diff --git a/packages/stellar-sdk-helpers/src/migration-keeper.test.ts b/packages/stellar-sdk-helpers/src/migration-keeper.test.ts
index 08c127cd..3c782a13 100644
--- a/packages/stellar-sdk-helpers/src/migration-keeper.test.ts
+++ b/packages/stellar-sdk-helpers/src/migration-keeper.test.ts
@@ -1465,6 +1465,49 @@ describe("runMigrationKeeper", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it("reports a non-transient snapshot read error as retryable instead of assuming no snapshot", async () => {
+    // A decode error, contract-not-found or HTTP 404 is a read *failure*, not
+    // proof that the vault has no snapshot. isTransientKeeperError says false
+    // for those, and the old code took that as "no snapshot exists", fired
+    // begin_migration and reset a possibly already cooldown-elapsed
+    // snapshot's ledger_seq back to now.
+    const server = makeServer();
+    stellarMocks.getRpcServer.mockReturnValue(server);
+    stellarMocks.simulateView.mockImplementation(
+      async (_server, _contractId, _passphrase, method) => {
+        if (method === "get_migration_snapshot") {
+          throw new Error("contract not found: HTTP 404");
+        }
+        return DISCOVERED_VAULT.currentAdapterId;
+      }
+    );
+    const rateSource = vi.fn(async ({ protocol }: { protocol: string }) =>
+      protocol === "blend" ? 500 : 700
+    );
+
+    const result = await runMigrationKeeper(CONFIG, {
+      logger: logger(),
+      discoverVaults: async () => ({
+        vaults: [DISCOVERED_VAULT],
+        failures: [],
+      }),
+      rateSource,
+      resolveCandidatePool: async () => "CDEFINDEXPOOL",
+      sleep: vi.fn(),
+    });
+
+    expect(server.sendTransaction).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(result.migrations).toEqual([]);
+    expect(result.skipped).toEqual([]);
+    expect(result.failures).toMatchObject([
+      {
+        vaultId: "meridian-usdc",
+        transient: true,
+        error: expect.stringContaining("could not read the migration snapshot"),
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it("submits begin_migration and defers migrate_adapter when the existing snapshot is for a different adapter", async () => {
     const server = makeServer();
     stellarMocks.getRpcServer.mockReturnValue(server);
diff --git a/packages/stellar-sdk-helpers/src/migration-keeper.ts b/packages/stellar-sdk-helpers/src/migration-keeper.ts
index 9b414b19..f7c4fb1f 100644
--- a/packages/stellar-sdk-helpers/src/migration-keeper.ts
+++ b/packages/stellar-sdk-helpers/src/migration-keeper.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,18 @@ import {
 
 const DEFAULT_MAX_ATTEMPTS = 3;
 const DEFAULT_BASE_DELAY_MS = 1_000;
+
+// The one read failure that means "this vault has no migration snapshot yet".
+// simulateView rethrows the simulation error text, so this matches the
+// contract error identifier, the reason tx.ts maps it to, and the raw
+// contract error code (#19 in VAULT_CONTRACT_ERROR_MESSAGES). Anything else
+// that comes out of get_migration_snapshot is a read failure, not an absence.
+const MIGRATION_NOT_INITIALIZED_PATTERN =
+  /MigrationNotInitialized|Start a migration before calling migrate|Error\(Contract, #19\)/i;
+
+function isMigrationNotInitializedError(err: unknown): boolean {
+  return MIGRATION_NOT_INITIALIZED_PATTERN.test(errorMessage(err));
+}
 // Same rationale as accrual-keeper.ts's DEFAULT_RPC_TIMEOUT_MS: discovery's
 // simulate() calls are additionally capped at tx.ts's hardcoded 10s Soroban
 // RPC ceiling regardless of what's configured here.
@@ -1061,17 +1073,17 @@ export async function runMigrationKeeper(
           hasMatchingSnapshot = true;
         }
       } catch (err) {
-        // A genuine "no snapshot" (or one for a different adapter) traps
-        // with MigrationNotInitialized, which is not a transient failure by
-        // isTransientKeeperError's classification, that's the case this
-        // falls through to begin_migration for. A real RPC/network failure
-        // reading the snapshot must NOT be treated the same way: assuming
-        // "no snapshot" and firing begin_migration would reset a possibly
-        // already cooldown-elapsed snapshot's ledger_seq back to now,
-        // pushing a ready-to-migrate vault's migration back a full
-        // MIN_LEDGER_GAP for no reason. Report it as a retryable failure
-        // instead, same as this file's other on-chain read checks.
-        snapshotReadFailed = isTransientKeeperError(err);
+        // Only a confirmed MigrationNotInitialized means "this vault has no
+        // snapshot yet" — the one case that may fall through to
+        // begin_migration. Every other read failure (a decode/parse error,
+        // contract-not-found, a definitive simulation error, an HTTP 400/404)
+        // is a read *failure*, not the absence of a snapshot: treating it as
+        // "no snapshot" would fire begin_migration and reset a possibly
+        // already cooldown-elapsed snapshot's ledger_seq back to now, pushing
+        // a ready-to-migrate vault back a full MIN_LEDGER_GAP for no reason.
+        // So this does not defer to isTransientKeeperError: a non-transient
+        // but unrecognised read error is still not proof of absence.
+        snapshotReadFailed = !isMigrationNotInitializedError(err);
       }
     }