diff --git a/common/nfs-services-server.nix b/common/nfs-services-server.nix
index 8523caa..8004b2b 100644
--- a/common/nfs-services-server.nix
+++ b/common/nfs-services-server.nix
@@ -124,20 +124,27 @@ in
             # Find previous snapshot on sender
             PREV_LOCAL=$(ls -t /persist/services@* 2>/dev/null | grep -v "^$SNAPSHOT_PATH$" | head -1 || true)
 
-            # Check what snapshots exist on the receiver
-            REMOTE_SNAPSHOTS=$(ssh -i "$SSH_KEY" -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new root@${standby} \
-              "ls -t /persist/services-standby/services@* 2>/dev/null || true")
+            # Try incremental send if we have a parent, fall back to full send if parent missing on receiver
+            if [ -n "$PREV_LOCAL" ]; then
+              echo "Attempting incremental send from $(basename $PREV_LOCAL) to ${standby}"
 
-            # Decide: incremental or full send
-            if [ -n "$PREV_LOCAL" ] && echo "$REMOTE_SNAPSHOTS" | grep -q "$(basename "$PREV_LOCAL")"; then
-              # Receiver has the parent snapshot, do incremental
-              echo "Incremental send from $(basename $PREV_LOCAL) to ${standby}"
-              btrfs send -p "$PREV_LOCAL" "$SNAPSHOT_PATH" | \
-                ssh -i "$SSH_KEY" -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new root@${standby} \
-                "btrfs receive /persist/services-standby"
+              # Capture both stdout and stderr to check for parent missing error
+              if OUTPUT=$(btrfs send -p "$PREV_LOCAL" "$SNAPSHOT_PATH" 2>&1 | \
+                         ssh -i "$SSH_KEY" -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new root@${standby} \
+                         "btrfs receive /persist/services-standby" 2>&1); then
+                echo "Incremental send completed successfully"
+              elif echo "$OUTPUT" | grep -q "cannot find parent subvolume"; then
+                echo "Parent snapshot not found on receiver, falling back to full send"
+                btrfs send "$SNAPSHOT_PATH" | \
+                  ssh -i "$SSH_KEY" -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new root@${standby} \
+                  "btrfs receive /persist/services-standby"
+              else
+                echo "ERROR: Incremental send failed: $OUTPUT"
+                exit 1
+              fi
             else
-              # Receiver doesn't have parent (new standby or missing snapshot), do full send
-              echo "Full send to ${standby} (new standby or parent snapshot not found on receiver)"
+              # First snapshot, do full send
+              echo "Full send to ${standby} (first snapshot)"
               btrfs send "$SNAPSHOT_PATH" | \
                 ssh -i "$SSH_KEY" -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new root@${standby} \
                 "btrfs receive /persist/services-standby"