diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4459b30..557bf31 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ own.
 - **A page change that cannot reach PasarGuard or Rebecca changes nothing.**
   Regenerating the page (a rebrand, a design switch, an update) replaced
   `sub.html` before copying it into the panel; if that copy failed, `sub.html`
-  was left newer than the page the panel serves. It is now put back.
+  was left newer than the page the panel serves. It is now put back, and on a
+  first activation, where there was no `sub.html` before, none is left behind.
 - **A valid page is never refused under load.** The structural check before
   every install, update and design switch read the page through
   `head | grep -q`. On a busy server `grep -q` could stop reading before `head`
@@ -125,6 +126,12 @@ own.
   minimum-supported and detected versions.
 - `row-template uninstall` returns each panel to the page it had before
   Row-Template, and leaves a page you chose afterwards alone.
+- **A scripted fresh install on a server with more than one supported panel
+  needs `RT_PANEL`.** 1.2 installed for 3X-UI there because it was the only
+  panel it supported; 1.3.0 does not guess which panel you meant, and stops
+  with a message naming `RT_PANEL=3xui|pasarguard|rebecca`. An interactive
+  install asks instead. Re-running the installer on an existing install, and
+  `row-template update`, keep the install's own panel and are unaffected.
 - The `on_hold` state on PasarGuard and Rebecca is shown as active: with its
   "starts on first connection" duration on PasarGuard, and with an unknown
   expiry on Rebecca, which does not give the page that duration
diff --git a/installer/lib/row-template.sh b/installer/lib/row-template.sh
index dfed5a9..f8e2527 100644
--- a/installer/lib/row-template.sh
+++ b/installer/lib/row-template.sh
@@ -2201,8 +2201,9 @@ rt_activate() {
   # fails puts the previous sub.html back before returning: the contract above
   # holds for every panel, and a caller that reports "nothing was changed" is
   # telling the truth.
-  local staged dir panel prev="" rc=0
+  local staged dir panel prev="" had_live=0 rc=0
   dir="$(dirname "$RT_LIVE")"
+  [ -f "$RT_LIVE" ] && had_live=1
   panel="$(rt_panel_current)"
   if [ "$panel" != "3xui" ]; then
     rt_installer_complete || { rt_err "the installer's panel components are missing; run 'row-template update'."; return 1; }
@@ -2223,6 +2224,8 @@ rt_activate() {
         if [ -n "$prev" ]; then
           rt_atomic_install "$prev" "$RT_LIVE" 644 \
             || rt_err "could not put the previous page back at $RT_LIVE."
+        elif [ "$had_live" -eq 0 ]; then
+          rm -f -- "$RT_LIVE"   # there was none before: leave none behind
         fi
         rm -f "$prev"
         rt_err "could not update the page in $(rt_panel_label "$panel")'s template directory."
diff --git a/tests/installer-panel-rebecca.test.mjs b/tests/installer-panel-rebecca.test.mjs
index df32888..65deb52 100644
--- a/tests/installer-panel-rebecca.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/installer-panel-rebecca.test.mjs
@@ -407,6 +407,17 @@ test('a failed panel refresh leaves sub.html and the placed page exactly as they
     assert.match(r.out, /^0$/m, 'no temporary copy is left behind');
     assert.ok(readFileSync(placed).equals(beforePlaced), 'the page Rebecca serves never changed');
   });
+  /* ...and when there was no sub.html before, none is left behind (raised in
+     the second review of PR #6). */
+  withHost({}, ({ run }) => {
+    const r = run([SETUP,
+      'rm -f "$RT_LIVE"',
+      'rt_panel_refresh_page() { return 1; }',
+      'rc=0; rt_activate 2>/dev/null || rc=$?; echo "rc=$rc"',
+      '[ -e "$RT_LIVE" ] && echo "live-left-behind" || echo "live-absent"']);
+    assert.match(r.out, /rc=1/);
+    assert.match(r.out, /live-absent/, 'a failed first activation leaves no sub.html');
+  });
 });
 
 /* --- manual activation --------------------------------------------------------- */