diff --git a/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md b/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
index ce25ad1..020a6cf 100644
--- a/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
+++ b/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
@@ -109,6 +109,16 @@ POSTGRES_PASSWORD='use-secret-storage' \
 ./scripts/restore-postgres.sh
 ```
 
+Verify a dump before scheduling a restore:
+
+```sh
+BACKUP_FILE=/secure/backups/inventory-20260909T000000Z.dump \
+./scripts/verify-postgres-backup.sh
+```
+
+This checks that the file is a readable PostgreSQL custom-format archive without
+changing any database.
+
 Back up image storage and the deployment `.env` through the NAS secret/backup
 system as well. Never commit either one. Before upgrading, record the current
 image tags and database migration state. To roll back, stop the application
diff --git a/scripts/verify-postgres-backup.sh b/scripts/verify-postgres-backup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..05b4eba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/verify-postgres-backup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+
+: "${BACKUP_FILE:?Set BACKUP_FILE to a PostgreSQL custom-format dump}"
+
+if [ ! -f "$BACKUP_FILE" ]; then
+  printf '%s\n' "Backup file not found: $BACKUP_FILE" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ! -s "$BACKUP_FILE" ]; then
+  printf '%s\n' "Backup file is empty: $BACKUP_FILE" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+docker compose -f compose.production.yaml run --rm -T postgres \
+  pg_restore --list < "$BACKUP_FILE" >/dev/null
+
+printf '%s\n' "Backup archive is readable: $BACKUP_FILE"
diff --git a/scripts/verify-postgres-backup.test.sh b/scripts/verify-postgres-backup.test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a515999
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/verify-postgres-backup.test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+
+script_dir=$(CDPATH= cd -- "$(dirname -- "$0")" && pwd)
+test_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$test_dir"' EXIT
+
+printf '%s\n' 'fake dump' > "$test_dir/backup.dump"
+mkdir -p "$test_dir/bin"
+printf '%s\n' '#!/bin/sh' 'exit 0' > "$test_dir/bin/docker"
+chmod +x "$test_dir/bin/docker"
+
+PATH="$test_dir/bin:$PATH" BACKUP_FILE="$test_dir/backup.dump" \
+  sh "$script_dir/verify-postgres-backup.sh" >/dev/null
+
+if BACKUP_FILE="$test_dir/missing.dump" sh "$script_dir/verify-postgres-backup.sh" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  printf '%s\n' 'Expected missing backup to fail.' >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+printf '%s\n' 'verify-postgres-backup tests passed.'