diff --git a/crates/arr-api/src/subtitles.rs b/crates/arr-api/src/subtitles.rs
index 1df4353..9e97ccf 100644
--- a/crates/arr-api/src/subtitles.rs
+++ b/crates/arr-api/src/subtitles.rs
@@ -963,6 +963,7 @@ pub async fn grab(
         .clone();
 
     let destination = target.sidecar(&language, false)?;
+    claim_language(&state, target.media_file_id, &language).await?;
     claim_path(&state, &destination).await?;
 
     let fetched = provider
@@ -1054,6 +1055,7 @@ pub async fn translate(
         .clone();
 
     let destination = target.sidecar(&target_language, true)?;
+    claim_language(&state, target.media_file_id, &target_language).await?;
     claim_path(&state, &destination).await?;
 
     let raw = tokio::fs::read_to_string(&source_path)
@@ -1166,12 +1168,33 @@ async fn engine_name(state: &AppState, requested: Option<&str>) -> Result<String
     .ok_or_else(|| ApiError::Invalid("engine: no translation engine is configured".into()))
 }
 
+/// Refuse a second subtitle for a language this file already has (#222).
+///
+/// §15 gives a language exactly one sidecar and no upgrade loop: replacing
+/// one is delete-then-fetch, which the panel offers as a button (#223). The
+/// schema carries the same invariant as a unique index, so this only decides
+/// *when* the refusal happens — before the download and the write, rather
+/// than on the insert with a stray file already on disk.
+async fn claim_language(
+    state: &AppState,
+    media_file_id: i64,
+    language: &Language,
+) -> Result<(), ApiError> {
+    let tag = language.to_string();
+    if let Some(existing) = db::sidecar_for(pool(state)?, media_file_id, &tag).await? {
+        return Err(ApiError::Conflict(format!(
+            "{tag} already has a subtitle at {existing}; delete it first to replace it"
+        )));
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 /// Refuse to write over a sidecar arr already knows about.
 ///
-/// §15 has no upgrade loop and no in-place replacement: replacing a subtitle
-/// is delete-then-fetch. Without this a second grab in the same language
-/// would overwrite the file while the unique index on `path` kept the first
-/// row, leaving the database describing a file that is no longer there.
+/// [`claim_language`] covers the common case, and this still covers the rest:
+/// the filename is the row's identity on disk, and two `media_files` rows for
+/// one video — a re-import that left a stale row behind — derive the same
+/// sidecar name from different ids. Two rows never race for one name.
 async fn claim_path(state: &AppState, destination: &Path) -> Result<(), ApiError> {
     let path = destination.to_string_lossy().into_owned();
     let taken = sqlx::query_scalar!(
@@ -2198,6 +2221,54 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(fixture.subtitle_rows().await.len(), 1);
     }
 
+    /// §15 as amended (#222): a language is satisfied by exactly one
+    /// sidecar. The second subtitle here lands on a *different* filename, so
+    /// only the invariant can refuse it — the path check cannot see it.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn a_second_subtitle_for_a_satisfied_language_is_refused() {
+        let fixture = application(
+            vec![Arc::new(StubProvider::new("opensubtitles"))],
+            vec![Arc::new(StubBackend)],
+        )
+        .await;
+        let (_, source) = grab(&fixture, pt()).await;
+
+        // `.en.mt.srt` — English is satisfied by a machine translation.
+        let response = reqwest::Client::new()
+            .post(format!(
+                "{}/api/media-files/1/subtitles/translate",
+                fixture.base
+            ))
+            .json(&serde_json::json!({
+                "source_subtitle_id": source["id"].as_i64().expect("source id"),
+                "target_language": "en",
+                "engine": "openai"
+            }))
+            .send()
+            .await
+            .expect("translate");
+        assert_eq!(response.status(), StatusCode::CREATED);
+
+        // A provider fetch for English would write `.en.srt`, a name nothing
+        // holds. §15 refuses it anyway, and says how to replace it instead.
+        let mut body = pt();
+        body["language"] = serde_json::json!("en");
+        let (status, refused) = grab(&fixture, body).await;
+        assert_eq!(status, StatusCode::CONFLICT, "{refused}");
+        let message = refused["error"].as_str().expect("message");
+        assert!(message.contains("delete it first"), "{message}");
+        assert!(message.contains("en.mt.srt"), "{message}");
+
+        assert_eq!(fixture.subtitle_rows().await.len(), 2);
+        assert!(
+            !fixture
+                .folder
+                .join("Dune (2021) [tmdbid-438631] - [2160p][WEB-DL].en.srt")
+                .exists(),
+            "the refusal lands before anything reaches the disk"
+        );
+    }
+
     /// Write an executable fake `alass`. Its body receives the subtitle,
     /// video and output paths as `$1`, `$2`, `$3`.
     async fn fake_alass(dir: &std::path::Path, body: &str) -> PathBuf {