diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1a51214..ff7b7cd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,18 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.5.9] - 2026-06-15
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **Reconcile log severity corrected**: the external-upload branch (`len(new_files) > target`) was logged at `INFO` while the timeout branch (`< target`) was logged at `WARNING`. The severity is now inverted to match impact: external upload causes permanent mapping loss (those files are never eligible for quality replacement) and is now `WARNING`; timeout is transient and recoverable next cycle and is now `INFO`.
+
+- **`fetch_all_assets` docstring: lower-bound caveat now covers both interruption cases**: previously only noted that a network error makes `total_raw` a lower bound. An all-garbage page (every item non-dict) also terminates pagination early, leaving later pages unfetched — this case is now documented alongside the network error case.
+
+- **`shutil.rmtree` symlink safety documented**: added a comment above the `rmtree` call in `execute_jobs` noting that POSIX `shutil.rmtree` raises `NotADirectoryError` on a top-level symlink, so a race-replaced symlink cannot cause out-of-tree deletion.
+
+- **`_entry()` in `get_person_summary` no longer allocates default dict for present keys**: `setdefault` evaluates its default argument before checking whether the key exists, allocating and immediately discarding a 5-key dict on every call for an already-present person. Replaced with an explicit `if name not in summary` guard.
+
 ## [0.5.8] - 2026-06-15
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 10d0883..35e851b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "winnow"
-version = "0.5.8"
+version = "0.5.9"
 description = "Selects diverse, high-quality photos from Immich as training data for Frigate face recognition."
 license = "AGPL-3.0-or-later"
 requires-python = ">=3.13"
diff --git a/winnow/executor.py b/winnow/executor.py
index 155a2f3..8c09595 100644
--- a/winnow/executor.py
+++ b/winnow/executor.py
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ def execute_jobs(jobs: list[dict]) -> None:
                 logger.error(str(e))
                 continue
             # Face crops are transient (uploaded then discarded); wipe before each run.
+            # shutil.rmtree raises NotADirectoryError on a top-level symlink (POSIX),
+            # so a race-replaced symlink cannot cause deletion outside output_dir.
             if os.path.isdir(person_dir):
                 shutil.rmtree(person_dir)
             os.makedirs(person_dir, exist_ok=True)
diff --git a/winnow/immich_api.py b/winnow/immich_api.py
index 9309da2..0e1517c 100644
--- a/winnow/immich_api.py
+++ b/winnow/immich_api.py
@@ -89,8 +89,9 @@ def fetch_all_assets(person: dict) -> tuple[list[dict], int]:
     Returns (assets, total_raw) where assets is the list of valid dict items
     and total_raw is the raw item count across pages that had at least one valid
     dict. All-garbage pages (every item non-dict) stop pagination and are not
-    counted. If pagination is interrupted by a network error, total_raw is a
-    lower bound (a warning is logged).
+    counted. total_raw is a lower bound in two cases: a network error interrupts
+    pagination (a warning is logged), or an all-garbage page terminates it early
+    (a warning is logged and later pages are not fetched).
     """
     name = person.get("name", "Unknown")
     person_id = person.get("id")
diff --git a/winnow/reconcile.py b/winnow/reconcile.py
index d6659d5..53bb43e 100644
--- a/winnow/reconcile.py
+++ b/winnow/reconcile.py
@@ -76,15 +76,16 @@ def reconcile_frigate_mappings(
         }
         record_frigate_files_batch(person_name, mappings)
     elif len(new_files) > target:
-        logger.info(
+        logger.warning(
             "%s: %s new Frigate files for %s uploads"
-            " (external upload detected) — skipping file mapping",
+            " (external upload detected) — skipping file mapping;"
+            " these files are permanently unmapped",
             person_name,
             len(new_files),
             target,
         )
     else:
-        logger.warning(
+        logger.info(
             "%s: only %s of %s expected Frigate files"
             " appeared after reconciliation — mapping skipped",
             person_name,
diff --git a/winnow/upload_tracker.py b/winnow/upload_tracker.py
index 9f39b26..d10b464 100644
--- a/winnow/upload_tracker.py
+++ b/winnow/upload_tracker.py
@@ -443,9 +443,9 @@ def get_person_summary() -> dict[str, dict]:
     ).fetchall()
 
     def _entry(summary: dict, name: str) -> dict:
-        return summary.setdefault(
-            name, {"uploaded": 0, "rejected": 0, "frigate_count": None, "scores": {}, "frigate_files": {}}
-        )
+        if name not in summary:
+            summary[name] = {"uploaded": 0, "rejected": 0, "frigate_count": None, "scores": {}, "frigate_files": {}}
+        return summary[name]
 
     summary: dict[str, dict] = {}
     for r in rows: