diff --git a/garak/probes/topic.py b/garak/probes/topic.py
index 04efc4895..5aab0c39a 100644
--- a/garak/probes/topic.py
+++ b/garak/probes/topic.py
@@ -109,7 +109,9 @@ def __init__(self, config_root=_config):
         self.w = None
         try:
             self.w = wn.Wordnet(self.lexicon)
-        except sqlite3.OperationalError:
+        except (sqlite3.OperationalError, wn.Error):
+            # sqlite3.OperationalError: the wordnet database has not been created yet
+            # wn.Error: the database exists but the requested lexicon is not installed
             logging.debug("Downloading wordnet lexicon: %s", self.lexicon)
             download_tempfile_path = wn.download(self.lexicon)
             self.w = wn.Wordnet(self.lexicon)
diff --git a/tests/probes/test_probes_topic.py b/tests/probes/test_probes_topic.py
index 2d570c97b..b2ad86211 100644
--- a/tests/probes/test_probes_topic.py
+++ b/tests/probes/test_probes_topic.py
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2024 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+import pathlib
 import pytest
+import sqlite3
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
 import wn
 
 import garak._plugins
@@ -71,3 +75,42 @@ def test_topic_wordnet_blocklist_get_initial_nodes(sysnet):
         wn.synset("oewn-00231342-n"),
         wn.synset("oewn-00232028-n"),
     ]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "first_call_error",
+    [
+        sqlite3.OperationalError("database not initialised"),
+        wn.Error("requested lexicon is not installed"),
+    ],
+    ids=["sqlite_missing_database", "wn_missing_lexicon"],
+)
+def test_topic_wordnet_downloads_missing_lexicon(first_call_error):
+    # when the lexicon cannot be opened the probe should download it and retry,
+    # rather than letting the underlying error propagate and fail to load.
+    # The recovery path keys off the exception type (sqlite3.OperationalError for
+    # a missing database, wn.Error for a missing lexicon, see
+    # https://github.com/NVIDIA/garak/issues/1230), so the message text here is
+    # only illustrative and does not need to track wn's exact wording.
+    loaded_wordnet = MagicMock(name="wn.Wordnet")
+    download_path = MagicMock(name="download_tempfile_path")
+
+    with (
+        patch.object(
+            wn, "Wordnet", side_effect=[first_call_error, loaded_wordnet]
+        ) as mock_wordnet,
+        patch.object(wn, "download", return_value=download_path) as mock_download,
+        patch.object(pathlib.Path, "rmdir"),
+    ):
+        probe = garak._plugins.load_plugin("probes.topic.WordnetBlockedWords")
+
+    assert (
+        mock_download.call_count == 1
+    ), "a missing lexicon should trigger exactly one download"
+    assert (
+        mock_wordnet.call_count == 2
+    ), "the lexicon should be reloaded after downloading it"
+    assert (
+        probe.w is loaded_wordnet
+    ), "the probe should keep the reloaded wordnet after recovery"
+    download_path.unlink.assert_called_once()