diff --git a/scripts/cleanup-library.sh b/scripts/cleanup-library.sh
index cf700eb..b0f9cf8 100755
--- a/scripts/cleanup-library.sh
+++ b/scripts/cleanup-library.sh
@@ -83,15 +83,27 @@ delete_sidecars() {
 }
 
 removed=0
-sidecars=0
 extracted=0
+declare -a audio_files=()
+declare -A covered_dirs=()
 while IFS= read -r -d '' audio; do
+  audio_files+=("$audio")
+done < <(find "$LIBRARY" -type f -print0 | while IFS= read -r -d '' f; do is_audio "$f" && printf '%s\0' "$f"; done)
+
+# Phase 1: discover/extract one embedded cover for each album before deleting anything.
+for audio in "${audio_files[@]}"; do
   album_dir="${audio%/*}"
-  if has_cover_file "$album_dir"; then continue; fi
+  if has_cover_file "$album_dir" || [[ -n "${covered_dirs[$album_dir]:-}" ]]; then continue; fi
   if extract_cover "$audio" "$album_dir"; then
+    covered_dirs["$album_dir"]=1
     ((extracted += 1)) || true
-    continue
   fi
+done
+
+# Phase 2: only albums that still have no directory or embedded cover are removed.
+for audio in "${audio_files[@]}"; do
+  album_dir="${audio%/*}"
+  if has_cover_file "$album_dir" || [[ -n "${covered_dirs[$album_dir]:-}" ]]; then continue; fi
   if [[ "$MODE" == "dry-run" ]]; then
     echo "WOULD DELETE AUDIO $audio"
   else
@@ -99,6 +111,6 @@ while IFS= read -r -d '' audio; do
   fi
   delete_sidecars "$audio"
   ((removed += 1)) || true
-done < <(find "$LIBRARY" -type f -print0 | while IFS= read -r -d '' f; do is_audio "$f" && printf '%s\0' "$f"; done)
+done
 
 echo "mode=$MODE extracted=$extracted audio_removed=$removed"