diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/agent_config/capabilities.rs b/hive-c0re/src/agent_config/capabilities.rs
index 80157c50..998c408c 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/agent_config/capabilities.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/agent_config/capabilities.rs
@@ -65,9 +65,10 @@ fn prune_unknown(map: &mut BTreeMap<String, Vec<String>>) -> bool {
 /// Read the per-agent capability map. Returns an empty map when the
 /// file is absent or unparsable — callers treat a missing entry as
 /// "no extra capabilities". Any entry that isn't a recognised
-/// [`Capability`] is dropped (with a `warn!`) and the pruned form is
-/// written back so the file heals rather than carrying the junk
-/// forever.
+/// [`Capability`] is dropped (with a `warn!`) from what's returned —
+/// a stale or typo'd name is never honoured — but `read` itself never
+/// writes; the on-disk file only gets repaired the next time something
+/// calls `write`/`set_caps` anyway.
 #[must_use]
 pub fn read() -> BTreeMap<String, Vec<String>> {
     let path = capabilities_path();
@@ -75,11 +76,7 @@ pub fn read() -> BTreeMap<String, Vec<String>> {
         return BTreeMap::new();
     };
     let mut map: BTreeMap<String, Vec<String>> = serde_json::from_str(&raw).unwrap_or_default();
-    if prune_unknown(&mut map) {
-        // Best-effort: on write failure the caller still gets the
-        // pruned in-memory map, and the next read retries the repair.
-        let _ = write(&map);
-    }
+    prune_unknown(&mut map);
     map
 }