diff --git a/cmd/bucket-lifecycle-restore-safety_test.go b/cmd/bucket-lifecycle-restore-safety_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9facbfd0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/bucket-lifecycle-restore-safety_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,284 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 Feng Ruohang
+//
+// This file is part of Silo Object Storage stack
+//
+// This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+// GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+// along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"reflect"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/minio/minio/internal/bucket/lifecycle"
+	"github.com/minio/minio/internal/bucket/versioning"
+	xhttp "github.com/minio/minio/internal/http"
+)
+
+const restoreSafetyRules = `<LifecycleConfiguration><Rule><ID>tier</ID><Status>Enabled</Status><Filter><Prefix></Prefix></Filter><Transition><Days>1000</Days><StorageClass>WARM</StorageClass></Transition></Rule></LifecycleConfiguration>`
+
+// Reuse the original restore-copy fixture with a small, isolated real cluster.
+func newRestoreSafetyTest(t *testing.T, pools int, state versioning.State) *restoreTest {
+	t.Helper()
+	prevTier := globalTierConfigMgr
+	t.Cleanup(func() { globalTierConfigMgr = prevTier })
+	dirs, err := getRandomDisks(4 * pools)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { removeRoots(dirs) })
+	var endpoints EndpointServerPools
+	for i := range pools {
+		endpoints = append(endpoints, mustGetPoolEndpoints(i, dirs[4*i:4*i+4]...)...)
+	}
+	obj, _, err := initObjectLayer(t.Context(), endpoints)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	z := obj.(*erasureServerPools)
+	t.Cleanup(func() { z.Shutdown(context.Background()) })
+	globalTierConfigMgr = NewTierConfigMgr()
+	globalTierConfigMgr.drivercache["WARM"] = &restoreTestTier{tierExpiryTestBackend: &tierExpiryTestBackend{objects: map[string][]byte{}}}
+	r := &restoreTest{t: t, z: z, bucket: getRandomBucketName(), object: "obj", labels: map[string]string{}, bodies: map[string][]byte{}}
+	if err := z.MakeBucket(t.Context(), r.bucket, MakeBucketOptions{VersioningEnabled: state != ""}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	meta, err := globalBucketMetadataSys.Get(r.bucket)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if state == versioning.Suspended {
+		meta.VersioningConfigXML = []byte(`<VersioningConfiguration><Status>Suspended</Status></VersioningConfiguration>`)
+	}
+	meta.LifecycleConfigXML = []byte(restoreSafetyRules)
+	if err := meta.Save(t.Context(), z); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	globalBucketMetadataSys.Set(r.bucket, meta)
+	return r
+}
+
+type restoreCleanupFaultDisk struct {
+	consistencyReadFaultDisk
+	deletes *atomic.Int64
+}
+
+func (d restoreCleanupFaultDisk) DeleteVersion(ctx context.Context, bucket, object string, fi FileInfo, force bool, opts DeleteOptions) error {
+	if bucket == d.bucket && object == d.object {
+		d.deletes.Add(1)
+	}
+	return d.StorageAPI.DeleteVersion(ctx, bucket, object, fi, force, opts)
+}
+
+func TestExpireRestoredRequiresFreshMetadata(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, restored := range []bool{true, false} {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("expire-restored=%v", restored), func(t *testing.T) {
+			r := newRestoreSafetyTest(t, 1, "")
+			oi := r.put("v1", true, true)
+			r.restore(oi)
+			before := r.fileInfo(oi.VersionID)
+			er := r.z.serverPools[0].getHashedSet(r.object)
+			original := er.getDisks
+			disks := original()
+			var deletes atomic.Int64
+			faulty := make([]StorageAPI, len(disks))
+			for i, d := range disks {
+				faulty[i] = restoreCleanupFaultDisk{consistencyReadFaultDisk{d, r.bucket, r.object}, &deletes}
+			}
+			er.getDisks = func() []StorageAPI { return faulty }
+			// Restore the callback before any fixture reads and on a fatal assertion.
+			defer func() { er.getDisks = original }()
+			opts := ObjectOptions{VersionID: nullVersionID, Transition: TransitionOptions{ExpireRestored: restored}, Expiration: ExpirationOptions{Expire: restored}}
+			_, err := er.DeleteObject(t.Context(), r.bucket, r.object, opts)
+			er.getDisks = original
+			if restored {
+				var quorum InsufficientWriteQuorum
+				if !errors.As(err, &quorum) {
+					t.Errorf("cleanup without fresh metadata: got %v, want write-quorum error", err)
+				}
+				if n := deletes.Load(); n != 0 {
+					t.Errorf("cleanup attempted %d blind disk deletes", n)
+				}
+				if after := r.fileInfo(oi.VersionID); !reflect.DeepEqual(before, after) {
+					t.Error("failed metadata read changed the stored version")
+				}
+				if n := r.dataDirs(before.DataDir); n != len(disks) {
+					t.Errorf("cleanup removed data: %d/%d directories remain", n, len(disks))
+				}
+			} else {
+				// Ordinary unversioned DELETE retains the existing tryDel behavior.
+				if err != nil || deletes.Load() != int64(len(disks)) {
+					t.Fatalf("ordinary DELETE: err=%v, deletes=%d", err, deletes.Load())
+				}
+				if _, err := r.z.GetObjectInfo(t.Context(), r.bucket, r.object, ObjectOptions{}); !isErrObjectNotFound(err) {
+					t.Fatalf("ordinary DELETE left the object: %v", err)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExpireRestoredRenewedOrMissing(t *testing.T) {
+	r := newRestoreSafetyTest(t, 1, versioning.Enabled)
+	oi := r.put("v1", false, true)
+	r.restore(oi)
+	stale, err := r.z.GetObjectInfo(t.Context(), r.bucket, r.object, r.opts(oi.VersionID))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	before := r.fileInfo(oi.VersionID)
+	renewed := completedRestoreObj(time.Now().Add(48 * time.Hour)).String()
+	opts := r.opts(oi.VersionID)
+	opts.EvalMetadataFn = func(o *ObjectInfo, _ error) (ReplicateDecision, error) {
+		o.UserDefined[xhttp.AmzRestore] = renewed
+		return ReplicateDecision{}, nil
+	}
+	if _, err := r.z.PutObjectMetadata(t.Context(), r.bucket, r.object, opts); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	err = expireTransitionedObject(t.Context(), r.z, &stale, lifecycle.Event{Action: lifecycle.DeleteRestoredAction}, lcEventSrc_Scanner)
+	if !isErrVersionNotFound(err) {
+		t.Errorf("stale task should be rejected, got %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := r.fileInfo(oi.VersionID); got.Metadata[xhttp.AmzRestore] != renewed || got.DataDir != before.DataDir {
+		t.Error("stale task changed renewed restore")
+	}
+	if n := r.dataDirs(before.DataDir); n != 4 {
+		t.Errorf("renewed copy has %d directories, want 4", n)
+	}
+	if _, data, err := r.read(oi.VersionID); err != nil || !bytes.Equal(data, r.bodies["v1"]) {
+		t.Fatalf("renewed copy not readable: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	for _, id := range []string{mustGetUUID(), nullVersionID} {
+		opts := r.opts(id)
+		opts.Expiration.Expire = true
+		opts.Transition.ExpireRestored = true
+		if _, err := r.z.DeleteObject(t.Context(), r.bucket, r.object, opts); !isErrVersionNotFound(err) {
+			t.Errorf("missing version %s: %v", id, err)
+		}
+	}
+	missing := r.opts(nullVersionID)
+	missing.Expiration.Expire = true
+	missing.Transition.ExpireRestored = true
+	if _, err := r.z.DeleteObject(t.Context(), r.bucket, "missing-object", missing); !isErrVersionNotFound(err) && !isErrObjectNotFound(err) {
+		t.Errorf("missing object: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := r.fileInfo(oi.VersionID); got.Metadata[xhttp.AmzRestore] != renewed {
+		t.Error("missing-target cleanup changed existing restore")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExpireRestoredStorageBoundary(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, status := range []string{"", lifecycle.TransitionPending, lifecycle.TransitionComplete} {
+		for _, inline := range []bool{false, true} {
+			for _, requestStatus := range []string{"", lifecycle.TransitionComplete} {
+				t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("stored=%s/inline=%v/request=%s", status, inline, requestStatus), func(t *testing.T) {
+					disk, _, err := newXLStorageTestSetup(t)
+					if err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					const bucket, object = "restore-storage", "obj"
+					ctx := t.Context()
+					if err := disk.MakeVol(ctx, bucket); err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					fi := newFileInfo(object, 2, 2)
+					fi.VersionID, fi.DataDir = mustGetUUID(), mustGetUUID()
+					fi.ModTime, fi.Size = time.Now().UTC(), 1024
+					fi.TransitionStatus = status
+					fi.AddObjectPart(1, "", fi.Size, fi.Size, fi.ModTime, nil, nil)
+					fi.Metadata = map[string]string{xhttp.AmzRestore: completedRestoreObj(time.Now().Add(-time.Hour)).String(), "x-amz-meta-preserve": "keep"}
+					payload := []byte("sole local contents")
+					if inline {
+						fi.Data = payload
+						fi.SetInlineData()
+					}
+					if err := disk.WriteMetadata(ctx, "", bucket, object, fi); err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					dir := filepath.Join(disk.Endpoint().Path, bucket, object, fi.DataDir)
+					if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o700); err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "part.1"), payload, 0o600); err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					raw, err := disk.ReadXL(ctx, bucket, object, true)
+					if err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					var xl xlMetaV2
+					if err := xl.Load(raw.Buf); err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					del := FileInfo{VersionID: fi.VersionID, ExpireRestored: true, TransitionStatus: requestStatus}
+					dataDir, err := xl.DeleteVersion(del)
+					if err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					wantDir := ""
+					if status == lifecycle.TransitionComplete {
+						wantDir = fi.DataDir
+					}
+					if dataDir != wantDir {
+						t.Errorf("format authorized directory %q, want %q", dataDir, wantDir)
+					}
+					before, err := getFileInfo(raw.Buf, bucket, object, fi.VersionID, fileInfoOpts{Data: true})
+					if err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					if err := disk.DeleteVersion(ctx, bucket, object, del, false, DeleteOptions{}); err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					afterRaw, err := disk.ReadXL(ctx, bucket, object, true)
+					if err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					after, err := getFileInfo(afterRaw.Buf, bucket, object, fi.VersionID, fileInfoOpts{Data: true})
+					if err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+					data, dirErr := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(dir, "part.1"))
+					if status != lifecycle.TransitionComplete {
+						if !reflect.DeepEqual(before, after) {
+							t.Error("non-complete cleanup changed metadata or inline data")
+						}
+						if dirErr != nil || !bytes.Equal(data, payload) {
+							t.Errorf("sole local contents removed: %v", dirErr)
+						}
+					} else {
+						if !os.IsNotExist(dirErr) {
+							t.Errorf("completed restore directory still present: %v", dirErr)
+						}
+						if len(after.Data) != 0 || after.Metadata[xhttp.AmzRestore] != "" {
+							t.Error("completed restore kept cached data or restore headers")
+						}
+						if after.TransitionStatus != status || after.VersionID != before.VersionID || after.Metadata["x-amz-meta-preserve"] != "keep" {
+							t.Error("cleanup changed the transitioned version identity or user metadata")
+						}
+					}
+				})
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/bucket-lifecycle-restore_test.go b/cmd/bucket-lifecycle-restore_test.go
index e435a1f9e..6917f539d 100644
--- a/cmd/bucket-lifecycle-restore_test.go
+++ b/cmd/bucket-lifecycle-restore_test.go
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ func TestExpireRestoredCopy(t *testing.T) {
 		{name: "suspended", versioning: versioning.Suspended, versions: []version{{label: "v1", null: true}, {label: "v2", restored: true}}},
 		{name: "suspended-no-null", versioning: versioning.Suspended, versions: []version{{label: "v1"}, {label: "v2", restored: true}}},
 		{name: "suspended-null", versioning: versioning.Suspended, versions: []version{{label: "v1"}, {label: "v2", null: true, restored: true}}},
+		{name: "suspended-null-noncurrent", versioning: versioning.Suspended, versions: []version{{label: "v1", null: true, restored: true}, {label: "v2"}}},
 		{name: "unversioned", versions: []version{{label: "v1", null: true, restored: true}}},
 	}
 
@@ -334,6 +335,7 @@ func TestExpireRestoredCopy(t *testing.T) {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 			z := obj.(*erasureServerPools)
+			t.Cleanup(func() { z.Shutdown(context.Background()) })
 			// After initObjectLayer, which sets up a new tier config.
 			tier := &restoreTestTier{tierExpiryTestBackend: &tierExpiryTestBackend{objects: map[string][]byte{}}}
 			globalTierConfigMgr = NewTierConfigMgr()
diff --git a/cmd/bucket-lifecycle.go b/cmd/bucket-lifecycle.go
index 015c9c410..5c5597587 100644
--- a/cmd/bucket-lifecycle.go
+++ b/cmd/bucket-lifecycle.go
@@ -611,8 +611,9 @@ func enqueueTransitionImmediate(obj ObjectInfo, src lcEventSrc) {
 func expireTransitionedObject(ctx context.Context, objectAPI ObjectLayer, oi *ObjectInfo, lcEvent lifecycle.Event, src lcEventSrc) error {
 	traceFn := globalLifecycleSys.trace(*oi)
 	opts := ObjectOptions{
-		Versioned:  globalBucketVersioningSys.PrefixEnabled(oi.Bucket, oi.Name),
-		Expiration: ExpirationOptions{Expire: true},
+		Versioned:        globalBucketVersioningSys.PrefixEnabled(oi.Bucket, oi.Name),
+		VersionSuspended: globalBucketVersioningSys.PrefixSuspended(oi.Bucket, oi.Name),
+		Expiration:       ExpirationOptions{Expire: true},
 	}
 	if lcEvent.Action.DeleteVersioned() {
 		opts.VersionID = oi.VersionID
@@ -647,7 +648,6 @@ func expireTransitionedObject(ctx context.Context, objectAPI ObjectLayer, oi *Ob
 	// touching the remote tier. If the lifecycle configuration changed after
 	// the scanner queued this task, DeleteObject rejects the stale action while
 	// the remote object is still protected.
-	opts.VersionSuspended = globalBucketVersioningSys.PrefixSuspended(oi.Bucket, oi.Name)
 	keepRemote := opts.VersionID == "" &&
 		(opts.Versioned || (opts.VersionSuspended && oi.VersionID != "" && oi.VersionID != nullVersionID))
 	if lcEvent.Action == lifecycle.DeleteAction || lcEvent.Action == lifecycle.DeleteVersionAction {
diff --git a/cmd/erasure-object.go b/cmd/erasure-object.go
index 5c9ee5d80..56737e962 100644
--- a/cmd/erasure-object.go
+++ b/cmd/erasure-object.go
@@ -2114,7 +2114,9 @@ func (er erasureObjects) DeleteObject(ctx context.Context, bucket, object string
 	tryDel := false
 	if gerr != nil && goi.Name == "" {
 		if _, ok := gerr.(InsufficientReadQuorum); ok {
-			if opts.Versioned || opts.VersionSuspended || countOnlineDisks(storageDisks) < len(storageDisks)/2+1 {
+			// A restored-copy expiry needs fresh metadata to confirm its target
+			// and deadline; ordinary unversioned DELETE may still try a blind delete.
+			if opts.Transition.ExpireRestored || opts.Versioned || opts.VersionSuspended || countOnlineDisks(storageDisks) < len(storageDisks)/2+1 {
 				// Add an MRF heal for next time.
 				er.addPartial(bucket, object, opts.VersionID)
 				return objInfo, InsufficientWriteQuorum{}
diff --git a/cmd/xl-storage-format-v2.go b/cmd/xl-storage-format-v2.go
index 5a054f86e..69465c9ab 100644
--- a/cmd/xl-storage-format-v2.go
+++ b/cmd/xl-storage-format-v2.go
@@ -1498,6 +1498,11 @@ func (x *xlMetaV2) DeleteVersion(fi FileInfo) (string, error) {
 		}
 		switch {
 		case fi.ExpireRestored:
+			// Only a completed transition has a remote copy. Trust the selected
+			// stored version, not the transition status supplied by the caller.
+			if string(ver.ObjectV2.MetaSys[metaTierStatus]) != lifecycle.TransitionComplete {
+				return "", nil
+			}
 			ver.ObjectV2.RemoveRestoreHdrs()
 			err = x.setIdx(i, *ver)
 		case fi.TransitionStatus == lifecycle.TransitionComplete: