diff --git a/src/specify_cli/presets/__init__.py b/src/specify_cli/presets/__init__.py
index 6a359f5b29..c2fa6ec0df 100644
--- a/src/specify_cli/presets/__init__.py
+++ b/src/specify_cli/presets/__init__.py
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ def _constitution_provenance_matches_preset(
         return False
     try:
         metadata = json.loads(provenance.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
-    except (json.JSONDecodeError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+    except (OSError, json.JSONDecodeError, UnicodeDecodeError):
         return False
     return (
         isinstance(metadata, dict)
diff --git a/tests/test_presets.py b/tests/test_presets.py
index 317a1b437c..35f91aee2a 100644
--- a/tests/test_presets.py
+++ b/tests/test_presets.py
@@ -784,6 +784,30 @@ def test_list_by_priority_includes_disabled_when_requested(self, temp_dir):
 # ===== PresetManager Tests =====
 
 
+def test_unreadable_constitution_provenance_fails_closed(
+    project_dir, monkeypatch
+):
+    from specify_cli.presets import _constitution_provenance_matches_preset
+
+    memory = project_dir / ".specify" / "memory" / "constitution.md"
+    memory.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    memory.write_text("# Constitution\n", encoding="utf-8")
+    provenance = memory.parent / ".constitution-template.json"
+    provenance.write_text("{}", encoding="utf-8")
+    real_read_text = Path.read_text
+
+    def unreadable(path, *args, **kwargs):
+        if path == provenance:
+            raise OSError("simulated read failure")
+        return real_read_text(path, *args, **kwargs)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(Path, "read_text", unreadable)
+
+    assert not _constitution_provenance_matches_preset(
+        project_dir, memory, "example", "1.0.0"
+    )
+
+
 class TestPresetManager:
     """Test PresetManager installation and removal."""