diff --git a/winnow/cli.py b/winnow/cli.py
index 55391a0..f568f91 100644
--- a/winnow/cli.py
+++ b/winnow/cli.py
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ def _handle_duplicate_people(people: list[dict]) -> list[dict]:
         )
         # Return deduplicated list — keep only the largest per name so that
         # downstream job creation never runs two jobs for the same Frigate folder.
-        return [p for p in people if p["id"] not in skip_ids]
+        return [p for p in people if p.get("id") not in skip_ids]
 
     # Auto-merge: survivor = largest asset count, rest merge into it inside Immich
     merged_any = False
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ def _handle_duplicate_people(people: list[dict]) -> list[dict]:
                 " — possible transient error or expired API key;"
                 " proceeding with pre-merge list. Check IMMICH_API_KEY if this recurs."
             )
-            return [p for p in people if p["id"] not in skip_ids]
+            return [p for p in people if p.get("id") not in skip_ids]
         # Filter out the smaller duplicate from any group whose merge failed — those
         # IDs still exist in Immich and would produce two jobs for the same folder.
         # IDs from groups that merged successfully are already gone from Immich, so
diff --git a/winnow/upload_tracker.py b/winnow/upload_tracker.py
index 39e57a3..04ead4c 100644
--- a/winnow/upload_tracker.py
+++ b/winnow/upload_tracker.py
@@ -444,10 +444,10 @@ def reset_person(person_name: str) -> None:
             person_ids = set(_get_ids(tracker_entry))
             if person_ids and flat_key in data and not isinstance(data[flat_key], list):
                 logger.warning(
-                    "reset_person: %s has unexpected type for %s (%s) — clearing corrupt flat-list",
+                    "reset_person: %s has unexpected type for %s (%s) — skipping flat-list cleanup;"
+                    " all persons' legacy IDs in this field are unaffected but unreadable",
                     filename, flat_key, type(data[flat_key]).__name__,
                 )
-                data[flat_key] = []
             elif person_ids and flat_key in data:
                 data[flat_key] = sorted(set(data[flat_key]) - person_ids)
             _save(filename, data)