diff --git a/scripts/backup/verify/backup_verify.sh b/scripts/backup/verify/backup_verify.sh
index 865181c..1bfab55 100644
--- a/scripts/backup/verify/backup_verify.sh
+++ b/scripts/backup/verify/backup_verify.sh
@@ -23,16 +23,21 @@ backupVerifySnapshot()
         return 1
     fi
 
-    local source_count restored_count
-    source_count=$(sudo find "$containers_dir$app_name" -type f 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
+    # The scratch restore above succeeding is the real proof the snapshot is
+    # restorable (restic verifies each blob's hash as it restores). We can't
+    # compare against the live app dir any more — the live path deliberately
+    # differs from the snapshot (raw DB dirs and private file trees are excluded
+    # and replaced by dumps/captures under .lp-backup) — so just sanity-check the
+    # restore produced a non-empty tree.
+    local restored_count
     restored_count=$(sudo find "$scratch$containers_dir$app_name" -type f 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
 
     sudo rm -rf "$scratch"
 
-    if [[ "$source_count" -ne "$restored_count" ]]; then
-        isError "Verify file-count mismatch for $app_name (source=$source_count restored=$restored_count)"
+    if [[ "$restored_count" -lt 1 ]]; then
+        isError "Verify FAILED for $app_name — restored snapshot is empty"
         return 1
     fi
 
-    isSuccessful "Snapshot ${snapshot_id:0:8} verified — file count matches ($source_count)"
+    isSuccessful "Snapshot ${snapshot_id:0:8} verified — restored $restored_count files"
 }