diff --git a/src/server/claimServer.ts b/src/server/claimServer.ts
index 1f06be5..580b3d1 100644
--- a/src/server/claimServer.ts
+++ b/src/server/claimServer.ts
@@ -200,14 +200,30 @@ class ClaimReviewAcceptButton extends Button {
 			return
 		}
 
-		await recordClaimDecision({
-			userId,
-			guildId,
-			status: "accepted",
-			decidedById: interaction.user?.id
-		}).catch((error) => {
+		try {
+			await recordClaimDecision({
+				userId,
+				guildId,
+				status: "accepted",
+				decidedById: interaction.user?.id
+			})
+		} catch (error) {
 			console.error("Failed to record accepted claim:", error)
-		})
+			await interaction.reply({
+				components: [
+					new Container(
+						[
+							new TextDisplay("### Could not record claim"),
+							new TextDisplay(
+								"The clawtributors role was added, but the claim decision could not be saved. Ask a moderator to retry or update the claim record."
+							)
+						],
+						{ accentColor: "#f85149" }
+					)
+				]
+			})
+			return
+		}
 
 		const user = await interaction.client.fetchUser(userId).catch(() => null)
 		await user?.send({
diff --git a/tests/claimAcceptPersist.test.ts b/tests/claimAcceptPersist.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdb7ebb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/claimAcceptPersist.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+import { type ButtonInteraction, serializePayload } from "@buape/carbon"
+import { describe, expect, it, spyOn } from "bun:test"
+import * as claimRequests from "../src/data/claimRequests.js"
+import { setRuntimeEnv } from "../src/runtime/env.js"
+import { claimReviewComponents } from "../src/server/claimServer.js"
+
+const flattenComponents = (component: unknown): Record<string, unknown>[] => {
+	if (!component || typeof component !== "object") {
+		return []
+	}
+
+	const record = component as Record<string, unknown>
+	const children = Array.isArray(record.components)
+		? record.components.flatMap(flattenComponents)
+		: []
+
+	return [record, ...children]
+}
+
+const replyText = (replies: unknown[]) =>
+	replies
+		.flatMap((reply) => flattenComponents(serializePayload(reply)))
+		.map((component) => component.content)
+		.filter((content): content is string => typeof content === "string")
+		.join("\n")
+
+const runAccept = async () => {
+	const replies: unknown[] = []
+	const dms: unknown[] = []
+	const announcements: unknown[] = []
+	const patches: unknown[] = []
+	const acceptButton = claimReviewComponents[0]
+	const interaction = {
+		user: { id: "reviewer-1" },
+		message: {
+			id: "review-message-1",
+			channelId: "review-channel-1",
+			rawData: { components: [] }
+		},
+		reply: async (payload: unknown) => {
+			replies.push(payload)
+		},
+		client: {
+			fetchUser: async () => ({
+				send: async (payload: unknown) => {
+					dms.push(payload)
+				}
+			}),
+			fetchChannel: async () => ({
+				send: async (payload: unknown) => {
+					announcements.push(payload)
+				}
+			}),
+			rest: {
+				patch: async (...args: unknown[]) => {
+					patches.push(args)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	} as unknown as ButtonInteraction
+
+	await acceptButton.run(interaction, {
+		userId: "suser-1",
+		guildId: "sguild-1"
+	})
+
+	return { replies, dms, announcements, patches, text: replyText(replies) }
+}
+
+describe("claim review accept persist", () => {
+	it("does not report accepted when decision persist fails", async () => {
+		setRuntimeEnv({ DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN: "test-token" } as Env)
+		const fetchSpy = spyOn(globalThis, "fetch").mockImplementation(
+			async () => new Response(null, { status: 204 })
+		)
+		const persistSpy = spyOn(
+			claimRequests,
+			"recordClaimDecision"
+		).mockImplementation(async () => {
+			throw new Error("database unavailable")
+		})
+		const consoleError = spyOn(console, "error").mockImplementation(() => {})
+
+		try {
+			const result = await runAccept()
+
+			expect(persistSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+			expect(result.replies).toHaveLength(1)
+			expect(result.text.toLowerCase()).not.toContain("claim accepted")
+			expect(result.text.toLowerCase()).not.toContain("has been given the role")
+			expect(result.dms).toHaveLength(0)
+			expect(result.announcements).toHaveLength(0)
+			expect(result.patches).toHaveLength(0)
+			expect(result.text).toContain("Could not record claim")
+		} finally {
+			consoleError.mockRestore()
+			persistSpy.mockRestore()
+			fetchSpy.mockRestore()
+		}
+	})
+
+	it("reports accepted after the decision is recorded", async () => {
+		setRuntimeEnv({ DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN: "test-token" } as Env)
+		const fetchSpy = spyOn(globalThis, "fetch").mockImplementation(
+			async () => new Response(null, { status: 204 })
+		)
+		const persistSpy = spyOn(
+			claimRequests,
+			"recordClaimDecision"
+		).mockImplementation(async () => {})
+		const consoleError = spyOn(console, "error").mockImplementation(() => {})
+
+		try {
+			const result = await runAccept()
+
+			expect(persistSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+			expect(result.text.toLowerCase()).toContain("claim accepted")
+			expect(result.dms).toHaveLength(1)
+			expect(result.announcements).toHaveLength(1)
+		} finally {
+			consoleError.mockRestore()
+			persistSpy.mockRestore()
+			fetchSpy.mockRestore()
+		}
+	})
+})