         results_result?;
         diagnostics_result?;
 
@@ -984,13 +996,17 @@ impl PSQL {
                 }
                 Err(EngineError::Io(e)) => {
                     // Writer failed (e.g. an unresolved secret), not psql itself.
-                    // Still record a Failure row — SQL may already have run.
-                    (
-                        MigrationStatus::Failure,
-                        Some(
-                            anyhow::Error::from(e).context("failed while streaming migration SQL"),
-                        ),
-                    )
+                    // Still record a Failure row — SQL may already have run, and
+                    // psql may have reported on what it did receive.
+                    let base = anyhow::Error::from(e);
+                    let err = match tail_summary(&diagnostics.tail, diagnostics.dropped) {
+                        Some(stderr) => base.context(format!(
+                            "failed while streaming migration SQL; psql reported: {}",
+                            stderr
+                        )),
+                        None => base.context("failed while streaming migration SQL"),
+                    };
+                    (MigrationStatus::Failure, Some(err))
                 }
                 // Only `run_script` produces this; `execute_with_writer` never does.
                 Err(EngineError::Unavailable { message }) => {
diff --git a/src/template.rs b/src/template.rs
index 5ec6765..b2898c5 100644
--- a/src/template.rs
+++ b/src/template.rs
@@ -425,8 +425,16 @@ impl StreamingGeneration {
     pub fn into_script_source(self) -> (crate::engine::ScriptSource, Arc<SecretsRepository>) {
         let secrets = Arc::clone(&self.secrets);
         let script = Box::new(move |writer: &mut dyn std::io::Write| {
-            self.render_to_writer(writer)
-                .map_err(|e| std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, e))
+            self.render_to_writer(writer).map_err(|e| {
+                // minijinja buries the writer's io::Error under WriteFailure;
+                // carry its kind back out so callers can spot a broken pipe.
+                let kind = e
+                    .chain()
+                    .find_map(|c| c.downcast_ref::<std::io::Error>())
+                    .map(|io| io.kind())
+                    .unwrap_or(std::io::ErrorKind::Other);
+                std::io::Error::new(kind, e)
+            })
         });
         (script, secrets)
     }
diff --git a/tests/integration_postgres.rs b/tests/integration_postgres.rs
index b01cc42..d4cdebe 100644
--- a/tests/integration_postgres.rs
+++ b/tests/integration_postgres.rs
@@ -2492,3 +2492,62 @@ async fn test_run_script_does_not_hang_when_a_sink_fails() -> Result<()> {
 
     Ok(())
 }
+
+/// psql exits on a failed statement under ON_ERROR_STOP. If the script is still
+/// being written, the write fails with `BrokenPipe` — a symptom that must not
+/// displace psql's own report.
+///
+/// Writing until the pipe breaks is deliberate: a fixed payload is a race, and
+/// under `docker exec -i` even ~760KB won 2 runs in 3.
+#[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 4)]
+#[ignore]
+async fn test_broken_pipe_does_not_mask_the_psql_error() -> Result<()> {
+    use spawn_db::engine::ScriptSource;
+
+    require_postgres()?;
+
+    let helper =
+        IntegrationTestHelper::new("test_broken_pipe_does_not_mask_the_psql_error", None).await?;
+    let config = helper.migration_helper.load_config().await?;
+    let engine = config.new_engine().await?;
+
+    let script: ScriptSource = Box::new(|writer| {
+        writer.write_all(b"SELECT this_does_not_exist();\n")?;
+        // A full line of dashes, so anything psql does read stays a comment.
+        let padding = [b'-'; 4096];
+        loop {
+            writer.write_all(&padding)?;
+            writer.write_all(b"\n")?;
+        }
+    });
+
+    let outcome = tokio::time::timeout(
+        std::time::Duration::from_secs(30),
+        engine.migration_apply(
+            "20260101000000-broken-pipe",
+            script,
+            "deadbeef".to_string(),
+            None,
+            "default",
+            false,
+        ),
+    )
+    .await
+    .map_err(|_| anyhow!("migration_apply hung: the writer was never unblocked"))?;
+
+    let err = outcome.expect_err("a failing statement should surface as an error");
+    let chain = format!("{:?}", anyhow::Error::new(err));
+
+    assert!(
+        chain.contains("this_does_not_exist") && chain.contains("psql exited with code"),
+        "apply must report psql's error, not just that the write failed, got: {}",
+        chain
+    );
+    assert!(
+        !chain.contains("failed while streaming migration SQL"),
+        "psql died first, so this is not a writer failure, got: {}",
+        chain
+    );
+
+    Ok(())
+}