diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2548e38..0a396bd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ APIs change between minors without a deprecation period.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **The judge init installs is no longer replaced by the leader's own.** Just after the control plane started, the
+  leader saw a policy naming a judge that init was still fetching, and served one itself. Its entry replaced init's, so
+  a second judge ran with the leader's sizing, and with judge machines it ran off them. The leader now waits ten minutes
+  after it starts before it serves a judge itself. If someone adds one while it fetches, theirs stays.
 - **A judge the leader serves by itself is sized as init's is.** When a guard policy names a judge the catalog lacks,
   the leader serves it. That judge reserved 3 GB and no cores, and ran llama.cpp's prompt cache, which grew one to
   3.2 GB. Without cores of its own, a judgment on a busy node missed its 5 s budget, and `fail: closed` refused the
diff --git a/internal/cli/judgekeeper.go b/internal/cli/judgekeeper.go
index 648a70b..b1778da 100644
--- a/internal/cli/judgekeeper.go
+++ b/internal/cli/judgekeeper.go
@@ -32,6 +32,12 @@ type judgeKeeper struct {
 	// tried is when each judge was last asked for, so one that cannot be
 	// fetched is not asked for again on every look.
 	tried map[string]time.Time
+	// grace is how long after its first look the keeper serves no judge
+	// itself: init adds its own judge just after the control plane starts,
+	// sized and placed as the install says, and one the leader added first
+	// was what init then kept. Zero waits for nothing.
+	grace time.Duration
+	first time.Time
 
 	// What refitting an earlier install's judge needs: the catalog to change
 	// its profile in, the replicas to restart, and the nodes' CPUs. Any nil
@@ -51,6 +57,9 @@ type judgeKeeper struct {
 // asked for again.
 const judgeRetry = 10 * time.Minute
 
+// judgeGrace is the keeper's grace on a control plane just started.
+const judgeGrace = 10 * time.Minute
+
 func (k *judgeKeeper) run(ctx context.Context, every time.Duration) {
 	t := time.NewTicker(every)
 	defer t.Stop()
@@ -84,6 +93,12 @@ func (k *judgeKeeper) check() {
 		have[m.Name] = true
 		k.refit(m)
 	}
+	if k.first.IsZero() {
+		k.first = now()
+	}
+	if now().Sub(k.first) < k.grace {
+		return
+	}
 	busy := map[string]bool{}
 	for _, j := range k.serve.Jobs() {
 		if j.State == modelserve.Running {
@@ -128,6 +143,8 @@ func (k *judgeKeeper) check() {
 		}
 		req := kj.serveRequest(opts)
 		req.By = "llmgw (a guard policy names it)"
+		// init, or an operator, may add it while this fetches: theirs stays.
+		req.IfAbsent = true
 		job, err := k.serve.Start(req)
 		if err != nil {
 			k.log.Error("could not start serving a judge a policy names", "judge", name, "err", err)
diff --git a/internal/cli/judgekeeper_test.go b/internal/cli/judgekeeper_test.go
index d115772..5ffea1d 100644
--- a/internal/cli/judgekeeper_test.go
+++ b/internal/cli/judgekeeper_test.go
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ func TestAJudgeAPolicyNamesIsFetchedWhenTheCatalogLacksIt(t *testing.T) {
 	// The GPU judge alone: the CPU one is there, and one llmgw does not know
 	// is not guessed at.
 	if len(fs.started) != 1 || fs.started[0].Name != "qwen3guard-4b" || fs.started[0].GPUClass != "6000-24g" ||
-		fs.started[0].Class != catalog.ClassStandard || fs.started[0].GuardFormat != "qwen3guard" || fs.started[0].CPU {
+		fs.started[0].Class != catalog.ClassStandard || fs.started[0].GuardFormat != "qwen3guard" || fs.started[0].CPU ||
+		!fs.started[0].IfAbsent {
 		t.Fatalf("started %+v", fs.started)
 	}
 
@@ -207,3 +208,30 @@ func TestAJudgeIsRefittedToTheCoresInitWouldGive(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// Just after the control plane starts, the judge init is adding is left to
+// init: the keeper serves one itself only after its grace.
+func TestTheKeeperLeavesAJustStartedInstallsJudgeToInit(t *testing.T) {
+	lib := guard.Config{Policies: map[string]guard.Policy{"b": {Judge: &guard.JudgePolicy{Model: "qwen3guard-0.6b", Input: "block"}}}}
+	now := time.Date(2026, 10, 19, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	fs := &fakeServe{}
+	k := &judgeKeeper{
+		library: func() guard.Config { return lib },
+		models:  func() []catalog.Model { return nil },
+		serve:   fs, grace: judgeGrace,
+		gpus: func() []adminapi.ClassUse { return nil },
+		log:  slog.New(slog.DiscardHandler),
+		now:  func() time.Time { return now },
+	}
+	k.check()
+	now = now.Add(judgeGrace / 2)
+	k.check()
+	if len(fs.started) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("served within its grace: %+v", fs.started)
+	}
+	now = now.Add(judgeGrace)
+	k.check()
+	if len(fs.started) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("never served after its grace: %d", len(fs.started))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/cli/server.go b/internal/cli/server.go
index 182b521..cef8cea 100644
--- a/internal/cli/server.go
+++ b/internal/cli/server.go
@@ -607,6 +607,7 @@ func newServerCmd() *cobra.Command {
 						// A judge a policy names and the catalog lacks is
 						// fetched and served, on the leader.
 						keeper := &judgeKeeper{
+							grace:   judgeGrace,
 							library: gate.Library,
 							models:  func() []catalog.Model { return admin.Catalog().Models() },
 							serve:   serve,
diff --git a/internal/control/catalog/catalog.go b/internal/control/catalog/catalog.go
index 1fcd39d..528c838 100644
--- a/internal/control/catalog/catalog.go
+++ b/internal/control/catalog/catalog.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"maps"
 	"net/url"
@@ -23,6 +24,9 @@ import (
 	"gitea.mynodes.xyz/ilker/llmgw/internal/guard"
 )
 
+// ErrExists is a model added only if absent that was there already.
+var ErrExists = errors.New("already in the catalog")
+
 // Scaling is how many replicas a model should have.
 type Scaling struct {
 	Min int `json:"min,omitempty" koanf:"min"`
diff --git a/internal/control/modelserve/modelserve.go b/internal/control/modelserve/modelserve.go
index 87fc2a8..eb773b8 100644
--- a/internal/control/modelserve/modelserve.go
+++ b/internal/control/modelserve/modelserve.go
@@ -163,6 +163,10 @@ type Request struct {
 	// CPUCores is what a replica computes on; zero takes half the smallest
 	// node it fits on.
 	CPUCores int `json:"cpu_cores,omitempty"`
+	// IfAbsent adds the model only if nobody has meanwhile: the leader's own
+	// serving of a judge a policy names gives way to the one init or an
+	// operator added while it fetched, rather than replacing it.
+	IfAbsent bool `json:"-"`
 	// MemoryGB is what a replica on CPUs reserves, in place of the figure
 	// worked out from its weights and context: a judge's, whose own sizing
 	// is known.
@@ -691,7 +695,18 @@ func (s *Server) addAndStart(ctx context.Context, j *Job, repo hf.Repo, set hf.F
 	}
 	m.Class = req.Class
 	s.step(j, "catalog", Running, "adding "+name)
-	if err := s.deps.Catalog.Add(ctx, m, req.By); err != nil {
+	add := s.deps.Catalog.Add
+	if adder, ok := s.deps.Catalog.(interface {
+		AddNew(ctx context.Context, m catalog.Model, by string) error
+	}); ok && req.IfAbsent {
+		add = adder.AddNew
+	}
+	if err := add(ctx, m, req.By); err != nil {
+		if req.IfAbsent && errors.Is(err, catalog.ErrExists) {
+			s.step(j, "catalog", Skipped, name+" was added meanwhile; left as it is")
+			s.finish(j)
+			return
+		}
 		s.fail(j, "catalog", err)
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/internal/control/modelserve/modelserve_test.go b/internal/control/modelserve/modelserve_test.go
index 1bd9311..e38539c 100644
--- a/internal/control/modelserve/modelserve_test.go
+++ b/internal/control/modelserve/modelserve_test.go
@@ -452,3 +452,26 @@ func TestAJudgeIsServedWithTheMemoryAskedAndNoPromptCache(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("a model that is not a judge lost its prompt cache")
 	}
 }
+
+// takenCatalog has the model by the time a job comes to add it.
+type takenCatalog struct{ fakeCatalog }
+
+func (c *takenCatalog) AddNew(context.Context, catalog.Model, string) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf("model %q: %w", "x", catalog.ErrExists)
+}
+
+func TestAJobAddingOnlyIfAbsentGivesWayToAModelAddedMeanwhile(t *testing.T) {
+	files := []hf.File{{Path: "Qwen3Guard-Gen-0.6B-Q8_0.gguf", Bytes: 600 << 20, SHA256: "aa"}}
+	s, _, _, _ := setup(t, files, nil)
+	taken := &takenCatalog{}
+	s.deps.Catalog = taken
+	job, err := s.Start(Request{Repo: "example/Qwen3Guard-Gen-0.6B-GGUF", File: "Qwen3Guard-Gen-0.6B-Q8_0.gguf",
+		GuardFormat: "qwen3guard", CPU: true, CPUCores: 2, MemoryGB: 2, Replicas: 2, IfAbsent: true})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	j := wait(t, s, job.ID)
+	if j.State != Done || len(taken.added) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("job %s, added %d: %+v", j.State, len(taken.added), j.Steps)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/control/modelsvc/modelsvc.go b/internal/control/modelsvc/modelsvc.go
index c05e38d..e1bb55c 100644
--- a/internal/control/modelsvc/modelsvc.go
+++ b/internal/control/modelsvc/modelsvc.go
@@ -106,6 +106,17 @@ func (s *Service) Sources(ctx context.Context) (map[string][]catalog.Model, erro
 // than persisted and then skipped on every future start — which would be a
 // model that looks added and never appears.
 func (s *Service) Add(ctx context.Context, m catalog.Model, by string) error {
+	return s.add(ctx, m, by, false)
+}
+
+// AddNew is Add for a model nobody has added meanwhile: one that is in the
+// catalog by now is left as it is, and catalog.ErrExists said. The leader serving a
+// judge a policy names gives way so to the judge init added while it fetched.
+func (s *Service) AddNew(ctx context.Context, m catalog.Model, by string) error {
+	return s.add(ctx, m, by, true)
+}
+
+func (s *Service) add(ctx context.Context, m catalog.Model, by string, onlyNew bool) error {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
 
@@ -135,6 +146,9 @@ func (s *Service) Add(ctx context.Context, m catalog.Model, by string) error {
 	next := s.base(stored)
 	for _, e := range stored {
 		if e.Name == m.Name {
+			if onlyNew {
+				return fmt.Errorf("model %q: %w", m.Name, catalog.ErrExists)
+			}
 			continue // this call replaces it
 		}
 		next = append(next, e)
diff --git a/internal/control/modelsvc/modelsvc_test.go b/internal/control/modelsvc/modelsvc_test.go
index 9a1f626..810806e 100644
--- a/internal/control/modelsvc/modelsvc_test.go
+++ b/internal/control/modelsvc/modelsvc_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package modelsvc
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"log/slog"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -377,3 +378,25 @@ func TestResourcesAreSetOnAStoredModelAndSurviveARestart(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("the cores were lost on reload")
 	}
 }
+
+// The leader serving a judge gives way to the one init added while it
+// fetched: AddNew leaves a model already there as it is.
+func TestAddNewLeavesAModelAddedMeanwhile(t *testing.T) {
+	s, _, rec := newService(t)
+	first := model("judge")
+	first.Description = "init's"
+	if err := s.Add(t.Context(), first, "init"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	second := model("judge")
+	second.Description = "the leader's"
+	if err := s.AddNew(t.Context(), second, "llmgw"); !errors.Is(err, catalog.ErrExists) {
+		t.Fatalf("err %v", err)
+	}
+	if m, _ := rec.last.Resolve("judge"); m.Description != "init's" {
+		t.Errorf("replaced: %q", m.Description)
+	}
+	if err := s.AddNew(t.Context(), model("fresh"), "llmgw"); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a new model: %v", err)
+	}
+}