diff --git a/docs/design/2026_10_16_implemented_production_commonization.md b/docs/design/2026_10_16_implemented_production_commonization.md
index 61986c9c0..e2edc3793 100644
--- a/docs/design/2026_10_16_implemented_production_commonization.md
+++ b/docs/design/2026_10_16_implemented_production_commonization.md
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ The 2026-10-16 code audit (see `2026_10_16_proposed_test_suite_cleanup.md` for t
 
 **Design.**
 - `internal/backup` must not depend on `store`, `adapter`, `kv`, `distribution`, `internal/encryption` or Pebble. `proto` and the leaf key packages (`internal/s3keys`) remain allowed.
+  - Exception: Pebble's file-format reader `github.com/cockroachdb/pebble/v2/sstable`. `snapshot_sst.go` (PR #1276, merged independently of this change) reads the SST files of an `EKVSSTI1` snapshot ingest bundle with it; the snapshot decoder design names it as the one storage library the package links. The boundary test allows that exact package path; the Pebble DB and every other Pebble package stay forbidden.
   - A test in `internal/backup` walks the package's first-party import closure with `go/build` and fails on any forbidden package.
   - `redis_stream.go` gets a local copy of `store.StreamMetaTrimBinarySize`, pinned against `store` by a cross-check in `internal/backup`'s own tests (the existing `snapshot_reader_live_test.go` pattern).
 - Adapter-side cross-check tests (package `adapter`, which already imports `internal/backup`) build the same logical object with the live adapter builders and with the backup encoder. They decode the backup output with `backup.DecodeLiveEntries` and assert byte-identical keys and values for:
@@ -184,7 +185,7 @@ All five milestones shipped in PR #1277. Each defect fix landed as a failing-tes
   - the FIFO dedup send timestamp sharing the record's millisecond;
   - no-TTL HLLs restoring as the legacy raw payload.
 - Mutation checks on both the backup copy and the live counterpart fail every family's test.
-- `elastickv-backup`, `elastickv-snapshot-decode`, `elastickv-snapshot-encode` and `elastickv-snapshot-archive` no longer link `store`, Pebble or `internal/encryption`. `elastickv-snapshot-prepare-restore` still does, through `internal/raftengine/etcd`, which the restore path needs.
+- `elastickv-backup`, `elastickv-snapshot-decode`, `elastickv-snapshot-encode` and `elastickv-snapshot-archive` no longer link `store`, the Pebble DB or `internal/encryption` (they link Pebble's `sstable` reader for SST ingest bundles). `elastickv-snapshot-prepare-restore` still does, through `internal/raftengine/etcd`, which the restore path needs.
 
 **M5.**
 - The autosplit splitter converts SplitRange children with `distribution.RouteDescriptorFromProto`, which rejects a nil child, an unspecified state or invalid bounds. Such a response now fails the split call instead of becoming a write-fenced placeholder.
@@ -196,5 +197,5 @@ All five milestones shipped in PR #1277. Each defect fix landed as a failing-tes
 - Coordinator wrappers share one forwarding base, and a capability-parity test is the guard against future drift (M1).
 - Admin writes and sensitive reads require both the JWT role and the live role (M2).
 - Admin S3 uploads go through the same PUT pipeline as SigV4 uploads, including admission control and blob offload; admin keeps its own size cap (M3).
-- `internal/backup`'s import boundary is enforced by a test, and every backup mirror of an adapter encoder has an adapter-side byte-for-byte cross-check (M4).
+- `internal/backup`'s import boundary is enforced by a test, which allows only Pebble's `sstable` reader for SST ingest bundles, and every backup mirror of an adapter encoder has an adapter-side byte-for-byte cross-check (M4).
 - Shared server wiring lives in `internal/serverwiring`; the demo stays a separate binary (M5).
diff --git a/internal/backup/import_boundary_test.go b/internal/backup/import_boundary_test.go
index 06e3f41c6..b7ce0a5ff 100644
--- a/internal/backup/import_boundary_test.go
+++ b/internal/backup/import_boundary_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"go/build"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
@@ -24,6 +25,15 @@ var backupForbiddenDeps = []string{
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/pebble",
 }
 
+// backupAllowedDeps are exact package paths exempt from
+// backupForbiddenDeps. Snapshot SST ingest bundles (EKVSSTI1) carry
+// Pebble sstable files, so snapshot_sst.go reads them with Pebble's
+// file-format reader; the live Pebble DB stays forbidden
+// (docs/design/2026_04_29_implemented_snapshot_logical_decoder.md).
+var backupAllowedDeps = []string{
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/pebble/v2/sstable",
+}
+
 // TestBackupLinksNoLiveClusterCode walks the non-test import closure of
 // internal/backup through first-party packages and fails on any
 // forbidden package, naming the import chain that reaches it.
@@ -59,6 +69,9 @@ func TestBackupLinksNoLiveClusterCode(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func forbiddenBackupDep(pkgPath string) string {
+	if slices.Contains(backupAllowedDeps, pkgPath) {
+		return ""
+	}
 	for _, forbidden := range backupForbiddenDeps {
 		if pkgPath == forbidden || strings.HasPrefix(pkgPath, forbidden+"/") {
 			return forbidden