diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-api/src/seed/freight-positions.seeder.ts b/apps/edr-freight-api/src/seed/freight-positions.seeder.ts
index 81df21a17..9357398c7 100644
--- a/apps/edr-freight-api/src/seed/freight-positions.seeder.ts
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-api/src/seed/freight-positions.seeder.ts
@@ -229,7 +229,18 @@ export class FreightPositionsSeeder {
       return;
     }
 
-    await positionPermissionRepository.insert(rowsToInsert);
+    // orIgnore, not a bare insert: the read above and this write are not
+    // atomic across processes — two API replicas booting together (or a
+    // restart racing a running boot) both see the grant missing and both
+    // insert it, and the loser died on UQ_87ee8f7eef7366389a02ff69f04 with
+    // the whole seed transaction. ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING makes the grant
+    // idempotent no matter who else is inserting it.
+    await positionPermissionRepository
+      .createQueryBuilder()
+      .insert()
+      .values(rowsToInsert)
+      .orIgnore()
+      .execute();
 
     this.logger.log(
       `Granted ${rowsToInsert.length} permissions to position '${seed.key}'`,