diff --git a/lib/routers/playlists.py b/lib/routers/playlists.py
index 4d8adafa..f517fc25 100644
--- a/lib/routers/playlists.py
+++ b/lib/routers/playlists.py
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 ``reqfields``. See ``appstate.py``.
 """
 
+import logging
+import os
+import tempfile
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter
@@ -14,6 +17,8 @@
 import appstate
 from reqfields import _clean_str
 
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+
 router = APIRouter()
 
 # Cache policy for the custom-cover file response: revalidate every time so a
@@ -204,15 +209,40 @@ async def api_set_playlist_cover(pid: int, data: dict):
         return JSONResponse({"error": "Invalid base64"}, status_code=400)
     cover = _playlist_cover_path(pid)
     cover.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    # Decode/validate the image — a bad payload is a CLIENT error (400), and the
+    # message stays generic so it can't echo internals.
     try:
         from PIL import Image
         img = Image.open(io.BytesIO(img_data)).convert("RGB")
         img.thumbnail((640, 640))                  # covers stay small
-        tmp = cover.with_suffix(".png.tmp")
-        img.save(str(tmp), "PNG")
+    except Exception:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Invalid image"}, status_code=400)
+    # Persist. A save/replace failure is a SERVER error (500, logged, no
+    # filesystem detail leaked) — the pre-split handler mislabeled these as 400
+    # and echoed the exception. A unique temp name in the cover dir (not a shared
+    # `{pid}.png.tmp`) means two concurrent uploads can't clobber each other's
+    # temp file; the atomic replace publishes. Re-check the playlist still exists
+    # just before publishing so a delete that raced the decode above can't leave
+    # an orphan cover — cheap belt-and-braces; FeedBack is single-user
+    # (Principle I), so a full per-playlist lock would be for a race the
+    # deployment model precludes.
+    tmp = None
+    try:
+        # mkstemp is inside the try too: an unwritable dir / full disk raises
+        # here, and that's the same class of persistence failure as save/replace.
+        fd, tmp_name = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix=f".{pid}.", suffix=".png.tmp", dir=str(cover.parent))
+        tmp = Path(tmp_name)
+        with os.fdopen(fd, "wb") as f:
+            img.save(f, "PNG")
+        if appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid) is None:
+            tmp.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
         tmp.replace(cover)
-    except Exception as e:
-        return JSONResponse({"error": f"Invalid image: {e}"}, status_code=400)
+    except Exception:
+        if tmp is not None:
+            tmp.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        log.exception("playlist cover save failed (pid=%s)", pid)
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "could not save cover"}, status_code=500)
     return {"ok": True, "cover_url": _playlist_cover_url(pid)}
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_playlist_cover_errors.py b/tests/test_playlist_cover_errors.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..641acf05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_playlist_cover_errors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+"""Playlist cover upload: client vs server errors, no temp litter, no leak.
+
+The pre-split handler caught decode AND persistence failures in one `except`,
+returned 400 for both, and echoed the exception (`Invalid image: {e}`) — so a
+disk/permission failure was mislabeled as a client error and could leak a
+filesystem path. These pin the split.
+"""
+
+import base64
+import io
+
+import pytest
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+from PIL import Image
+
+import appstate
+from metadata_db import MetadataDB
+from routers import playlists
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def client(tmp_path):
+    prev = (appstate.meta_db, appstate.config_dir)
+    db = MetadataDB(tmp_path)
+    appstate.configure(meta_db=db, config_dir=tmp_path)
+    app_ = __import__("fastapi").FastAPI()
+    app_.include_router(playlists.router)
+    try:
+        yield TestClient(app_), tmp_path
+    finally:
+        db.conn.close()
+        appstate.configure(meta_db=prev[0], config_dir=prev[1])
+
+
+def _png_b64():
+    buf = io.BytesIO()
+    Image.new("RGB", (8, 8), (10, 20, 30)).save(buf, "PNG")
+    return base64.b64encode(buf.getvalue()).decode()
+
+
+def _make_playlist(client):
+    return client.post("/api/playlists", json={"name": "P"}).json()["id"]
+
+
+def test_valid_cover_saves_and_leaves_no_temp(client):
+    c, tmp_path = client
+    pid = _make_playlist(c)
+    r = c.post(f"/api/playlists/{pid}/cover", json={"image": _png_b64()})
+    assert r.status_code == 200
+    cover_dir = tmp_path / "playlist_covers"
+    assert (cover_dir / f"{pid}.png").exists()
+    # The atomic-publish temp file must not linger.
+    assert not list(cover_dir.glob("*.tmp"))
+
+
+def test_undecodable_image_is_a_400_without_leaking(client):
+    c, _ = client
+    pid = _make_playlist(c)
+    # valid base64, not a valid image
+    r = c.post(f"/api/playlists/{pid}/cover", json={"image": base64.b64encode(b"not an image").decode()})
+    assert r.status_code == 400
+    body = r.json()["error"]
+    assert body == "Invalid image"          # generic — no exception detail echoed
+    assert "playlist_covers" not in body    # no filesystem path leak
+
+
+def test_save_failure_is_a_500_not_a_400(client, monkeypatch):
+    """A persistence failure (here: Image.save raising) must be a logged 500,
+    not a 400 — the whole point of the decode/persist split. Negative-checks
+    against the pre-fix behavior, which returned 400 for exactly this."""
+    c, tmp_path = client
+    pid = _make_playlist(c)
+    payload = _png_b64()                     # build BEFORE patching save
+
+    def boom(self, fp, *a, **k):
+        raise OSError("disk full")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(Image.Image, "save", boom)
+    r = c.post(f"/api/playlists/{pid}/cover", json={"image": payload})
+
+    assert r.status_code == 500
+    assert "disk full" not in r.json()["error"]           # no internal detail
+    assert not list((tmp_path / "playlist_covers").glob("*.tmp"))  # temp cleaned up
+
+
+def test_temp_creation_failure_is_a_500(client, monkeypatch):
+    """mkstemp raising (unwritable dir / full disk) must hit the same logged 500
+    path as a save failure, not escape as an unhandled server error."""
+    import tempfile as _tempfile
+
+    c, _ = client
+    pid = _make_playlist(c)
+    payload = _png_b64()
+
+    def boom(*a, **k):
+        raise OSError("read-only file system")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(_tempfile, "mkstemp", boom)
+    r = c.post(f"/api/playlists/{pid}/cover", json={"image": payload})
+    assert r.status_code == 500
+    assert "read-only" not in r.json()["error"]
+
+
+def test_upload_to_missing_playlist_is_404(client):
+    c, _ = client
+    r = c.post("/api/playlists/9999/cover", json={"image": _png_b64()})
+    assert r.status_code == 404