diff --git a/backend/windmill-api-integration-tests/tests/datatable_roles.rs b/backend/windmill-api-integration-tests/tests/datatable_roles.rs
index 719b8e42db..d8a44d7a55 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-api-integration-tests/tests/datatable_roles.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-api-integration-tests/tests/datatable_roles.rs
@@ -904,3 +904,33 @@ async fn a_stored_name_containing_a_question_mark_resolves_as_itself(
     );
     Ok(())
 }
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "../migrations", fixtures("base", "datatable_roles"))]
+async fn a_settings_save_dropping_a_governing_entry_names_the_forks_it_strands(
+    db: Pool<Postgres>,
+) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    initialize_tracing().await;
+    let server = ApiServer::start(db.clone()).await?;
+    // The whole map and no `deleted_datatables`, as a settings sync sends it.
+    let resp = authed(
+        client().post(format!(
+            "http://localhost:{}/api/w/test-workspace/workspaces/edit_datatable_config",
+            server.addr.port()
+        )),
+        "SECRET_TOKEN",
+    )
+    .json(&json!({ "settings": { "datatables": {} } }))
+    .send()
+    .await?;
+    let status = resp.status();
+    let body = resp.text().await?;
+    assert_eq!(status, 200, "{body}");
+    let result: Value = serde_json::from_str(&body)?;
+    assert!(
+        result["stranded_references"]
+            .as_array()
+            .is_some_and(|refs| refs.iter().any(|r| r["workspace_id"] == "wm-fork-dt")),
+        "the fork left pointing at nothing was not named: {body}"
+    );
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/workspaces.rs b/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/workspaces.rs
index 9636134eae..29b12d292e 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/workspaces.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/workspaces.rs
@@ -3820,6 +3820,18 @@ async fn edit_datatable_config(
         }
     }
 
+    // Worked out from the locked entries rather than taken from `deleted_datatables`: a settings
+    // sync sends the whole map without that list, and dropping a governing entry strands every
+    // fork pointing at it all the same.
+    let removed: Vec<String> = old_datatables
+        .keys()
+        .filter(|name| {
+            !new_config.settings.datatables.contains_key(*name)
+                && !new_config.renames.iter().any(|r| &r.from == *name)
+        })
+        .cloned()
+        .collect();
+
     let config: serde_json::Value = serde_json::to_value(new_config.settings)
         .map_err(|err| Error::internal_err(err.to_string()))?;
 
@@ -3859,7 +3871,7 @@ async fn edit_datatable_config(
     // A deletion cannot be followed the same way — there is nothing to point at any more. Read who
     // is left stranded so the caller is told, the way deleting a workspace does.
     let mut stranded: Vec<StrandedReference> = Vec::new();
-    for name in &new_config.deleted_datatables {
+    for name in &removed {
         let rows = sqlx::query!(
             r#"SELECT ws.workspace_id AS "workspace_id!", dt.key AS "datatable!"
                FROM workspace_settings ws
diff --git a/backend/windmill-common/src/workspaces.rs b/backend/windmill-common/src/workspaces.rs
index 05ec5f9800..f1f551d2da 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-common/src/workspaces.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-common/src/workspaces.rs
@@ -1575,8 +1575,9 @@ pub async fn get_datatable_resource_from_db_unchecked(
 /// datatables resolve to the user's own resource unchanged; configuring it for
 /// replication there is the user's responsibility.
 ///
-/// Authorization: a replication connection reads every row whatever the roles grant, so callers
-/// must gate it with [`ensure_datatable_admin_access`] rather than a role check.
+/// Authorization: a replication connection reads every row whatever the roles grant, so no role or
+/// admin check makes it safe. Callers MUST refuse a data table under roles outright — the Postgres
+/// trigger crate's `ensure_not_under_roles` — and turning roles on is refused while one streams.
 pub async fn get_datatable_replication_resource_from_db_unchecked(
     db: &DB,
     w_id: &str,
@@ -1880,8 +1881,9 @@ pub async fn ensure_can_use_datatable_role(
     )))
 }
 
-/// Gate the operations that see the whole database whatever the roles grant: replication streams,
-/// a migration that declares no role, exports, and editing the permissions themselves. Passing
+/// Gate the operations that see the whole database whatever the roles grant: a migration that
+/// declares no role, exports, and editing the permissions themselves. Not replication, which a
+/// data table under roles refuses whoever asks (see `ensure_not_under_roles`). Passing
 /// means the caller could have connected as `admin` anyway.
 pub async fn ensure_datatable_admin_access(
     db: &DB,
diff --git a/cli/src/core/settings.ts b/cli/src/core/settings.ts
index 66fc77d230..33687ceb31 100644
--- a/cli/src/core/settings.ts
+++ b/cli/src/core/settings.ts
@@ -386,10 +386,17 @@ export async function pushWorkspaceSettings(
 
   if (!deepEqual(localSettings.datatable, settings.datatable)) {
     log.debug(`Updating datatable config...`);
-    await wmill.editDataTableConfig({
+    const { stranded_references } = await wmill.editDataTableConfig({
       workspace,
       requestBody: { settings: localSettings.datatable ?? { datatables: {} } },
     });
+    if (stranded_references?.length) {
+      log.warn(
+        `Removed data tables governed data tables in other workspaces, which no longer resolve: ${stranded_references
+          .map((r) => `${r.workspace_id}/${r.datatable}`)
+          .join(", ")}. A superadmin can point them somewhere else.`,
+      );
+    }
   }
 
   if (localSettings.slack_command_script != settings.slack_command_script) {