diff --git a/lib/tempest/blobs/s3_storage.ex b/lib/tempest/blobs/s3_storage.ex
index 09a7332..27ab5bf 100644
--- a/lib/tempest/blobs/s3_storage.ex
+++ b/lib/tempest/blobs/s3_storage.ex
@@ -46,13 +46,21 @@ defmodule Tempest.Blobs.S3Storage do
           {:ok, destination}
 
         {:ok, %{status: 404}} ->
-          {:error, :blob_not_found}
+          promote_blob_via_read_write(config, did, cid, source, destination)
 
         {:ok, %{status: status}} ->
-          {:error, {:s3_status, status}}
+          case promote_blob_via_read_write(config, did, cid, source, destination) do
+            {:ok, promoted} -> {:ok, promoted}
+            {:error, :blob_not_found} -> {:error, {:s3_status, status}}
+            {:error, reason} -> {:error, reason}
+          end
 
         {:error, reason} ->
-          {:error, reason}
+          case promote_blob_via_read_write(config, did, cid, source, destination) do
+            {:ok, promoted} -> {:ok, promoted}
+            {:error, :blob_not_found} -> {:error, reason}
+            {:error, fallback_reason} -> {:error, fallback_reason}
+          end
       end
     end
   end
@@ -124,6 +132,35 @@ defmodule Tempest.Blobs.S3Storage do
     e in KeyError -> {:error, {:missing_s3_config, e.key}}
   end
 
+  defp promote_blob_via_read_write(config, did, cid, source, destination) do
+    with {:ok, bytes} <- read_key(config, source),
+         :ok <- write_key(config, destination, bytes),
+         :ok <- delete_temp_blob(config, did, cid) do
+      {:ok, destination}
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp read_key(config, key) do
+    with {:ok, request} <- request_options(config, key, method: :get) do
+      case Req.request(request) do
+        {:ok, %{status: status, body: bytes}} when status in 200..299 and is_binary(bytes) -> {:ok, bytes}
+        {:ok, %{status: 404}} -> {:error, :blob_not_found}
+        {:ok, %{status: status}} -> {:error, {:s3_status, status}}
+        {:error, reason} -> {:error, reason}
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp write_key(config, key, bytes) when is_binary(bytes) do
+    with {:ok, request} <- request_options(config, key, method: :put, body: bytes) do
+      case Req.request(request) do
+        {:ok, %{status: status}} when status in 200..299 -> :ok
+        {:ok, %{status: status}} -> {:error, {:s3_status, status}}
+        {:error, reason} -> {:error, reason}
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   defp object_url(endpoint_url, bucket, key) do
     endpoint_url
     |> String.trim_trailing("/")
diff --git a/test/tempest/blobs/s3_integration_test.exs b/test/tempest/blobs/s3_integration_test.exs
index 705b2cb..0a3cafe 100644
--- a/test/tempest/blobs/s3_integration_test.exs
+++ b/test/tempest/blobs/s3_integration_test.exs
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ defmodule Tempest.Blobs.S3IntegrationTest do
     assert response(response, 200) == "s3 integration bytes"
   end
 
-  test "record writes report S3 promotion failures clearly", %{conn: conn} do
+  test "record writes recover when S3 copy fails but the temp object is readable", %{conn: conn} do
     account = create_account!(conn)
     cid = Blobs.cid_for("s3 promotion failure")
 
@@ -112,20 +112,75 @@ defmodule Tempest.Blobs.S3IntegrationTest do
       Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 403, "")
     end)
 
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "GET"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/temp/blobs/#{encoded_did(account["did"])}/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 200, "s3 promotion failure")
+    end)
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "PUT"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/blobs/#{encoded_did(account["did"])}/#{cid}"
+      assert {:ok, "s3 promotion failure", conn} = Plug.Conn.read_body(conn)
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 200, "")
+    end)
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "DELETE"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/temp/blobs/#{encoded_did(account["did"])}/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 204, "")
+    end)
+
+    conn
+    |> auth_json(account)
+    |> post(~p"/xrpc/com.atproto.repo.createRecord", %{
+      "repo" => account["did"],
+      "collection" => "app.tempest.blob",
+      "rkey" => "s3-failure",
+      "validate" => false,
+      "record" => %{"$type" => "app.tempest.blob", "image" => blob}
+    })
+    |> json_response(200)
+  end
+
+  test "record writes report missing temp object bytes clearly", %{conn: conn} do
+    account = create_account!(conn)
+    cid = Blobs.cid_for("s3 missing temp")
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "PUT"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/temp/blobs/#{encoded_did(account["did"])}/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 200, "")
+    end)
+
+    blob = upload_blob!(conn, account, "s3 missing temp")["blob"]
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "PUT"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/blobs/#{encoded_did(account["did"])}/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 404, "")
+    end)
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "GET"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/temp/blobs/#{encoded_did(account["did"])}/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 404, "")
+    end)
+
     response =
       conn
       |> auth_json(account)
       |> post(~p"/xrpc/com.atproto.repo.createRecord", %{
         "repo" => account["did"],
         "collection" => "app.tempest.blob",
-        "rkey" => "s3-failure",
+        "rkey" => "s3-missing-temp",
         "validate" => false,
         "record" => %{"$type" => "app.tempest.blob", "image" => blob}
       })
-      |> json_response(502)
+      |> json_response(500)
 
-    assert response["error"] == "UpstreamFailure"
-    assert response["message"] == "blob storage request failed"
+    assert response["error"] == "InternalServerError"
+    assert response["message"] == "uploaded blob bytes could not be found"
   end
 
   defp create_account!(conn) do
diff --git a/test/tempest/blobs/s3_storage_test.exs b/test/tempest/blobs/s3_storage_test.exs
index 686f52b..c8dfb05 100644
--- a/test/tempest/blobs/s3_storage_test.exs
+++ b/test/tempest/blobs/s3_storage_test.exs
@@ -59,6 +59,60 @@ defmodule Tempest.Blobs.S3StorageTest do
     assert promoted_path == "blobs/#{did}/#{cid}"
   end
 
+  test "promote_blob falls back to read and write when copy cannot find the source", %{
+    config: config,
+    did: did,
+    cid: cid
+  } do
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "PUT"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/blobs/did%3Aplc%3As3storage/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 404, "")
+    end)
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "GET"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/temp/blobs/did%3Aplc%3As3storage/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 200, "s3 bytes")
+    end)
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "PUT"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/blobs/did%3Aplc%3As3storage/#{cid}"
+      assert {:ok, "s3 bytes", conn} = Plug.Conn.read_body(conn)
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 200, "")
+    end)
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "DELETE"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/temp/blobs/did%3Aplc%3As3storage/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 204, "")
+    end)
+
+    assert {:ok, promoted_path} = S3Storage.promote_blob(config, did, cid)
+    assert promoted_path == "blobs/#{did}/#{cid}"
+  end
+
+  test "promote_blob reports missing only when fallback read cannot find the temp object", %{
+    config: config,
+    did: did,
+    cid: cid
+  } do
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "PUT"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/blobs/did%3Aplc%3As3storage/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 404, "")
+    end)
+
+    Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
+      assert conn.method == "GET"
+      assert conn.request_path == "/tempest-test/temp/blobs/did%3Aplc%3As3storage/#{cid}"
+      Plug.Conn.send_resp(conn, 404, "")
+    end)
+
+    assert {:error, :blob_not_found} = S3Storage.promote_blob(config, did, cid)
+  end
+
   test "get_blob reads public object bytes", %{config: config, did: did, cid: cid} do
     Req.Test.expect(__MODULE__, fn conn ->
       assert conn.method == "GET"