diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 87a8560..1ada9d3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ Power metrics:
 - Startup can automatically invoke the same restore path after API timeout using:
   - `startup.auto_etcd_restore_on_api_failure: true`
   - `startup.etcd_restore_control_plane: <control-plane-node>`
+- If control planes are configured with `--datastore-endpoint` (external DB), Hecate will skip etcd restore and retry control-plane startup instead.
 
 ## Disruptive startup drills
 
diff --git a/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go b/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
index 962a415..6f18e4b 100644
--- a/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
+++ b/internal/cluster/orchestrator.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
@@ -74,6 +75,8 @@ var criticalStartupWorkloads = []startupWorkload{
 	{Namespace: "gitea", Kind: "deployment", Name: "gitea"},
 }
 
+var ErrEtcdRestoreNotApplicable = errors.New("etcd restore not applicable")
+
 func New(cfg config.Config, runner *execx.Runner, store *state.Store, logger *log.Logger) *Orchestrator {
 	return &Orchestrator{cfg: cfg, runner: runner, store: store, log: logger}
 }
@@ -135,7 +138,13 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) Startup(ctx context.Context, opts StartupOptions) (err er
 		}
 		o.log.Printf("warning: initial API wait failed (%v); attempting automatic etcd restore on %s", err, cp)
 		if restoreErr := o.EtcdRestore(ctx, EtcdRestoreOptions{ControlPlane: cp}); restoreErr != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("kubernetes API did not become reachable and automatic etcd restore failed: %w", restoreErr)
+			if errors.Is(restoreErr, ErrEtcdRestoreNotApplicable) {
+				o.log.Printf("warning: automatic etcd restore skipped: %v", restoreErr)
+				o.log.Printf("warning: retrying control-plane start because datastore recovery path is external")
+				o.startControlPlanes(ctx, o.cfg.ControlPlanes)
+			} else {
+				return fmt.Errorf("kubernetes API did not become reachable and automatic etcd restore failed: %w", restoreErr)
+			}
 		}
 		if err := o.waitForAPI(ctx, apiAttempts, apiPoll); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("kubernetes API did not become reachable after automatic etcd restore: %w", err)
@@ -239,6 +248,13 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) EtcdRestore(ctx context.Context, opts EtcdRestoreOptions)
 	if !o.sshManaged(controlPlane) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot restore etcd on %s: node not in ssh_managed_nodes", controlPlane)
 	}
+	externalDatastore, err := o.controlPlaneUsesExternalDatastore(ctx, controlPlane)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if externalDatastore {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%w: %s uses --datastore-endpoint", ErrEtcdRestoreNotApplicable, controlPlane)
+	}
 
 	snapshotPath := strings.TrimSpace(opts.SnapshotPath)
 	if snapshotPath == "" {
@@ -831,6 +847,14 @@ func (o *Orchestrator) latestEtcdSnapshotPath(ctx context.Context, node string)
 	return snapshot, nil
 }
 
+func (o *Orchestrator) controlPlaneUsesExternalDatastore(ctx context.Context, node string) (bool, error) {
+	out, err := o.ssh(ctx, node, "sudo systemctl cat k3s")
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("inspect k3s service on %s for datastore mode: %w", node, err)
+	}
+	return strings.Contains(out, "--datastore-endpoint="), nil
+}
+
 func (o *Orchestrator) waitForAPI(ctx context.Context, attempts int, sleep time.Duration) error {
 	if o.runner.DryRun {
 		return nil