diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.ts
index 83b13d5f95..573154812b 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.ts
@@ -2294,6 +2294,11 @@ export const deleteNodesForFiles = async (
   if (!conn) {
     throw new Error('LadybugDB not initialized. Call initLbug first.');
   }
+  // A persisted HNSW index makes even ordinary CodeEmbedding DELETEs depend
+  // on VECTOR in every new connection. Keep this mutation path offline-only:
+  // if VECTOR is unavailable, the delete below still works for an unindexed
+  // table and surfaces LadybugDB's real error for an indexed one.
+  await loadVectorExtension(undefined, { policy: 'load-only' });
   const targetConn = conn;
   let warnedMissingEmbeddingTable = false;
   for (let i = 0; i < filePaths.length; i += DELETE_FILES_CHUNK_SIZE) {
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/integration/lbug-vector-extension.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/integration/lbug-vector-extension.test.ts
index 5d0e18e013..17d03a26d7 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/integration/lbug-vector-extension.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/integration/lbug-vector-extension.test.ts
@@ -154,6 +154,37 @@ withTestLbugDB('vector-index-creation', (handle) => {
       const rows = await adapter.executeQuery('CALL SHOW_INDEXES() RETURN *');
       expect(rows.filter((row: any) => row.index_name === 'code_embedding_idx')).toHaveLength(1);
     });
+
+    it('deletes embedding rows from a persisted HNSW index after close and re-open', async () => {
+      const adapter = await import('../../src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.js');
+      const { batchInsertEmbeddings } =
+        await import('../../src/core/embeddings/embedding-pipeline.js');
+      const { EMBEDDING_DIMS } = await import('../../src/core/lbug/schema.js');
+      const filePath = 'src/vector-reopen-delete.ts';
+      const nodeId = `Function:${filePath}:target:1`;
+
+      await adapter.executeQuery(
+        `CREATE (:Function {id: '${nodeId}', name: 'target', filePath: '${filePath}', startLine: 1, endLine: 3, isExported: true, content: '', description: ''})`,
+      );
+      await batchInsertEmbeddings(adapter.executeWithReusedStatement, [
+        {
+          nodeId,
+          chunkIndex: 0,
+          startLine: 1,
+          endLine: 3,
+          embedding: new Array(EMBEDDING_DIMS).fill(0),
+        },
+      ]);
+      await adapter.createVectorIndex();
+      await adapter.closeLbug();
+      await adapter.initLbug(handle.dbPath);
+
+      await expect(adapter.deleteNodesForFiles([filePath])).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+      const rows = (await adapter.executeQuery(
+        `MATCH (e:CodeEmbedding) WHERE e.nodeId = '${nodeId}' RETURN count(e) AS count`,
+      )) as Array<{ count: number | bigint }>;
+      expect(Number(rows[0]?.count ?? 0)).toBe(0);
+    });
   });
 });