diff --git a/bin/gstack-brain-cache b/bin/gstack-brain-cache
index 8f313a5193..bfbd602996 100755
--- a/bin/gstack-brain-cache
+++ b/bin/gstack-brain-cache
@@ -83,7 +83,13 @@ function loadMeta(scope: 'cross-project' | 'per-project', projectSlug: string |
     return { schema_version: GSTACK_SCHEMA_PACK_VERSION, endpoint_hash: detectEndpointHash(), last_refresh: {}, last_attempt: {} };
   }
   try {
-    return JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, 'utf-8')) as CacheMeta;
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, 'utf-8')) as CacheMeta;
+    // A valid-but-partial _meta.json (missing maps) must be normalized, not
+    // returned verbatim — downstream consumers (isStale/cmdGet, cmdInvalidate,
+    // refreshEntity) dereference these maps and would otherwise throw.
+    parsed.last_refresh = parsed.last_refresh || {};
+    parsed.last_attempt = parsed.last_attempt || {};
+    return parsed;
   } catch {
     // Corrupt _meta — start fresh (entries will refresh on next access).
     return { schema_version: GSTACK_SCHEMA_PACK_VERSION, endpoint_hash: detectEndpointHash(), last_refresh: {}, last_attempt: {} };
diff --git a/test/brain-cache-roundtrip.test.ts b/test/brain-cache-roundtrip.test.ts
index d476f8b766..c95bb9c204 100644
--- a/test/brain-cache-roundtrip.test.ts
+++ b/test/brain-cache-roundtrip.test.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,41 @@ describe('brain-cache meta lifecycle', () => {
     expect(meta.last_refresh.product).toBeUndefined();
     expect(existsSync(join(TMP_HOME, 'projects', 'helsinki', 'brain-cache', '_meta.json'))).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  // A _meta.json can be valid JSON yet still lack the last_refresh/last_attempt
+  // maps (external tooling, a hand-edit, or any partial-but-valid persisted
+  // state). loadMeta already starts fresh on a missing/corrupt file, so a
+  // partial file must be normalized too — otherwise consumers that dereference
+  // these maps crash with a TypeError instead of degrading gracefully.
+  test('cmdGet does not crash when _meta.json lacks last_refresh', async () => {
+    const mod = await importCache();
+    const cacheDir = join(TMP_HOME, 'projects', 'helsinki', 'brain-cache');
+    mkdirSync(cacheDir, { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(cacheDir, 'product.md'), '# Product: helsinki\n');
+    // Matching schema + endpoint (so the schema/endpoint rebuild path is not
+    // taken), but no last_refresh key.
+    writeFileSync(join(cacheDir, '_meta.json'), JSON.stringify({
+      schema_version: '1.0.0',
+      endpoint_hash: mod.detectEndpointHash(),
+    }));
+    let result: ReturnType<typeof mod.cmdGet> | undefined;
+    expect(() => { result = mod.cmdGet('product', 'helsinki'); }).not.toThrow();
+    // Treated as never-refreshed: falls through to cold-refresh, which fails
+    // (brain unreachable) and degrades to stale-fallback since the file exists.
+    expect(['stale-fallback', 'cold-refreshed', 'missing']).toContain(result!.state);
+  });
+
+  test('cmdInvalidate is a safe no-op when _meta.json lacks last_refresh', async () => {
+    const mod = await importCache();
+    const cacheDir = join(TMP_HOME, 'projects', 'helsinki', 'brain-cache');
+    mkdirSync(cacheDir, { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(cacheDir, '_meta.json'), JSON.stringify({
+      schema_version: '1.0.0',
+      endpoint_hash: mod.detectEndpointHash(),
+    }));
+    expect(() => mod.cmdInvalidate('product', 'helsinki')).not.toThrow();
+    expect(mod.cmdMeta('helsinki').last_refresh.product).toBeUndefined();
+  });
 });
 
 describe('brain-cache endpoint detection', () => {