diff --git a/compactor.go b/compactor.go
index bfa05ddf9..04dd0d7d6 100644
--- a/compactor.go
+++ b/compactor.go
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ type Compactor struct {
 	// policies handle retention instead. Local file cleanup still occurs.
 	RetentionEnabled bool
 
+	// SpillDir, when set, lets the ltx encoder spill the output page index of
+	// a very large compaction to a temp file in that directory instead of
+	// holding it in memory (ltx#96). DB sets it to the database meta
+	// directory, which is writable even in the hardened image.
+	SpillDir string
+
 	// CompactionVerifyErrorCounter is incremented when post-compaction
 	// verification fails. Optional; if nil, no metric is recorded.
 	CompactionVerifyErrorCounter prometheus.Counter
@@ -162,7 +168,9 @@ func (c *Compactor) Compact(ctx context.Context, dstLevel int) (*ltx.FileInfo, e
 			_ = pw.CloseWithError(fmt.Errorf("new ltx compactor: %w", err))
 			return
 		}
+		defer func() { _ = comp.Cleanup() }()
 		comp.HeaderFlags = ltx.HeaderFlagNoChecksum
+		comp.SetSpillDir(c.SpillDir)
 		_ = pw.CloseWithError(comp.Compact(ctx))
 	}()
 
diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
index b44242add..98d1dcb7c 100644
--- a/db.go
+++ b/db.go
@@ -1113,6 +1113,7 @@ func (db *DB) init(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 	if err := internal.MkdirAll(db.metaPath, db.dirInfo); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	db.compactor.SpillDir = db.metaPath
 
 	// Ensure WAL has at least one frame in it.
 	if err := db.ensureWALExists(ctx); err != nil {
@@ -2883,6 +2884,11 @@ func (db *DB) snapshotReader(ctx context.Context, pos *snapshotReadPosition) (io
 			pw.CloseWithError(fmt.Errorf("new ltx encoder: %w", err))
 			return
 		}
+		// Very large snapshots spill their page index into the meta
+		// directory rather than holding it in memory; Cleanup covers the
+		// cancellation paths that never reach enc.Close.
+		enc.SetSpillDir(db.MetaPath())
+		defer enc.Cleanup()
 		if err := enc.EncodeHeader(ltx.Header{
 			Version:   ltx.Version,
 			Flags:     ltx.HeaderFlagNoChecksum,
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 528fa67b9..530a151e0 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.17.0
 	github.com/psanford/sqlite3vfs v0.0.0-20260519004904-f9180fa2acc9 // direct
 	github.com/studio-b12/gowebdav v0.11.0
-	github.com/superfly/ltx v0.5.3-0.20260827162011-d457a1ab7844
+	github.com/superfly/ltx v0.5.3-0.20260828134549-493c5d2d9e9f
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.52.0
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.45.0
 	google.golang.org/api v0.155.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 447ce4f9a..47a573405 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -270,8 +270,8 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 h1:7s2iGBzp5EwR7/aIZr8ao5+dra3wiQyKjjFuvgVKu
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1/go.mod h1:wZwfW3scLgRK+23gO65QZefKpKQRnfz6sD981Nm4B6U=
 github.com/studio-b12/gowebdav v0.11.0 h1:qbQzq4USxY28ZYsGJUfO5jR+xkFtcnwWgitp4Zp1irU=
 github.com/studio-b12/gowebdav v0.11.0/go.mod h1:bHA7t77X/QFExdeAnDzK6vKM34kEZAcE1OX4MfiwjkE=
-github.com/superfly/ltx v0.5.3-0.20260827162011-d457a1ab7844 h1:4TKqDSdHlpV4Me/BoP/D7gszAPidElRDf64KBwnFg+U=
-github.com/superfly/ltx v0.5.3-0.20260827162011-d457a1ab7844/go.mod h1:0OtLSLHHHPa3qDrAmwkLW5pUBfj365JS+bR9FEJDrM4=
+github.com/superfly/ltx v0.5.3-0.20260828134549-493c5d2d9e9f h1:/PPQGMNVM3bfmpv33zC8aTXtE1vyUk0xu3viTUZkR9k=
+github.com/superfly/ltx v0.5.3-0.20260828134549-493c5d2d9e9f/go.mod h1:0OtLSLHHHPa3qDrAmwkLW5pUBfj365JS+bR9FEJDrM4=
 github.com/tetratelabs/wazero v1.2.1 h1:J4X2hrGzJvt+wqltuvcSjHQ7ujQxA9gb6PeMs4qlUWs=
 github.com/tetratelabs/wazero v1.2.1/go.mod h1:wYx2gNRg8/WihJfSDxA1TIL8H+GkfLYm+bIfbblu9VQ=
 github.com/wasilibs/go-re2 v1.3.0 h1:LFhBNzoStM3wMie6rN2slD1cuYH2CGiHpvNL3UtcsMw=
diff --git a/replica.go b/replica.go
index 2584abd34..5180279f8 100644
--- a/replica.go
+++ b/replica.go
@@ -743,6 +743,7 @@ func (r *Replica) Restore(ctx context.Context, opt RestoreOptions) (err error) {
 			pw.CloseWithError(fmt.Errorf("new ltx compactor: %w", err))
 			return
 		}
+		defer func() { _ = c.Cleanup() }()
 		c.HeaderFlags = ltx.HeaderFlagNoChecksum
 		_ = pw.CloseWithError(c.Compact(ctx))
 	}()
diff --git a/vfs.go b/vfs.go
index bf2a96d65..3a6c0edf3 100644
--- a/vfs.go
+++ b/vfs.go
@@ -703,6 +703,7 @@ func (h *Hydrator) Restore(ctx context.Context, infos []*ltx.FileInfo) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("new ltx compactor: %w", err)
 	}
+	defer func() { _ = c.Cleanup() }()
 	c.HeaderFlags = ltx.HeaderFlagNoChecksum
 	h.compactor = c