diff --git a/cmd/server/config.go b/cmd/server/config.go
index 5c4de116..4fa6f543 100644
--- a/cmd/server/config.go
+++ b/cmd/server/config.go
@@ -1052,6 +1052,26 @@ func SaveGeoFilter(configDir string, gf *GeoFilterConfig) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("config.json not found in %s", configDir)
 	}
 
+	// Follow a symlink at configPath to the file it points at before the
+	// tmp+rename below. In the Docker image /app/config.json is a symlink to
+	// the bind-mounted /app/data/config.json (docker/entrypoint-go.sh), and
+	// os.Rename onto the link path would replace the link with a regular
+	// file inside the container: the mounted file would keep the old
+	// geo_filter, the saved one would be invisible on the host and would go
+	// away with the container. Resolving first keeps the write atomic and
+	// the result where the operator (and the next container) will read it.
+	//
+	// Unlike the stats file (writeStatsAtomic, refs #1170), replacing a
+	// symlink at the destination is not wanted here: this path is not
+	// world-writable, and the link is one the image itself creates. Only a
+	// regular file is followed, so a link to a device or a fifo is left
+	// alone and handled as before.
+	if resolved, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(configPath); err == nil && resolved != configPath {
+		if fi, err := os.Lstat(resolved); err == nil && fi.Mode().IsRegular() {
+			configPath = resolved
+		}
+	}
+
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(configPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("read config: %w", err)
@@ -1083,13 +1103,22 @@ func SaveGeoFilter(configDir string, gf *GeoFilterConfig) error {
 	// config.json holds the API key and broker passwords, and an operator
 	// who made it 0600 should not find it 0644 after a geo-filter save.
 	mode := os.FileMode(0644)
-	if fi, err := os.Stat(configPath); err == nil {
-		mode = fi.Mode().Perm()
+	orig, origErr := os.Stat(configPath)
+	if origErr == nil {
+		mode = orig.Mode().Perm()
 	}
 	tmp := configPath + ".tmp"
 	if err := os.WriteFile(tmp, out, mode); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("write config: %w", err)
 	}
+	// Keep the owner as well. The image runs the server as root by default,
+	// and without this the rename would hand the operator's bind-mounted
+	// config.json to root:root, which at 0600 they could no longer edit
+	// without sudo. Best effort: a server that may not chown leaves the file
+	// as it was created.
+	if origErr == nil {
+		copyOwner(tmp, orig)
+	}
 	if err := os.Rename(tmp, configPath); err != nil {
 		os.Remove(tmp)
 		return fmt.Errorf("rename config: %w", err)
diff --git a/cmd/server/config_owner_unix.go b/cmd/server/config_owner_unix.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..46eba93f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/server/config_owner_unix.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+//go:build !windows
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"syscall"
+)
+
+// copyOwner gives path the owner and group recorded in fi, best effort: a
+// process that may not chown (not root, or not in the group) leaves path as
+// it was created. On Windows there is no uid/gid; see config_owner_windows.go.
+func copyOwner(path string, fi os.FileInfo) {
+	if st, ok := fi.Sys().(*syscall.Stat_t); ok {
+		_ = os.Chown(path, int(st.Uid), int(st.Gid))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/server/config_owner_unix_test.go b/cmd/server/config_owner_unix_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d610a2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/server/config_owner_unix_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+//go:build !windows
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"syscall"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestSaveGeoFilterKeepsOwner checks that a save keeps the owner and group of
+// config.json. The image runs the server as root, and a bind-mounted config
+// that came back as root:root 0600 would lock the operator out of their own
+// file.
+func TestSaveGeoFilterKeepsOwner(t *testing.T) {
+	// Pick an owner the save would not produce by itself. Root can use any
+	// uid and gid; anyone else can only switch to a supplementary group.
+	uid, gid := -1, -1
+	if os.Geteuid() == 0 {
+		uid, gid = 4242, 4242
+	} else if groups, err := os.Getgroups(); err == nil {
+		for _, g := range groups {
+			if g != os.Getegid() {
+				gid = g
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if gid == -1 {
+		t.Skip("not root and no supplementary group to chown to")
+	}
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	cfg := filepath.Join(dir, "config.json")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(cfg, []byte(`{"port":3000}`), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.Chown(cfg, uid, gid); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("chown %s: %v", cfg, err)
+	}
+
+	gf := &GeoFilterConfig{Polygon: [][2]float64{{51.0, 4.0}, {51.0, 5.0}, {50.5, 4.0}}}
+	if err := SaveGeoFilter(dir, gf); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveGeoFilter: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	fi, err := os.Stat(cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	st := fi.Sys().(*syscall.Stat_t)
+	if uid != -1 && int(st.Uid) != uid {
+		t.Errorf("owner of %s = %d, want %d", cfg, st.Uid, uid)
+	}
+	if int(st.Gid) != gid {
+		t.Errorf("group of %s = %d, want %d", cfg, st.Gid, gid)
+	}
+	if perm := fi.Mode().Perm(); perm != 0o600 {
+		t.Errorf("mode of %s = %#o, want 0600", cfg, perm)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestSaveGeoFilterFifoSymlinkTarget pins the regular-file check on the
+// symlink target: a config.json that links to a fifo is not followed, so the
+// save never replaces the fifo with a regular file. A directory target would
+// not test this, since reading the config already fails there.
+func TestSaveGeoFilterFifoSymlinkTarget(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	fifo := filepath.Join(dir, "feed")
+	if err := syscall.Mkfifo(fifo, 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("mkfifo unavailable: %v", err)
+	}
+	link := filepath.Join(dir, "config.json")
+	if err := os.Symlink(fifo, link); err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("symlinks unavailable: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// SaveGeoFilter is the fifo's reader; feed it one config.
+	go func() {
+		f, err := os.OpenFile(fifo, os.O_WRONLY, 0)
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+		f.WriteString(`{"port":3000}`)
+		f.Close()
+	}()
+	if err := SaveGeoFilter(dir, nil); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveGeoFilter: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	fi, err := os.Lstat(fifo)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("lstat %s: %v", fifo, err)
+	}
+	if fi.Mode()&os.ModeNamedPipe == 0 {
+		t.Errorf("%s was replaced (mode %s) — the link to a fifo was followed", fifo, fi.Mode())
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/server/config_owner_windows.go b/cmd/server/config_owner_windows.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ffcec731
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/server/config_owner_windows.go
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+//go:build windows
+
+package main
+
+import "os"
+
+// copyOwner is a no-op on Windows: there is no uid/gid to copy, and the new
+// file takes the ACL of its directory.
+func copyOwner(path string, fi os.FileInfo) {}
diff --git a/cmd/server/config_symlink_test.go b/cmd/server/config_symlink_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..240c3429
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/server/config_symlink_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestSaveGeoFilterSymlinkedConfig pins the behavior the Docker image depends
+// on: /app/config.json is a symlink to the bind-mounted /app/data/config.json,
+// so a geo-filter save has to land in the mounted file and leave the symlink a
+// symlink. A tmp+rename on the link path instead replaces the link with a
+// regular file in the container layer, and the operator's config silently
+// stops being the one in use.
+func TestSaveGeoFilterSymlinkedConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	dataDir := filepath.Join(dir, "data")
+	if err := os.Mkdir(dataDir, 0o755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	target := filepath.Join(dataDir, "config.json")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(target, []byte(`{"port":3000,"_comment":"keep me"}`), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	link := filepath.Join(dir, "config.json")
+	if err := os.Symlink(target, link); err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("symlinks unavailable: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	gf := &GeoFilterConfig{
+		Polygon:  [][2]float64{{51.0, 4.0}, {51.0, 5.0}, {50.5, 4.0}},
+		BufferKm: 20,
+	}
+	if err := SaveGeoFilter(dir, gf); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SaveGeoFilter: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// The symlink must survive, or the next container start reads a different
+	// file than the one that was written.
+	fi, err := os.Lstat(link)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("lstat %s: %v", link, err)
+	}
+	if fi.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink == 0 {
+		t.Errorf("%s is no longer a symlink (mode %s) — the rename replaced it", link, fi.Mode())
+	}
+
+	// The geo filter must be in the mounted file, next to what was there.
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(target)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read %s: %v", target, err)
+	}
+	var raw map[string]interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &raw); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parse saved config: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, ok := raw["geo_filter"]; !ok {
+		t.Errorf("geo_filter missing from %s: %s", target, data)
+	}
+	if raw["_comment"] != "keep me" {
+		t.Errorf("unrelated keys not preserved: %s", data)
+	}
+	if !bytes.Contains(data, []byte(`"bufferKm"`)) {
+		t.Errorf("bufferKm missing from saved config: %s", data)
+	}
+
+	// The 0600 the operator chose is kept (#2126), and no tmp file is left in
+	// either directory.
+	if fi, err := os.Stat(target); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	} else if perm := fi.Mode().Perm(); perm != 0o600 {
+		t.Errorf("mode of %s = %#o, want 0600", target, perm)
+	}
+	for _, leftover := range []string{link + ".tmp", target + ".tmp"} {
+		if _, err := os.Lstat(leftover); err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("leftover temp file %s", leftover)
+		}
+	}
+}