diff --git a/src/admin/server/commands.rs b/src/admin/server/commands.rs
index 28962ef2..77b20377 100644
--- a/src/admin/server/commands.rs
+++ b/src/admin/server/commands.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use conduit::{warn, Result};
+use conduit::{warn, Error, Result};
 use ruma::events::room::message::RoomMessageEventContent;
 
 use crate::services;
@@ -102,7 +102,17 @@ pub(super) async fn reload(_body: Vec<&str>) -> Result<RoomMessageEventContent>
 }
 
 #[cfg(unix)]
-pub(super) async fn restart(_body: Vec<&str>) -> Result<RoomMessageEventContent> {
+pub(super) async fn restart(_body: Vec<&str>, force: bool) -> Result<RoomMessageEventContent> {
+	use conduit::utils::sys::current_exe_deleted;
+
+	if !force && current_exe_deleted() {
+		return Err(Error::Err(
+			"The server cannot be restarted because the executable was tampered with. If this is expected use --force \
+			 to override."
+				.to_owned(),
+		));
+	}
+
 	services().server.restart()?;
 
 	Ok(RoomMessageEventContent::notice_plain("Restarting server..."))
diff --git a/src/admin/server/mod.rs b/src/admin/server/mod.rs
index 13f6e265..b4222251 100644
--- a/src/admin/server/mod.rs
+++ b/src/admin/server/mod.rs
@@ -51,7 +51,10 @@ pub(super) enum ServerCommand {
 
 	#[cfg(unix)]
 	/// - Restart the server
-	Restart,
+	Restart {
+		#[arg(short, long)]
+		force: bool,
+	},
 
 	/// - Shutdown the server
 	Shutdown,
@@ -77,7 +80,9 @@ pub(super) async fn process(command: ServerCommand, body: Vec<&str>) -> Result<R
 		#[cfg(conduit_mods)]
 		ServerCommand::Reload => reload(body).await?,
 		#[cfg(unix)]
-		ServerCommand::Restart => restart(body).await?,
+		ServerCommand::Restart {
+			force,
+		} => restart(body, force).await?,
 		ServerCommand::Shutdown => shutdown(body).await?,
 	})
 }
diff --git a/src/core/utils/sys.rs b/src/core/utils/sys.rs
index 825ec903..6c396921 100644
--- a/src/core/utils/sys.rs
+++ b/src/core/utils/sys.rs
@@ -34,3 +34,34 @@ pub fn available_parallelism() -> usize {
 		.expect("Unable to query for available parallelism.")
 		.get()
 }
+
+/// Return a possibly corrected std::env::current_exe() even if the path is
+/// marked deleted.
+///
+/// # Safety
+/// This function is declared unsafe because the original result was altered for
+/// security purposes, and altering it back ignores those urposes and should be
+/// understood by the user.
+pub unsafe fn current_exe() -> Result<std::path::PathBuf> {
+	use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+	let exe = std::env::current_exe()?;
+	match exe.to_str() {
+		None => Ok(exe),
+		Some(str) => Ok(str
+			.strip_suffix(" (deleted)")
+			.map(PathBuf::from)
+			.unwrap_or(exe)),
+	}
+}
+
+/// Determine if the server's executable was removed or replaced. This is a
+/// specific check; useful for successful restarts. May not be available or
+/// accurate on all platforms; defaults to false.
+#[must_use]
+pub fn current_exe_deleted() -> bool {
+	std::env::current_exe().map_or(false, |exe| {
+		exe.to_str()
+			.map_or(false, |exe| exe.ends_with(" (deleted)"))
+	})
+}
diff --git a/src/main/restart.rs b/src/main/restart.rs
index 559d7446..00de9f21 100644
--- a/src/main/restart.rs
+++ b/src/main/restart.rs
@@ -2,10 +2,20 @@
 
 use std::{env, os::unix::process::CommandExt, process::Command};
 
-use conduit::{debug, info};
+use conduit::{debug, info, utils};
 
 pub(super) fn restart() -> ! {
-	let exe = env::current_exe().expect("program path must be identified and available");
+	// SAFETY: We have allowed an override for the case where the current_exe() has
+	// been replaced or removed. By default the server will fail to restart if the
+	// binary has been replaced (i.e. by cargo); this is for security purposes.
+	// Command::exec() used to panic in that case.
+	//
+	// We can (and do) prevent that panic by checking the result of current_exe()
+	// prior to committing to restart, returning an error to the user without any
+	// unexpected shutdown. In a nutshell that is the execuse for this unsafety.
+	// Nevertheless, we still want a way to override the restart preventation (i.e.
+	// admin server restart --force).
+	let exe = unsafe { utils::sys::current_exe().expect("program path must be available") };
 	let envs = env::vars();
 	let args = env::args().skip(1);
 	debug!(?exe, ?args, ?envs, "Restart");