diff --git a/crates/omnigraph/src/db/omnigraph.rs b/crates/omnigraph/src/db/omnigraph.rs
index f2082c4..50d4963 100644
--- a/crates/omnigraph/src/db/omnigraph.rs
+++ b/crates/omnigraph/src/db/omnigraph.rs
@@ -106,6 +106,28 @@ pub struct Omnigraph {
     /// ensure_indices, delete_where) and from future MR-870 recovery
     /// reconciler. PR 1b adds the field; callers acquire in commits 4+.
     write_queue: Arc<crate::db::write_queue::WriteQueueManager>,
+    /// Process-wide mutex held across the swap → operate → restore window
+    /// in `branch_merge_impl`. Two concurrent merges with distinct targets
+    /// would otherwise interleave their three separate
+    /// `coordinator.write().await` acquisitions, leaving each merge's
+    /// inner body running against the other's swapped coord. Pinned by
+    /// `concurrent_branch_merges_distinct_targets_do_not_swap_into_each_other`
+    /// in `crates/omnigraph-server/tests/server.rs`.
+    ///
+    /// Cost: serializes ALL concurrent branch merges process-wide.
+    /// Acceptable because branch merges are heavy (table rewrites, index
+    /// rebuilds), per-(table, branch) queues inside `commit_all` already
+    /// serialize the data path, and merges are rare relative to /change
+    /// or /ingest. A finer-grained per-target-branch mutex is a follow-up
+    /// if telemetry shows merge concurrency matters.
+    ///
+    /// The deeper fix — refactor `branch_merge_on_current_target` to take
+    /// an explicit target coord parameter so `self.coordinator` is never
+    /// used as scratch space — is the round-1 shape applied to
+    /// `branch_create_from_impl`. Deferred because it requires unwinding
+    /// every `self.snapshot()` and `self.ensure_commit_graph_initialized()`
+    /// call inside the merge body.
+    merge_exclusive: Arc<tokio::sync::Mutex<()>>,
 }
 
 /// Whether [`Omnigraph::open`] runs the open-time recovery sweep.
@@ -161,6 +183,7 @@ impl Omnigraph {
             catalog: Arc::new(ArcSwap::from_pointee(catalog)),
             schema_source: Arc::new(ArcSwap::from_pointee(schema_source.to_string())),
             write_queue: Arc::new(crate::db::write_queue::WriteQueueManager::new()),
+            merge_exclusive: Arc::new(tokio::sync::Mutex::new(())),
         })
     }
 
@@ -247,6 +270,7 @@ impl Omnigraph {
             catalog: Arc::new(ArcSwap::from_pointee(catalog)),
             schema_source: Arc::new(ArcSwap::from_pointee(schema_source)),
             write_queue: Arc::new(crate::db::write_queue::WriteQueueManager::new()),
+            merge_exclusive: Arc::new(tokio::sync::Mutex::new(())),
         })
     }
 
@@ -333,6 +357,15 @@ impl Omnigraph {
         Arc::clone(&self.write_queue)
     }
 
+    /// Engine-internal access to the merge-exclusive mutex. Held across
+    /// the swap → operate → restore window in `branch_merge_impl` so
+    /// concurrent merges with distinct targets don't corrupt
+    /// `self.coordinator` mid-operation. See the field doc on
+    /// `Omnigraph::merge_exclusive` for the full design rationale.
+    pub(crate) fn merge_exclusive(&self) -> Arc<tokio::sync::Mutex<()>> {
+        Arc::clone(&self.merge_exclusive)
+    }
+
     /// Engine-level access to the repo's normalized root URI. Used by
     /// the recovery sidecar protocol to compute `__recovery/` paths.
     pub(crate) fn root_uri(&self) -> &str {
diff --git a/crates/omnigraph/src/exec/merge.rs b/crates/omnigraph/src/exec/merge.rs
index ec02e83..e81fb0b 100644
--- a/crates/omnigraph/src/exec/merge.rs
+++ b/crates/omnigraph/src/exec/merge.rs
@@ -1083,6 +1083,16 @@ impl Omnigraph {
             ))
             .await?
             .snapshot;
+        // Hold the merge-exclusive mutex across the full swap → operate
+        // → restore window. Two concurrent branch_merge calls would
+        // otherwise interleave their three separate `coordinator.write()`
+        // acquisitions, leaving each merge's body running against the
+        // other's swapped coord. Pinned by
+        // `concurrent_branch_merges_distinct_targets_do_not_swap_into_each_other`
+        // in `crates/omnigraph-server/tests/server.rs`.
+        let merge_exclusive = self.merge_exclusive();
+        let _merge_guard = merge_exclusive.lock().await;
+
         let previous_branch = self.active_branch().await;
         let previous = self
             .swap_coordinator_for_branch(target_branch.as_deref())