diff --git a/src/system_dns.rs b/src/system_dns.rs
index fc02393..643b9d0 100644
--- a/src/system_dns.rs
+++ b/src/system_dns.rs
@@ -214,7 +214,18 @@ fn discover_linux() -> SystemDnsInfo {
     }
 }
 
-/// Parse resolv.conf in a single pass, extracting both the first non-loopback
+/// Yield each `nameserver` address from resolv.conf content. No filtering —
+/// callers decide what counts as a real upstream.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", test))]
+fn iter_nameservers(content: &str) -> impl Iterator<Item = &str> {
+    content.lines().filter_map(|line| {
+        let mut parts = line.split_whitespace();
+        (parts.next() == Some("nameserver")).then_some(())?;
+        parts.next()
+    })
+}
+
+/// Parse resolv.conf in a single pass, extracting the first non-loopback
 /// nameserver and all search domains.
 #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
 fn parse_resolv_conf(path: &str) -> (Option<String>, Vec<String>) {
@@ -222,19 +233,13 @@ fn parse_resolv_conf(path: &str) -> (Option<String>, Vec<String>) {
         Ok(t) => t,
         Err(_) => return (None, Vec::new()),
     };
-    let mut upstream = None;
+    let upstream = iter_nameservers(&text)
+        .find(|ns| !is_loopback_or_stub(ns))
+        .map(str::to_string);
     let mut search_domains = Vec::new();
     for line in text.lines() {
         let line = line.trim();
-        if line.starts_with("nameserver") {
-            if upstream.is_none() {
-                if let Some(ns) = line.split_whitespace().nth(1) {
-                    if !is_loopback_or_stub(ns) {
-                        upstream = Some(ns.to_string());
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        } else if line.starts_with("search") || line.starts_with("domain") {
+        if line.starts_with("search") || line.starts_with("domain") {
             for domain in line.split_whitespace().skip(1) {
                 search_domains.push(domain.to_string());
             }
@@ -243,6 +248,21 @@ fn parse_resolv_conf(path: &str) -> (Option<String>, Vec<String>) {
     (upstream, search_domains)
 }
 
+/// True if the resolv.conf *content* appears to be written by numa itself,
+/// or has no real upstream — either way, it's not a safe source of truth
+/// for a backup.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", test))]
+fn resolv_conf_is_numa_managed(content: &str) -> bool {
+    content.contains("Generated by Numa") || !resolv_conf_has_real_upstream(content)
+}
+
+/// True if the resolv.conf content has at least one non-loopback, non-stub
+/// nameserver. An all-loopback resolv.conf is self-referential.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", test))]
+fn resolv_conf_has_real_upstream(content: &str) -> bool {
+    iter_nameservers(content).any(|ns| !is_loopback_or_stub(ns))
+}
+
 /// Query resolvectl for the real upstream DNS server (e.g. VPC resolver on AWS).
 #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
 fn resolvectl_dns_server() -> Option<String> {
@@ -526,9 +546,19 @@ fn enable_dnscache() {
         .status();
 }
 
+/// True if the backup map has at least one real upstream (non-loopback, non-stub).
+#[cfg(any(windows, test))]
+fn backup_has_real_upstream_windows(
+    interfaces: &std::collections::HashMap<String, WindowsInterfaceDns>,
+) -> bool {
+    interfaces
+        .values()
+        .any(|iface| iface.servers.iter().any(|s| !is_loopback_or_stub(s)))
+}
+
 #[cfg(windows)]
 fn install_windows() -> Result<(), String> {
-    let interfaces = get_windows_interfaces()?;
+    let mut interfaces = get_windows_interfaces()?;
     if interfaces.is_empty() {
         return Err("no active network interfaces found".to_string());
     }
@@ -538,9 +568,30 @@ fn install_windows() -> Result<(), String> {
         std::fs::create_dir_all(parent)
             .map_err(|e| format!("failed to create {}: {}", parent.display(), e))?;
     }
-    let json = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&interfaces)
-        .map_err(|e| format!("failed to serialize backup: {}", e))?;
-    std::fs::write(&path, json).map_err(|e| format!("failed to write backup: {}", e))?;
+
+    // Preserve an existing useful backup rather than overwriting it with
+    // numa-managed state (which would be self-referential after uninstall).
+    let existing: Option<std::collections::HashMap<String, WindowsInterfaceDns>> =
+        std::fs::read_to_string(&path)
+            .ok()
+            .and_then(|json| serde_json::from_str(&json).ok());
+    let has_useful_existing = existing
+        .as_ref()
+        .map(backup_has_real_upstream_windows)
+        .unwrap_or(false);
+
+    if has_useful_existing {
+        eprintln!("  Existing DNS backup preserved at {}", path.display());
+    } else {
+        // Filter loopback/stub addresses before saving so a fresh backup
+        // captured from already-numa-managed state isn't self-referential.
+        for iface in interfaces.values_mut() {
+            iface.servers.retain(|s| !is_loopback_or_stub(s));
+        }
+        let json = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&interfaces)
+            .map_err(|e| format!("failed to serialize backup: {}", e))?;
+        std::fs::write(&path, json).map_err(|e| format!("failed to write backup: {}", e))?;
+    }
 
     for name in interfaces.keys() {
         let status = std::process::Command::new("netsh")
@@ -570,7 +621,10 @@ fn install_windows() -> Result<(), String> {
     let needs_reboot = disable_dnscache()?;
     register_autostart();
 
-    eprintln!("\n  Original DNS saved to {}", path.display());
+    eprintln!();
+    if !has_useful_existing {
+        eprintln!("  Original DNS saved to {}", path.display());
+    }
     eprintln!("  Run 'numa uninstall' to restore.\n");
     if needs_reboot {
         eprintln!("  *** Reboot required. Numa will start automatically. ***\n");
@@ -754,27 +808,60 @@ fn get_dns_servers(service: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>, String> {
     }
 }
 
+/// True if the backup map has at least one real upstream (non-loopback, non-stub).
+/// An all-loopback backup is self-referential — restoring it is a no-op.
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "macos", test))]
+fn backup_has_real_upstream_macos(
+    servers: &std::collections::HashMap<String, Vec<String>>,
+) -> bool {
+    servers
+        .values()
+        .any(|list| list.iter().any(|s| !is_loopback_or_stub(s)))
+}
+
 #[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
 fn install_macos() -> Result<(), String> {
     use std::collections::HashMap;
 
     let services = get_network_services()?;
-    let mut original: HashMap<String, Vec<String>> = HashMap::new();
-
-    // Save current DNS for each service
-    for service in &services {
-        let servers = get_dns_servers(service)?;
-        original.insert(service.clone(), servers);
-    }
-
-    // Save backup
     let dir = numa_data_dir();
     std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir)
         .map_err(|e| format!("failed to create {}: {}", dir.display(), e))?;
 
-    let json = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&original)
-        .map_err(|e| format!("failed to serialize backup: {}", e))?;
-    std::fs::write(backup_path(), json).map_err(|e| format!("failed to write backup: {}", e))?;
+    // If a useful backup already exists (at least one non-loopback upstream),
+    // preserve it — overwriting would destroy the original DNS state when
+    // re-installing on top of a numa-managed configuration.
+    let existing_backup: Option<HashMap<String, Vec<String>>> =
+        std::fs::read_to_string(backup_path())
+            .ok()
+            .and_then(|json| serde_json::from_str(&json).ok());
+    let has_useful_existing = existing_backup
+        .as_ref()
+        .map(backup_has_real_upstream_macos)
+        .unwrap_or(false);
+
+    if has_useful_existing {
+        eprintln!(
+            "  Existing DNS backup preserved at {}",
+            backup_path().display()
+        );
+    } else {
+        // Capture fresh, filtering out loopback and stub addresses so we
+        // never record a self-referential backup.
+        let mut original: HashMap<String, Vec<String>> = HashMap::new();
+        for service in &services {
+            let servers: Vec<String> = get_dns_servers(service)?
+                .into_iter()
+                .filter(|s| !is_loopback_or_stub(s))
+                .collect();
+            original.insert(service.clone(), servers);
+        }
+
+        let json = serde_json::to_string_pretty(&original)
+            .map_err(|e| format!("failed to serialize backup: {}", e))?;
+        std::fs::write(backup_path(), json)
+            .map_err(|e| format!("failed to write backup: {}", e))?;
+    }
 
     // Set DNS to 127.0.0.1 and add "numa" search domain for each service
     for service in &services {
@@ -795,7 +882,10 @@ fn install_macos() -> Result<(), String> {
             .status();
     }
 
-    eprintln!("\n  Original DNS saved to {}", backup_path().display());
+    eprintln!();
+    if !has_useful_existing {
+        eprintln!("  Original DNS saved to {}", backup_path().display());
+    }
     eprintln!("  Run 'sudo numa uninstall' to restore.\n");
 
     Ok(())
@@ -1132,11 +1222,31 @@ fn install_linux() -> Result<(), String> {
             .map_err(|e| format!("failed to create {}: {}", parent.display(), e))?;
     }
 
-    // Back up current resolv.conf (ignore NotFound)
-    match std::fs::copy(resolv, &backup) {
-        Ok(_) => eprintln!("  Saved /etc/resolv.conf to {}", backup.display()),
-        Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {}
-        Err(e) => return Err(format!("failed to backup /etc/resolv.conf: {}", e)),
+    // Back up current resolv.conf, but never overwrite a useful existing
+    // backup with a numa-managed file — that would leave uninstall with
+    // nothing to restore to.
+    let current = std::fs::read_to_string(resolv).ok();
+    let current_is_numa_managed = current
+        .as_deref()
+        .map(resolv_conf_is_numa_managed)
+        .unwrap_or(false);
+    let existing_backup_is_useful = std::fs::read_to_string(&backup)
+        .ok()
+        .as_deref()
+        .map(resolv_conf_has_real_upstream)
+        .unwrap_or(false);
+
+    if existing_backup_is_useful {
+        eprintln!(
+            "  Existing resolv.conf backup preserved at {}",
+            backup.display()
+        );
+    } else if current_is_numa_managed {
+        eprintln!("  warning: /etc/resolv.conf is already numa-managed; no fresh backup written");
+    } else if let Some(content) = current.as_deref() {
+        std::fs::write(&backup, content)
+            .map_err(|e| format!("failed to backup /etc/resolv.conf: {}", e))?;
+        eprintln!("  Saved /etc/resolv.conf to {}", backup.display());
     }
 
     if resolv
@@ -1539,6 +1649,82 @@ Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:
         assert!(!result.contains("{{exe_path}}"));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn macos_backup_real_upstream_detection() {
+        use std::collections::HashMap;
+        let mut map: HashMap<String, Vec<String>> = HashMap::new();
+
+        // Empty backup → no real upstream
+        assert!(!backup_has_real_upstream_macos(&map));
+
+        // All-loopback backup → still no real upstream (the bug case)
+        map.insert("Wi-Fi".into(), vec!["127.0.0.1".into()]);
+        map.insert("Ethernet".into(), vec!["::1".into()]);
+        assert!(!backup_has_real_upstream_macos(&map));
+
+        // One real entry → useful
+        map.insert("Tailscale".into(), vec!["192.168.1.1".into()]);
+        assert!(backup_has_real_upstream_macos(&map));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn windows_backup_filters_loopback() {
+        use std::collections::HashMap;
+        let mut map: HashMap<String, WindowsInterfaceDns> = HashMap::new();
+
+        // Empty backup → no real upstream
+        assert!(!backup_has_real_upstream_windows(&map));
+
+        // All-loopback backup → still no real upstream (the bug case)
+        map.insert(
+            "Wi-Fi".into(),
+            WindowsInterfaceDns {
+                dhcp: false,
+                servers: vec!["127.0.0.1".into()],
+            },
+        );
+        map.insert(
+            "Ethernet".into(),
+            WindowsInterfaceDns {
+                dhcp: false,
+                servers: vec!["::1".into(), "0.0.0.0".into()],
+            },
+        );
+        assert!(!backup_has_real_upstream_windows(&map));
+
+        // One real entry alongside loopback → useful
+        map.insert(
+            "Ethernet 2".into(),
+            WindowsInterfaceDns {
+                dhcp: false,
+                servers: vec!["192.168.1.1".into()],
+            },
+        );
+        assert!(backup_has_real_upstream_windows(&map));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn resolv_conf_real_upstream_detection() {
+        let real = "nameserver 192.168.1.1\nsearch lan\n";
+        assert!(resolv_conf_has_real_upstream(real));
+        assert!(!resolv_conf_is_numa_managed(real));
+
+        let self_ref = "nameserver 127.0.0.1\nsearch numa\n";
+        assert!(!resolv_conf_has_real_upstream(self_ref));
+        assert!(resolv_conf_is_numa_managed(self_ref));
+
+        let numa_marker =
+            "# Generated by Numa — run 'sudo numa uninstall' to restore\nnameserver 127.0.0.1\nsearch numa\n";
+        assert!(resolv_conf_is_numa_managed(numa_marker));
+
+        let systemd_stub = "nameserver 127.0.0.53\noptions edns0\n";
+        assert!(!resolv_conf_has_real_upstream(systemd_stub));
+
+        let mixed = "nameserver 127.0.0.1\nnameserver 1.1.1.1\n";
+        assert!(resolv_conf_has_real_upstream(mixed));
+        assert!(!resolv_conf_is_numa_managed(mixed));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn parse_ipconfig_skips_disconnected() {
         let sample = "\