diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 50eb1ee..6e41a04 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ only thing left of the `chore/align-repo-policies` branch is the list below.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-03: `fetch` removes whatever sits at a file's temp name and then
+  creates the temp file only if that name is free, so a hard link left there
+  cannot make it write into a file outside the destination directory (#115)
 - 2026-10-03: `fetch` refuses any manifest path that runs through a symlink
   already in the destination directory, checked before each of its writes
   (directories, temp file, rename), so such a symlink cannot send a write
diff --git a/internal/cli/entry_test.go b/internal/cli/entry_test.go
index b718a9f..332becd 100644
--- a/internal/cli/entry_test.go
+++ b/internal/cli/entry_test.go
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ func TestHelpCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	stdout := testStdout(t, opts)
 	assert.Contains(t, stdout, cmdGenerate)
 	assert.Contains(t, stdout, cmdCheck)
-	assert.Contains(t, stdout, "fetch")
+	assert.Contains(t, stdout, cmdFetch)
 }
 
 func TestGenerateCommand(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/internal/cli/fetch.go b/internal/cli/fetch.go
index 7983e97..3a2c5de 100644
--- a/internal/cli/fetch.go
+++ b/internal/cli/fetch.go
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ const (
 	// traversal bit for group and other must stay set.
 	dirPerms os.FileMode = 0o755
 
+	// filePerms is the permission mode, before the umask, for downloaded
+	// files. It is the mode os.Create uses; like dirPerms, it keeps group
+	// and other read access.
+	filePerms os.FileMode = 0o666
+
 	// Bitrate unit thresholds in bits per second.
 	bpsPerGbps = 1e9
 	bpsPerMbps = 1e6
@@ -489,12 +494,20 @@ func downloadFile(
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// Create temp file.
+	// Remove whatever is at tmpPath, such as a leftover from an
+	// interrupted run, rather than write into it: it may be a hard link
+	// to a file outside the target directory, and removing a hard link
+	// removes only this name. If the removal fails, O_EXCL below makes
+	// the create fail.
+	_ = os.Remove(tmpPath)
+
+	// Create the temp file only if nothing is at tmpPath (O_EXCL).
 	//
 	// G304: tmpPath is a relative path that sanitizePath keeps inside the
 	// target directory as text, and checkNoSymlinks just found no symlink
 	// in it.
-	out, err := os.Create(tmpPath) //nolint:gosec // G304: see comment above
+	out, err := os.OpenFile( //nolint:gosec // G304: see comment above
+		tmpPath, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_EXCL, filePerms)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create temp file: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/cli/fetch_test.go b/internal/cli/fetch_test.go
index 6aaa82d..3095475 100644
--- a/internal/cli/fetch_test.go
+++ b/internal/cli/fetch_test.go
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ func TestFetchRefusesSymlinks(t *testing.T) {
 			require.NoError(t, os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(tt.link), 0o750))
 			require.NoError(t, os.Symlink(filepath.Join(outside, tt.target), tt.link))
 
-			opts := testOpts([]string{testApp, "fetch", "-q", server.URL}, afero.NewOsFs())
+			opts := testOpts([]string{testApp, cmdFetch, "-q", server.URL}, afero.NewOsFs())
 			assert.Equal(t, 1, runCLI(opts))
 			assert.Contains(t, testStderr(t, opts), "failed to download "+tt.entry+
 				": symlink in path not allowed: "+tt.link)
@@ -489,3 +489,37 @@ func TestFetchRefusesSymlinks(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+// TestFetchReplacesHardLinkAtTempName runs fetch into a destination
+// directory that holds, at the temp file's name, a hard link to a file
+// outside it. To fetch that is an ordinary leftover from an interrupted
+// earlier run: it must replace it and succeed, and the outside file must
+// not change.
+//
+//nolint:paralleltest // changes the process-global working directory
+func TestFetchReplacesHardLinkAtTempName(t *testing.T) {
+	content := []byte("fetched")
+	sourceFs := afero.NewMemMapFs()
+	require.NoError(t, afero.WriteFile(sourceFs, "/"+testFileTxt, content, 0o644))
+
+	server := httptest.NewServer(fetchTestHandler(
+		scanToManifest(t, sourceFs), map[string][]byte{testFileTxt: content}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	outsideFile := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "secret.txt")
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(outsideFile, []byte("outside"), 0o600))
+
+	chdirTemp(t)
+	require.NoError(t, os.Link(outsideFile, ".file.txt.tmp"))
+
+	opts := testOpts([]string{testApp, cmdFetch, "-q", server.URL}, afero.NewOsFs())
+	require.Equal(t, 0, runCLI(opts), testStderr(t, opts))
+
+	fetched, err := os.ReadFile(testFileTxt)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, content, fetched)
+
+	outside, err := os.ReadFile(outsideFile) //nolint:gosec // test-controlled path
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, "outside", string(outside), "fetch wrote outside the destination")
+}
diff --git a/internal/cli/mfer.go b/internal/cli/mfer.go
index 970edf8..8c4e769 100644
--- a/internal/cli/mfer.go
+++ b/internal/cli/mfer.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const (
 	cmdGenerate = "generate"
 	cmdCheck    = "check"
 	cmdExport   = "export"
+	cmdFetch    = "fetch"
 
 	flagProgress = "progress"
 
@@ -300,7 +301,7 @@ func (mfa *CLIApp) listCommand() *cli.Command {
 
 func (mfa *CLIApp) fetchCommand() *cli.Command {
 	return &cli.Command{
-		Name:  "fetch",
+		Name:  cmdFetch,
 		Usage: "fetch manifest and referenced files",
 		Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
 			mfa.setVerbosity(c)