diff --git a/gitnexus/src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.ts b/gitnexus/src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.ts
index 51af63b03..37cbd1bc6 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.ts
@@ -2904,7 +2904,26 @@ export const queryFTS = async (
 };
 
 /**
- * Drop an FTS index
+ * True for the two benign "nothing to drop" `DROP_FTS_INDEX` failures —
+ * both catalog/binder exceptions, LadybugDB's classes for "this name isn't
+ * bound to anything right now" (probe-verified end-to-end through
+ * `dropFTSIndex`'s real `conn.query()` path against @ladybugdb/core
+ * 0.18.x): the named index was never created (`Binder exception: Table <T>
+ * doesn't have an index with name <name>.`), or the FTS extension/function
+ * isn't registered at all (`Catalog exception: function DROP_FTS_INDEX is
+ * not defined...`). A real engine failure — e.g. the `Runtime exception:
+ * FTS index '<name>' is inconsistent: ...` class from #2589 — is a
+ * DIFFERENT exception class (an execution-time failure, not a catalog/bind
+ * lookup miss), so this returns false for it. Pure string logic so it is
+ * unit-testable without a native LadybugDB connection.
+ */
+export const isBenignDropFtsIndexError = (message: string): boolean =>
+  message.includes('Binder exception:') || message.includes('Catalog exception:');
+
+/**
+ * Drop an FTS index. Tolerates only {@link isBenignDropFtsIndexError} —
+ * anything else rethrows instead of being silently masked, which previously
+ * let a corrupted index persist across analyze runs undetected.
  */
 export const dropFTSIndex = async (tableName: string, indexName: string): Promise<void> => {
   if (!conn) {
@@ -2913,8 +2932,11 @@ export const dropFTSIndex = async (tableName: string, indexName: string): Promis
 
   try {
     await queryAndDrain(conn, `CALL DROP_FTS_INDEX('${tableName}', '${indexName}')`);
-  } catch {
-    // Index may not exist
+  } catch (e: unknown) {
+    const msg = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e);
+    if (!isBenignDropFtsIndexError(msg)) {
+      throw e;
+    }
   } finally {
     ensuredFTSIndexes.delete(ftsIndexKey(tableName, indexName));
   }
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/drop-fts-index-error-classification.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/drop-fts-index-error-classification.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..54d6d8597
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/drop-fts-index-error-classification.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/**
+ * #2589: `dropFTSIndex` must tolerate only benign "nothing to drop"
+ * `DROP_FTS_INDEX` failures and rethrow everything else — previously it
+ * swallowed every error unconditionally, which could mask a genuinely
+ * corrupted FTS index across analyze runs.
+ *
+ * `isBenignDropFtsIndexError` is pure string logic (no native connection
+ * needed), so the classification itself is unit-tested directly, including
+ * against the exact reported #2589 error text — a native repro of that
+ * specific engine failure was not achieved during investigation, but the
+ * classifier's behavior for it is still provable from the message alone.
+ */
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { isBenignDropFtsIndexError, dropFTSIndex } from '../../src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.js';
+import { withTestLbugDB } from '../helpers/test-indexed-db.js';
+
+describe('isBenignDropFtsIndexError', () => {
+  it('is true for the FTS-extension/function-not-registered catalog error (probe-verified text)', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBenignDropFtsIndexError(
+        "Catalog exception: function DROP_FTS_INDEX is not defined. This function exists in the FTS extension. You can install and load the extension by running 'INSTALL FTS; LOAD EXTENSION FTS;'.",
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('is true for the index-never-created binder error (probe-verified against the real dropFTSIndex path)', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBenignDropFtsIndexError(
+        "Binder exception: Table File doesn't have an index with name file_fts.",
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('is false for the #2589 runtime inconsistency error (must surface, not be swallowed)', () => {
+    expect(
+      isBenignDropFtsIndexError(
+        "Runtime exception: FTS index 'file_fts' is inconsistent: term 'wiki' is missing during delete.",
+      ),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('is false for an unrelated failure', () => {
+    expect(isBenignDropFtsIndexError('Connection Exception: database is closed')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+withTestLbugDB('drop-fts-index-benign-cases', (handle) => {
+  describe('dropFTSIndex end-to-end benign cases (#2589)', () => {
+    it('resolves cleanly when the named index was never created', async () => {
+      void handle;
+      const { executeQuery } = await import('../../src/core/lbug/lbug-adapter.js');
+      await executeQuery(
+        `CREATE NODE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS DropProbe (id STRING PRIMARY KEY, content STRING)`,
+      );
+      await expect(dropFTSIndex('DropProbe', 'drop_probe_never_created')).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+    }, 120_000);
+  });
+});