diff --git a/nix/host-modules/otel.nix b/nix/host-modules/otel.nix
index 2800717c..b8e95529 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/otel.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/otel.nix
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@ in
       # renders neither the value nor the directory, and nothing has to
       # hardcode `/run/credentials/<unit>`.
       credName = "swarm-client.secret";
+      secretWaitUnit = "hive-otel-client-secret";
     in
     {
       # Reachable from agent containers and nowhere else: this opens
@@ -380,8 +381,71 @@ in
       # reason for a second on-disk copy of the secret. systemd hands it to
       # the process in a private tmpfs and exports the directory, which is
       # what the config above names.
-      systemd.services.opentelemetry-collector.serviceConfig = lib.optionalAttrs senderAuth {
-        LoadCredential = [ "${credName}:${otel.clientSecretFile}" ];
+      systemd.services.opentelemetry-collector = lib.optionalAttrs senderAuth {
+        serviceConfig.LoadCredential = [ "${credName}:${otel.clientSecretFile}" ];
+
+        # `requires`, not merely `after`: ordering without gating leaves the
+        # collector starting anyway and failing on its own `LoadCredential`,
+        # which is the failure the wait exists to prevent. Same reasoning
+        # `lib/hive-ca-trust.nix` records for its bundle consumers.
+        requires = [ "${secretWaitUnit}.service" ];
+        after = [ "${secretWaitUnit}.service" ];
+      };
+
+      # Wait for the credential rather than racing it.
+      #
+      # `LoadCredential` naming a missing path is FATAL AT UNIT START, and the
+      # secret is minted by authelia's first-boot generator inside its own
+      # container — nothing orders a host unit against that. Worse, nixpkgs
+      # sets `Restart = "always"` with no `RestartSec`, so the failure is
+      # instant and the unit burns systemd's 5-starts-in-10s allowance in well
+      # under a second, landing in `start-limit-hit` where it stops retrying
+      # entirely and needs `systemctl reset-failed` by hand.
+      #
+      # 🔑 `Restart = always` reads like it makes this self-healing and does
+      # the opposite: a SLOW-failing unit retries until the secret appears, a
+      # FAST-failing one exhausts its limit before the thing it waits for can
+      # exist. This oneshot converts the fast failure into a slow one, which
+      # is what that restart policy is actually good at.
+      #
+      # Copied from `hive-forge-oidc-secret.service`, which solves exactly
+      # this for the forge — see `docs/swarm/secrets.md`.
+      systemd.services.${secretWaitUnit} = lib.mkIf senderAuth {
+        description = "wait for this hive's telemetry client secret";
+        # Deliberately says nothing about the collector: the CONSUMER declares
+        # `requires` + `after` above, which both pulls this into the
+        # transaction and gates on it. Stating the order from both sides too
+        # would be one more thing to keep consistent for no added guarantee.
+        #
+        # Only when the minting container is on THIS host. Elsewhere the file
+        # is operator-provided and there is no local unit to order against —
+        # naming one that does not exist orders nothing, silently.
+        after = lib.optional autheliaCfg.enable "container@${autheliaCfg.machine}.service";
+        requires = lib.optional autheliaCfg.enable "container@${autheliaCfg.machine}.service";
+        serviceConfig = {
+          Type = "oneshot";
+          RemainAfterExit = true;
+          SyslogIdentifier = secretWaitUnit;
+          # ⚠️ Longer than the bounded wait below. `DefaultTimeoutStartSec` is
+          # 90s, so without this systemd kills the unit at 90 — before it can
+          # emit the message naming the file it was waiting for.
+          TimeoutStartSec = "180s";
+        };
+        path = [ pkgs.coreutils ];
+        script = ''
+          set -euo pipefail
+          secret=${lib.escapeShellArg (toString otel.clientSecretFile)}
+
+          # Bounded, then FAIL — never skip. A silent skip produces a
+          # collector that starts and ships nothing, which is the failure
+          # mode this whole path is trying not to have.
+          for _ in $(seq 1 60); do
+            [ -s "$secret" ] && exit 0
+            sleep 2
+          done
+          echo "telemetry client secret $secret has not appeared after 120s" >&2
+          exit 1
+        '';
       };
 
       assertions = [