diff --git a/src/controller/myapp.c b/src/controller/myapp.c
index 20370cb..b58e3f1 100644
--- a/src/controller/myapp.c
+++ b/src/controller/myapp.c
@@ -158,12 +158,19 @@ int myapp_run(myconf_t* myconf)
                 c.ha.defer_config_fetch = false;
             }
 
-            /* Standby: fetch config from primary before Phase 2 */
-            rc = fetch_config_from_primary(&c);
-            if (rc != 0) {
-                cluster_fini(&c);
-                myconf_fini(myconf);
-                return rc;
+            /* Standby: fetch config from primary before Phase 2.
+             * Skip if this node already has a valid local config (ground-truth
+             * nodes should not fetch from primary — they ARE the ground truth). */
+            if (myconf->config_version_tag == 0) {
+                rc = fetch_config_from_primary(&c);
+                if (rc != 0) {
+                    cluster_fini(&c);
+                    myconf_fini(myconf);
+                    return rc;
+                }
+            } else {
+                INFO("Standby has local config (tag=%016llx) — skipping fetch from primary",
+                     (unsigned long long)myconf->config_version_tag);
             }
             /* Role stays CTRL_STANDBY — already set by ha_init(). */
         }