diff --git a/database/migrations/2026_07_28_100000_seed_mailboxes_from_environment.php b/database/migrations/2026_07_28_100000_seed_mailboxes_from_environment.php
index 4d6d3f0..efb1d13 100644
--- a/database/migrations/2026_07_28_100000_seed_mailboxes_from_environment.php
+++ b/database/migrations/2026_07_28_100000_seed_mailboxes_from_environment.php
@@ -121,6 +121,20 @@ return new class extends Migration
             if ($isConfigured && $envPassword !== '') {
                 if ($canEncrypt) {
                     $box->password = $envPassword;
+                } elseif ($storedPassword !== null) {
+                    // Skipping the .env password beats crashing the migration
+                    // (that is what $canEncrypt guards above) — but this box
+                    // is NOT left without a password: the vault row carried
+                    // below (see the unconditional block after $box->save())
+                    // runs regardless of $canEncrypt, because it is already
+                    // ciphertext and needs no new encryption. Saying "was NOT
+                    // copied" here would be true only of the .env value and
+                    // false of the outcome — an operator reading this while
+                    // debugging a live mail outage would be sent to re-enter
+                    // a password that is already sitting in the column.
+                    echo '  ! SECRETS_KEY is not set - the SMTP password configured in .env for '
+                        .$configuredUser.' was not copied from .env, but a password already stored '
+                        ."for this mailbox was carried over and should still work.\n";
                 } else {
                     // Skipping beats crashing the migration (that is what
                     // $canEncrypt guards above) — but a skip that LOOKS like
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Mail/MailboxSeedMigrationTest.php b/tests/Feature/Mail/MailboxSeedMigrationTest.php
index 4c3e822..7fd6b83 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Mail/MailboxSeedMigrationTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Mail/MailboxSeedMigrationTest.php
@@ -179,6 +179,11 @@ it('un-seeds on rollback, and does not leave the settings cache holding what it
 });
 
 it('prints an operator-visible warning when SECRETS_KEY is missing and a .env password had to be skipped', function () {
+    // No vault row exists here — nothing at all ends up in mailboxes.password
+    // for this key, so "was NOT copied" is the true statement. The sibling
+    // test below is the other half: a vault row DOES exist, the password IS
+    // carried across regardless of $canEncrypt, and the warning must say a
+    // different, equally true thing rather than reuse this wording.
     clearMailboxSeed();
     config()->set('admin_access.secrets_key', ''); // canEncrypt false
     config()->set('mail.mailers.smtp.username', 'no-reply@clupilot.com');
@@ -189,7 +194,44 @@ it('prints an operator-visible warning when SECRETS_KEY is missing and a .env pa
     $output = ob_get_clean();
 
     expect($output)->toContain('SECRETS_KEY')
-        ->toContain('no-reply@clupilot.com');
+        ->toContain('no-reply@clupilot.com')
+        ->toContain('was NOT copied')
+        ->and(DB::table('mailboxes')->where('key', 'no-reply')->value('password'))->toBeNull();
+});
+
+it('says a stored password was carried over, not that nothing was copied, when a vault row already exists and SECRETS_KEY is missing', function () {
+    // Deferred #4: the vault-carry block a few lines below this branch runs
+    // UNCONDITIONALLY on $storedPassword !== null — it needs no new
+    // encryption, since the value is already ciphertext — so this mailbox
+    // ends up WITH a working password even though $canEncrypt is false. The
+    // old message said "was NOT copied into the mailbox table" regardless,
+    // which is true of the .env value and false of the outcome: an operator
+    // reading it mid mail-outage would be sent to re-enter a password that
+    // is already sitting in the column.
+    clearMailboxSeed();
+    config()->set('mail.mailers.smtp.username', 'no-reply@clupilot.com');
+    config()->set('mail.mailers.smtp.password', 'dummy-nicht-echt');
+
+    // Encrypted under the valid key beforeEach() set up — standing in for a
+    // password stored earlier, through the console, while SECRETS_KEY still
+    // existed. THEN it goes missing, which is the state this migration
+    // actually runs under below.
+    $ciphertext = app(SecretCipher::class)->encrypt('rotated-through-the-console');
+    DB::table('app_secrets')->insert([
+        'key' => 'mail.password', 'value' => $ciphertext, 'created_at' => now(), 'updated_at' => now(),
+    ]);
+
+    config()->set('admin_access.secrets_key', ''); // canEncrypt false, now
+
+    ob_start();
+    loadMailboxSeedMigration()->up();
+    $output = ob_get_clean();
+
+    expect($output)->toContain('SECRETS_KEY')
+        ->toContain('no-reply@clupilot.com')
+        ->toContain('carried over')
+        ->not->toContain('was NOT copied')
+        ->and(DB::table('mailboxes')->where('key', 'no-reply')->value('password'))->toBe($ciphertext);
 });
 
 it('stays silent when there is no .env password to skip in the first place', function () {