diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/matrix.rs b/hive-c0re/src/matrix.rs
index 1a4aca74..ed019656 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/matrix.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/matrix.rs
@@ -1234,16 +1234,44 @@ fn state_needs_write(current: Option<&serde_json::Value>, desired: &serde_json::
 /// Read the room's current content for one state event. `None` on any
 /// failure — absent state, transport error, or an unparseable body are
 /// all "we don't know", and [`state_needs_write`] turns that into a write.
+///
+/// One failure is louder than the rest, and it is the only one that hides:
+/// **a non-404 HTTP failure means the read broke while the write still
+/// works**, so the guard degrades to writing every time and the sweep
+/// resumes waking the hive with nothing else to show for it. A transport
+/// error needs no warning of its own — the PUT immediately after it fails
+/// too, loudly — and a 404 is the expected first-setup case.
 async fn current_room_state(
     client: &reqwest::Client,
     admin_token: &str,
     url: &str,
 ) -> Option<serde_json::Value> {
-    let resp = client.get(url).bearer_auth(admin_token).send().await.ok()?;
-    if !resp.status().is_success() {
+    let resp = match client.get(url).bearer_auth(admin_token).send().await {
+        Ok(resp) => resp,
+        Err(e) => {
+            tracing::debug!(error = ?e, url, "matrix: state read unreachable; writing");
+            return None;
+        }
+    };
+    let status = resp.status();
+    if !status.is_success() {
+        if status != reqwest::StatusCode::NOT_FOUND {
+            tracing::warn!(
+                %status,
+                url,
+                "matrix: state read failed while writes still work — the \
+                 skip-if-unchanged guard is off and every sweep will re-emit"
+            );
+        }
         return None;
     }
-    resp.json::<serde_json::Value>().await.ok()
+    match resp.json::<serde_json::Value>().await {
+        Ok(body) => Some(body),
+        Err(e) => {
+            tracing::debug!(error = ?e, url, "matrix: state read body unparseable; writing");
+            None
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 /// PUT a state event into `room_id` using the admin token, **skipping the