diff --git a/xr_rm_teleop/test/test_act_episode_recorder.py b/xr_rm_teleop/test/test_act_episode_recorder.py
index ff0ae29..948ce01 100644
--- a/xr_rm_teleop/test/test_act_episode_recorder.py
+++ b/xr_rm_teleop/test/test_act_episode_recorder.py
@@ -744,13 +744,7 @@ def _push_recording_frames(recorder, control_ns, frame_number):
     )
 
 
-@requires_h5py
-def test_end_to_end_fake_episode_saves_and_returns_idle(tmp_path):
-    recorder = _recorder_for_test(tmp_path)
-    recorder._handle_right_b(grip=False)
-
-    assert recorder.state is RecordingState.ARMED
-
+def _finish_fake_episode(recorder):
     start_ns = recorder._now_ns()
     frame_number = 1001
     for offset, seq in enumerate(range(100, 107)):
@@ -768,12 +762,39 @@ def test_end_to_end_fake_episode_saves_and_returns_idle(tmp_path):
     _push_recording_frames(recorder, final_ns, frame_number)
     recorder._on_control_sample(_control_message(108, final_ns, grip=False))
 
+
+@requires_h5py
+def test_end_to_end_fake_episode_saves_and_returns_idle(tmp_path):
+    recorder = _recorder_for_test(tmp_path)
+    recorder._handle_right_b(grip=False)
+
+    assert recorder.state is RecordingState.ARMED
+
+    _finish_fake_episode(recorder)
+
     assert (tmp_path / "tomato_pick" / "episode_0.hdf5").is_file()
     assert recorder.state is RecordingState.IDLE
     assert "SAVING" in recorder._status_pub.messages
     assert recorder._status_pub.messages[-2:] == ["SAVED", "IDLE"]
 
 
+@requires_h5py
+def test_final_publish_rejects_allocated_episode_number_conflict(tmp_path):
+    recorder = _recorder_for_test(tmp_path)
+    recorder._handle_right_b(grip=False)
+    existing = recorder._task_dir / "episode_0.hdf5"
+    existing.write_bytes(b"existing")
+
+    _finish_fake_episode(recorder)
+
+    assert existing.read_bytes() == b"existing"
+    assert not (recorder._task_dir / "episode_1.hdf5").exists()
+    rejected = list((recorder._task_dir / "rejected").glob("*.hdf5"))
+    assert len(rejected) == 1
+    with h5py.File(rejected[0], "r") as root:
+        assert root.attrs["reject_reason"] == "episode_number_conflict"
+
+
 @requires_h5py
 def test_discard_and_interrupt_only_process_current_partial(tmp_path):
     recorder = _recorder_for_test(tmp_path)
diff --git a/xr_rm_teleop/xr_rm_teleop/act_episode_recorder.py b/xr_rm_teleop/xr_rm_teleop/act_episode_recorder.py
index aa72e56..dd76db8 100644
--- a/xr_rm_teleop/xr_rm_teleop/act_episode_recorder.py
+++ b/xr_rm_teleop/xr_rm_teleop/act_episode_recorder.py
@@ -1099,6 +1099,7 @@ class ActEpisodeRecorder(Node):
         self._writer: EpisodeWriter | None = None
         self._store: EpisodeStore | None = None
         self._partial_path: Path | None = None
+        self._episode_index: int | None = None
         self._camera_baselines: tuple[CameraStats, CameraStats] | None = None
         self._saving_deadline_ns: int | None = None
 
@@ -1285,6 +1286,7 @@ class ActEpisodeRecorder(Node):
             self._publish_state(RecordingState.IDLE, "disk_write_error")
             return
         self._store = store
+        self._episode_index = episode_index
         self._writer = EpisodeWriter(
             store,
             queue_size=self._writer_queue_size,
@@ -1533,6 +1535,7 @@ class ActEpisodeRecorder(Node):
     def _complete_save(self) -> None:
         assert self._store is not None
         assert self._partial_path is not None
+        assert self._episode_index is not None
         partial = self._partial_path
         self._store.close()
         report = validate_episode(partial, self._quality_limits)
@@ -1546,8 +1549,9 @@ class ActEpisodeRecorder(Node):
             root.attrs["interrupted"] = np.bool_(False)
             for name, value in report.metrics.items():
                 root.attrs[name] = value
-        episode_index = next_episode_index(self._task_dir)
-        destination = self._task_dir / f"episode_{episode_index}.hdf5"
+        destination = (
+            self._task_dir / f"episode_{self._episode_index}.hdf5"
+        )
         try:
             publish_without_overwrite(partial, destination)
         except FileExistsError:
@@ -1625,6 +1629,7 @@ class ActEpisodeRecorder(Node):
         self._writer = None
         self._store = None
         self._partial_path = None
+        self._episode_index = None
         self._camera_baselines = None
         self._saving_deadline_ns = None
         self._publish_state(RecordingState.IDLE)