diff --git a/internal/killist/killist.go b/internal/killist/killist.go
index 2c901a3..7b8c18d 100644
--- a/internal/killist/killist.go
+++ b/internal/killist/killist.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package killist
 import (
 	"bufio"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 )
@@ -79,15 +80,33 @@ func (kl *KillList) List() []string {
 	return out
 }
 
+// save writes the kill list atomically: it writes to a temp file in the same
+// directory, flushes, closes, then renames over the target. This ensures the
+// existing file is never truncated on a partial write or flush error.
 func (kl *KillList) save() error {
-	f, err := os.Create(kl.filepath)
+	dir := filepath.Dir(kl.filepath)
+	tmp, err := os.CreateTemp(dir, ".killist-*.tmp")
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	defer f.Close()
-	w := bufio.NewWriter(f)
+	tmpName := tmp.Name()
+
+	w := bufio.NewWriter(tmp)
 	for t := range kl.titles {
-		w.WriteString(t + "\n")
+		if _, err := w.WriteString(t + "\n"); err != nil {
+			tmp.Close()
+			os.Remove(tmpName)
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	if err := w.Flush(); err != nil {
+		tmp.Close()
+		os.Remove(tmpName)
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := tmp.Close(); err != nil {
+		os.Remove(tmpName)
+		return err
 	}
-	return w.Flush()
+	return os.Rename(tmpName, kl.filepath)
 }