diff --git a/packages/client/ui-sidebar-documentpreview/src/client/TextPreview.tsx b/packages/client/ui-sidebar-documentpreview/src/client/TextPreview.tsx
index 9d726e21c7..900d891858 100644
--- a/packages/client/ui-sidebar-documentpreview/src/client/TextPreview.tsx
+++ b/packages/client/ui-sidebar-documentpreview/src/client/TextPreview.tsx
@@ -186,10 +186,12 @@ export function TextPreview({
   }
   return (
     <div className={css.preview} data-textpreview-state="text" data-textpreview-url={tab.contentId} data-document-preview={selected.id}>
-      {meta.failure !== undefined
+      {meta.failure !== undefined && hasContent
         ? (
           // The file's metadata failed — gone, or its workspace unknown — which
           // outranks a pending change; the pages already read stay under it.
+          // With nothing read the body's own failure already says it, so the
+          // bar would only repeat the same line.
           <p className={css.changed} data-textpreview-meta-failed={meta.failure.code}>
             <span>{failureLine(t, meta.failure)}</span>
             <button
@@ -301,6 +303,8 @@ export function TextPreview({
             </p>
           )
           : (
+            // With no content, retry the selected renderer's read; metadata
+            // observation remains owned by the resource provider.
             <div className={css.empty} data-textpreview-failed={current.failure.code}>
               <FileTypeIcon kind={classifyFileType(name)} size={36} className={css.emptyIcon} />
               <p className={css.emptyLine}>{failureLine(t, current.failure)}</p>
@@ -308,7 +312,7 @@ export function TextPreview({
                 type="button"
                 className={css.retry}
                 data-textpreview-retry
-                onClick={loadNext}
+                onClick={reload}
               >
                 <IconRefreshOutline16 size={14} />
                 {t('retry')}
diff --git a/packages/client/ui-sidebar-documentpreview/tests/text-preview.client.spec.tsx b/packages/client/ui-sidebar-documentpreview/tests/text-preview.client.spec.tsx
index d58901ce62..94c3242601 100644
--- a/packages/client/ui-sidebar-documentpreview/tests/text-preview.client.spec.tsx
+++ b/packages/client/ui-sidebar-documentpreview/tests/text-preview.client.spec.tsx
@@ -396,6 +396,27 @@ describe('TextPreview — the file\'s metadata', () => {
     expect(view.container.querySelector('[data-textpreview-changed]')).toBeNull()
   })
 
+  it('says a metadata-and-read failure once and retries the content read', async () => {
+    const h = harness({ 1: failure('workspace-file/outside-workspace', { path: PATH }) })
+    h.setFailure(new RemoteError('workspace-file/outside-workspace', 'outside', { path: PATH }))
+    const view = render(<TextPreview {...h.props()} />)
+    await settle()
+    // With nothing read the body's failure is the whole story: a metadata bar
+    // above it would repeat the same line.
+    expect(view.container.querySelector('[data-textpreview-meta-failed]')).toBeNull()
+    expect(view.container.querySelector('[data-textpreview-failed]')?.getAttribute('data-textpreview-failed'))
+      .toBe('workspace-file/outside-workspace')
+    h.script(1, page(1, ['a'], true))
+    click(view.container, '[data-textpreview-retry]')
+    await settle()
+    expect(h.read).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+    expect(lines(view.container)).toEqual(['a\n'])
+    h.setFailure(undefined)
+    view.rerender(<TextPreview {...h.props()} />)
+    expect(view.container.querySelector('[data-textpreview-meta-failed]')).toBeNull()
+    expect(view.container.querySelector('[data-textpreview-failed]')).toBeNull()
+  })
+
   it('draws a page holding one empty line as one line, and nothing for a page past the end', async () => {
     const h = harness({ 1: page(1, [''], false), 2: page(2, [], true) })
     const view = render(<TextPreview {...h.props()} />)