diff --git a/core/Cargo.lock b/core/Cargo.lock
index 9e0c5da4..37fa3cf3 100644
--- a/core/Cargo.lock
+++ b/core/Cargo.lock
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ checksum = "a23eb6b1614318a8071c9b2521f36b424b2c83db5eb3a0fead4a6c0809af6e61"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "archipelago"
-version = "1.7.37-alpha"
+version = "1.7.39-alpha"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "archipelago-container",
diff --git a/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml b/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
index 88dfa420..4e3ead58 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/archipelago/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "archipelago"
-version = "1.7.37-alpha"
+version = "1.7.39-alpha"
 edition = "2021"
 description = "Archipelago Bitcoin Node OS - Native backend"
 authors = ["Archipelago Team"]
diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/main.rs b/core/archipelago/src/main.rs
index 2c0a5546..48670dd6 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/main.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/main.rs
@@ -86,6 +86,36 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
 
     info!("Starting Archipelago Bitcoin Node OS");
 
+    // Self-heal web-ui permissions. The OTA updater in <=v1.7.38 left
+    // /opt/archipelago/web-ui as drwx------ (700) after the atomic
+    // swap — nginx (www-data) then returned 500/403 on every request
+    // until someone shelled in and chmod'd it. Check on every boot
+    // and repair if needed so a node auto-recovers after the next
+    // service restart that follows a broken OTA.
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
+        let web_ui = std::path::Path::new("/opt/archipelago/web-ui");
+        if let Ok(meta) = tokio::fs::metadata(web_ui).await {
+            let mode = meta.permissions().mode() & 0o777;
+            if mode & 0o005 != 0o005 {
+                tracing::warn!(
+                    "web-ui perms {:o} not world-readable — self-healing",
+                    mode
+                );
+                let _ = tokio::process::Command::new("sudo")
+                    .args([
+                        "-n",
+                        "chmod",
+                        "-R",
+                        "u=rwX,go=rX",
+                        "/opt/archipelago/web-ui",
+                    ])
+                    .status()
+                    .await;
+            }
+        }
+    });
+
     // Load configuration
     let config = Config::load().await?;
     info!("📁 Data directory: {}", config.data_dir.display());
diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/update.rs b/core/archipelago/src/update.rs
index 979016c0..f297f451 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/update.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/update.rs
@@ -914,6 +914,21 @@ pub async fn apply_update(data_dir: &Path) -> Result<()> {
                 ])
                 .await;
 
+                // Set world-readable perms so nginx (runs as www-data)
+                // can stat + serve the files. Without this, the tar
+                // extraction inherits the staging-dir's 700 mode and
+                // nginx returns 403/500 for every request after the
+                // swap — exactly what bit .116 on the v1.7.38 rollout.
+                let _ = host_sudo(&["chmod", "755", &staging_new]).await;
+                let _ = host_sudo(&[
+                    "find", &staging_new, "-type", "d", "-exec", "chmod", "755", "{}", "+",
+                ])
+                .await;
+                let _ = host_sudo(&[
+                    "find", &staging_new, "-type", "f", "-exec", "chmod", "644", "{}", "+",
+                ])
+                .await;
+
                 // Preserve paths that are installed outside the Vue build
                 // (baked in by the ISO or sibling installers) and so
                 // aren't in the new tarball. Without this copy, every OTA
diff --git a/neode-ui/package.json b/neode-ui/package.json
index c411e476..0660c435 100644
--- a/neode-ui/package.json
+++ b/neode-ui/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "neode-ui",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "1.7.38-alpha",
+  "version": "1.7.39-alpha",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "./start-dev.sh",
diff --git a/neode-ui/src/views/settings/AccountInfoSection.vue b/neode-ui/src/views/settings/AccountInfoSection.vue
index be56ae57..82921281 100644
--- a/neode-ui/src/views/settings/AccountInfoSection.vue
+++ b/neode-ui/src/views/settings/AccountInfoSection.vue
@@ -180,6 +180,16 @@ init()
               </button>
             </div>
             <div class="overflow-y-auto flex-1 min-h-0 space-y-6 pr-1">
+              <!-- v1.7.39-alpha -->
+              <div>
+                <div class="flex items-center gap-2 mb-3">
+                  <span class="text-xs font-mono px-2 py-0.5 rounded bg-orange-500/20 text-orange-300">v1.7.39-alpha</span>
+                  <span class="text-xs text-white/40">Apr 22, 2026</span>
+                </div>
+                <div class="space-y-3 text-sm text-white/80 pl-3 border-l border-white/10">
+                  <p>Hotfix for v1.7.38 — on some nodes the update landed with the web UI directory set to private file permissions, so nginx returned a 500 / "Internal Server Error" on every page. This release fixes the updater to set world-readable permissions on the new frontend, and the node also now self-heals on boot if it ever finds the UI directory in that state again.</p>
+                </div>
+              </div>
               <!-- v1.7.38-alpha -->
               <div>
                 <div class="flex items-center gap-2 mb-3">