diff --git a/.github/workflows/wheels-released.yml b/.github/workflows/wheels-released.yml
index 12c412d..52757fd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/wheels-released.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/wheels-released.yml
@@ -199,6 +199,12 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.WHEELS_REPO_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
           GPG_KEY_ID: ${{ env.GPG_KEY_ID }}
+          # Regenerate ONLY the dispatched channel. The sync step above pulls
+          # just pool/<channel>/ into the runner, so regenerating the *other*
+          # channel here would scan an empty local pool, emit an empty Packages,
+          # and the upload below would clobber that channel's index on R2.
+          # (Stable was vanishing on every bleeding-edge run this way — #2838.)
+          CHANNELS: ${{ steps.inputs.outputs.channel }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           chmod +x scripts/regenerate-apt-metadata.sh
@@ -222,9 +228,11 @@ jobs:
           find pool/${CHANNEL} -type f -name '*.deb' | while read -r f; do
             upload_one "$f" "application/vnd.debian.binary-package"
           done
-          # Upload regenerated dists tree. apt-ftparchive rewrites these on
-          # every run; upload all files in dists/ regardless of channel.
-          find dists -type f | while read -r f; do
+          # Upload the regenerated dists tree for THIS channel only. The regen
+          # step rewrote dists/${CHANNEL}/ (and only that channel — see #2838),
+          # so scope the upload to match. Uploading dists/ wholesale used to
+          # push the other channel's (stale/empty) index back to R2.
+          find dists/${CHANNEL} -type f | while read -r f; do
             # Pick a sensible content-type per file
             case "$f" in
               *.gz)             ct="application/gzip" ;;
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e87c484..44438be 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ the metadata + uploads to R2 on every release. End users do:
 ```bash
 # Stable channel
 curl -fsSL https://apt.wheels.dev/wheels.gpg \
-  | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg >/dev/null
+  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg
 echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg] https://apt.wheels.dev stable main" \
   | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/wheels.list
 sudo apt update && sudo apt install wheels
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ Before this repo will publish a usable repository:
 
    ```bash
    curl -fsSL https://apt.wheels.dev/wheels.gpg \
-     | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg >/dev/null
+     | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg
    echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg] https://apt.wheels.dev stable main" \
      | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/wheels.list
    sudo apt update
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index afb48c2..b6e682b 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ <h1>apt.wheels.dev</h1>
 
   <h2>Stable channel</h2>
   <pre><code>curl -fsSL https://apt.wheels.dev/wheels.gpg \
-  | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg &gt;/dev/null
+  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg
 echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg] https://apt.wheels.dev stable main" \
   | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/wheels.list
 sudo apt update &amp;&amp; sudo apt install wheels</code></pre>
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ <h2>Stable channel</h2>
   <h2>Bleeding-edge channel</h2>
   <p>Published on every merge to <code>develop</code>. The package is named <code>wheels-be</code> so it can coexist with the stable <code>wheels</code> install on the same host.</p>
   <pre><code>curl -fsSL https://apt.wheels.dev/wheels.gpg \
-  | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg &gt;/dev/null
+  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg
 echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg] https://apt.wheels.dev bleeding-edge main" \
   | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/wheels-be.list
 sudo apt update &amp;&amp; sudo apt install wheels-be</code></pre>
diff --git a/scripts/regenerate-apt-metadata.sh b/scripts/regenerate-apt-metadata.sh
index f1c7f6e..9143767 100755
--- a/scripts/regenerate-apt-metadata.sh
+++ b/scripts/regenerate-apt-metadata.sh
@@ -1,15 +1,21 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# Regenerates apt metadata for both `stable` and `bleeding-edge` distributions
-# under dists/, then signs Release with GPG (detached → Release.gpg, inline →
-# InRelease). Both signed forms are required: older apt clients read Release +
-# Release.gpg, newer clients prefer InRelease.
+# Regenerates apt metadata for the selected distributions (default: `stable` +
+# `bleeding-edge`) under dists/, then signs Release with GPG (detached →
+# Release.gpg, inline → InRelease). Both signed forms are required: older apt
+# clients read Release + Release.gpg, newer clients prefer InRelease.
 #
 # Inputs (env vars):
 #   GPG_PASSPHRASE  — passphrase for the imported signing key
 #   GPG_KEY_ID      — long-form key ID (set by the workflow after `gpg --import`)
+#   CHANNELS        — space-separated channels to (re)generate. Defaults to
+#                     "stable bleeding-edge". The release workflow sets this to
+#                     the single dispatched channel so a run only ever rewrites
+#                     the dist whose pool it actually synced (see wheels#2838).
 #
 # Idempotent: safe to run by hand against an existing tree to repair a torn
-# release. Re-reads everything in pool/ and rewrites dists/ from scratch.
+# release. Re-reads everything in pool/ for the selected CHANNELS and rewrites
+# their dists/ from scratch — so the pool for each selected channel MUST be
+# present locally first, otherwise that channel's index is emitted empty.
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
@@ -20,7 +26,12 @@ fi
 
 ARCHITECTURES="amd64"
 COMPONENTS="main"
-DISTRIBUTIONS="stable bleeding-edge"
+# Only regenerate the channels we were asked to. The workflow syncs just the
+# dispatched channel's pool (pool/<channel>/), so regenerating a channel whose
+# pool isn't present would scan an empty dir, emit an empty Packages, and the
+# upload would clobber that channel's index on R2. Defaulting to both preserves
+# the by-hand full-tree repair path (which must sync both pools first). #2838.
+DISTRIBUTIONS="${CHANNELS:-stable bleeding-edge}"
 
 # apt-ftparchive uses a config file to know where the pool lives. The same
 # config drives both distributions — only the dist-name and the scan path