diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dd37168..59f612b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -54,11 +54,11 @@ Skills compose by adoption-list order (`10123`) and trigger tags carry runtime e
 
 Didactyl will support local inference, which is very privacy preserving. Remote inference does however have it's advantages, and in those cases Didactyl supports using Bitcoin Lightning and eCash inference providers.
 
-## Current Status — v0.2.32
+## Current Status — v0.2.33
 
 **Active build — this project is barely working. Experiment at your own risk.**
 
-> Last release update: v0.2.32 — Made user-settings recall resilient and backfill missing didactyl admin_pubkey/dm_protocol on republish
+> Last release update: v0.2.33 — Fix user-settings backfill: republish on normal restart when admin_pubkey/dm_protocol missing
 
 - Connects to configured relays with auto-reconnect and relay state transition logging
 - Publishes configured startup events per relay as each relay becomes connected
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 65010f1..60aad0c 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -1297,7 +1297,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
         DEBUG_INFO("[didactyl] startup phase: existing-agent mode; skipping startup-event reconcile on subsequent run");
     }
 
-    if (bootstrap_mode || first_run) {
+    if (bootstrap_mode || first_run || user_settings_backfill_needed) {
         if (persist_runtime_config_to_nostr(&cfg,
                                             (llm_recalled_from_nostr && !user_settings_backfill_needed) ? 0 : 1) != 0) {
             DEBUG_WARN("[didactyl] startup phase: failed to persist encrypted runtime config to Nostr");
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index df0bae8..c3219b9 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 // Using DIDACTYL_ prefix to avoid conflicts with nostr_core_lib VERSION macros
 #define DIDACTYL_VERSION_MAJOR 0
 #define DIDACTYL_VERSION_MINOR 2
-#define DIDACTYL_VERSION_PATCH 32
-#define DIDACTYL_VERSION "v0.2.32"
+#define DIDACTYL_VERSION_PATCH 33
+#define DIDACTYL_VERSION "v0.2.33"
 
 // Agent metadata
 #define DIDACTYL_NAME "Didactyl"