diff --git a/decnet/logging/inode_aware_handler.py b/decnet/logging/inode_aware_handler.py
index 9b03b63..3a7aad7 100644
--- a/decnet/logging/inode_aware_handler.py
+++ b/decnet/logging/inode_aware_handler.py
@@ -48,5 +48,13 @@ class InodeAwareRotatingFileHandler(logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler):
                     self.close()
             except Exception:  # nosec B110
                 pass
-            self.stream = self._open()
+            try:
+                self.stream = self._open()
+            except OSError:
+                # A logging handler MUST NOT crash its caller. If we can't
+                # reopen (e.g. file is root-owned after `sudo decnet deploy`
+                # and the current process is non-root), defer to the stdlib
+                # error path, which just prints a traceback to stderr.
+                self.handleError(record)
+                return
         super().emit(record)
diff --git a/scripts/profile/view.sh b/scripts/profile/view.sh
index 15d8caa..6d69d0b 100755
--- a/scripts/profile/view.sh
+++ b/scripts/profile/view.sh
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ case "${1:-}" in
     cprofile)     TARGET="$(pick_newest '*.prof')" ;;
     memray)       TARGET="$(pick_newest 'memray-*.bin')" ;;
     pyspy)        TARGET="$(pick_newest 'pyspy-*.svg')" ;;
-    pyinstrument) TARGET="$(pick_newest '*.html')" ;;
+    pyinstrument) TARGET="$(find "${DIR}" -maxdepth 1 -type f -name '*.html' \
+                       ! -name 'memray-*' -printf '%T@ %p\n' 2>/dev/null \
+                       | sort -n | tail -n 1 | cut -d' ' -f2-)" ;;
     *)            TARGET="$1" ;;
 esac
 
diff --git a/tests/test_inode_aware_handler.py b/tests/test_inode_aware_handler.py
index b066888..e04e632 100644
--- a/tests/test_inode_aware_handler.py
+++ b/tests/test_inode_aware_handler.py
@@ -78,6 +78,26 @@ def test_no_reopen_when_file_is_stable(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     assert path.read_text().splitlines() == ["one", "two"]
 
 
+def test_emit_does_not_raise_when_reopen_fails(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """A failed reopen must not propagate — it would crash the caller
+    (observed in the collector worker when decnet.system.log was root-owned
+    and the collector ran non-root)."""
+    path = tmp_path / "app.log"
+    h = _make_handler(path)
+    h.emit(_record("first"))
+    os.remove(path)  # force reopen on next emit
+
+    def boom(*_a, **_kw):
+        raise PermissionError(13, "Permission denied")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(h, "_open", boom)
+
+    # Swallow the stderr traceback stdlib prints via handleError.
+    monkeypatch.setattr(h, "handleError", lambda _r: None)
+
+    # Must not raise.
+    h.emit(_record("second"))
+
+
 def test_rotation_by_size_still_works(tmp_path):
     """maxBytes-triggered rotation must still function on top of the inode check."""
     path = tmp_path / "app.log"