diff --git a/scripts/install.sh b/scripts/install.sh
index 2e219d97..f1aea9ad 100755
--- a/scripts/install.sh
+++ b/scripts/install.sh
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ HEALTH_INTERVAL=5
 
 # --- State flags for cleanup ---
 TARBALL_PATH=""
+EXTRACT_COMPLETE=false
 CONFIG_COMPLETE=false
 
 # --- Colors ---
@@ -50,7 +51,26 @@ cleanup() {
     if [[ -z "$LOCAL_TARBALL" ]] && [[ -n "$TARBALL_PATH" ]] && [[ -f "$TARBALL_PATH" ]]; then
       rm -f "$TARBALL_PATH"
     fi
-    # Remove install dir only if config wizard never ran (no user data to lose)
+
+    # Post-extract state: tarball unpacked OK but config wizard didn't complete
+    # (common case: /dev/tty unavailable over non-interactive SSH). The expensive
+    # step succeeded, so preserve the dir and tell the user how to resume instead
+    # of forcing a full re-download.
+    if [[ "$EXTRACT_COMPLETE" == "true" ]] \
+        && [[ "$CONFIG_COMPLETE" == "false" ]] \
+        && [[ -d "$INSTALL_DIR" ]] \
+        && [[ ! -f "$INSTALL_DIR/.env" ]]; then
+      echo ""
+      echo -e "${YELLOW}[INFO]${NC}  Tarball extracted to $INSTALL_DIR — preserving."
+      echo -e "${YELLOW}[INFO]${NC}  To finish setup on an interactive console:"
+      echo -e "           ${BOLD}cd $INSTALL_DIR && bash config.sh${NC}"
+      echo ""
+      error "Configuration wizard could not run (likely no TTY available)."
+      return 0
+    fi
+
+    # Extraction failed or never happened — discard the partial dir so the next
+    # run-through starts from a clean slate.
     if [[ "$CONFIG_COMPLETE" == "false" ]] && [[ -d "$INSTALL_DIR" ]] && [[ ! -f "$INSTALL_DIR/.env" ]]; then
       rm -rf "$INSTALL_DIR"
     fi
@@ -244,6 +264,7 @@ if [[ ! -f "$INSTALL_DIR/docker-compose.yml" ]]; then
   error "Tarball extraction failed — docker-compose.yml not found"
   exit 1
 fi
+EXTRACT_COMPLETE=true
 
 # Clean up downloaded tarball
 if [[ -z "$LOCAL_TARBALL" ]] && [[ -f "$TARBALL_PATH" ]]; then