diff --git a/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/datatable_acl.rs b/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/datatable_acl.rs
index 62ef3b65df..7467c06aac 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/datatable_acl.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-api-workspaces/src/datatable_acl.rs
@@ -980,6 +980,18 @@ async fn build_acl_plan(
         AclChange::Grant { role, .. } | AclChange::Revoke { role, .. } => role,
     };
     let pg_role = pg_role_of(&roles, role_name)?;
+    // `admin` is the login the data table itself reaches Postgres through, so a
+    // revoke on the database would take away what every role here connects with
+    // — including the one that would have to grant it back.
+    if matches!(req.change, AclChange::Revoke { .. })
+        && matches!(req.target, AclTarget::Database)
+        && role_name == ADMIN_DATATABLE_ROLE
+    {
+        return Err(Error::BadRequest(format!(
+            "'{ADMIN_DATATABLE_ROLE}' is how this data table reaches its database; \
+             revoking on the database itself would lock every role out of it"
+        )));
+    }
     // The roles a plan may also write about: what a schema's new owner is kept
     // in reach of, and whose future objects a `created later` grant covers. Both
     // are `ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES FOR ROLE <other>`, which speaks for that role
@@ -1125,10 +1137,17 @@ mod tests {
             grant(GrantScope::FutureSequences),
             grant(GrantScope::FutureFunctions),
         ] {
-            assert_eq!(reached_object_classes(&schema(), &change), None, "{change:?}");
+            assert_eq!(
+                reached_object_classes(&schema(), &change),
+                None,
+                "{change:?}"
+            );
         }
         assert_eq!(
-            reached_object_classes(&table(), &AclChange::SetOwner { role: "analyst".to_string() }),
+            reached_object_classes(
+                &table(),
+                &AclChange::SetOwner { role: "analyst".to_string() }
+            ),
             None
         );
 
@@ -1149,6 +1168,9 @@ mod tests {
             reached_object_classes(&schema(), &revoke(GrantScope::AllTables)),
             Some((["r", "p", "v", "m", "f"].as_slice(), false))
         );
-        assert_eq!(reached_object_classes(&schema(), &revoke(GrantScope::Target)), None);
+        assert_eq!(
+            reached_object_classes(&schema(), &revoke(GrantScope::Target)),
+            None
+        );
     }
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/datatableAcl/PgAclEditor.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/datatableAcl/PgAclEditor.svelte
index febecce58b..7ff3fd41f0 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/datatableAcl/PgAclEditor.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/datatableAcl/PgAclEditor.svelte
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 	import { Trash2 } from 'lucide-svelte'
 	import PgGrantBuilder from './PgGrantBuilder.svelte'
 	import { grantScopeLabel, groupGrants, revokeScopeOf } from './aclScopes'
+	import { ADMIN_DATATABLE_ROLE } from '../dbTypes'
 
 	let {
 		workspace,
@@ -192,8 +193,10 @@
 								<Cell last>
 									{@const revokeScope = revokeScopeOf(grant)}
 									<!-- Reading a target's access needs no ownership of it, so a row
-										on one the caller does not own has nothing to offer. -->
-									{#if info.roles.includes(grant.grantee) && revokeScope && info.can_manage}
+										on one the caller does not own has nothing to offer. And the
+										database's own grants to `admin` are what every role here
+										connects with, so they are not the drawer's to take away. -->
+									{#if info.roles.includes(grant.grantee) && revokeScope && info.can_manage && !(target.kind === 'database' && grant.grantee === ADMIN_DATATABLE_ROLE)}
 										<Button
 											unifiedSize="xs"
 											variant="default"