diff --git a/src/slot_recovery.rs b/src/slot_recovery.rs
index e823784..cac9d61 100644
--- a/src/slot_recovery.rs
+++ b/src/slot_recovery.rs
@@ -27,11 +27,14 @@ use crate::types::SlotName;
 /// Checks if an error indicates a replication slot has been invalidated.
 ///
 /// Postgres returns error code 55000 (OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE) with the message
-/// "can no longer get changes from replication slot" when a slot is invalidated.
+/// "can no longer get changes from replication slot" or
+/// "cannot read from logical replication slot" when a slot is invalidated.
 #[must_use]
 pub fn is_slot_invalidation_error(error: &EtlError) -> bool {
     let msg = error.to_string().to_lowercase();
     msg.contains("can no longer get changes from replication slot")
+        || msg.contains("cannot read from logical replication slot")
+        || msg.contains("has been invalidated because it exceeded the maximum reserved size")
 }
 
 /// Handles recovery from an invalidated replication slot.
@@ -180,6 +183,24 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(is_slot_invalidation_error(&error));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_is_slot_invalidation_error_logical_slot_read_message() {
+        let error = etl::etl_error!(
+            etl::error::ErrorKind::InvalidState,
+            "db error: ERROR: cannot read from logical replication slot \"test_slot\""
+        );
+        assert!(is_slot_invalidation_error(&error));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_is_slot_invalidation_error_maximum_reserved_size_message() {
+        let error = etl::etl_error!(
+            etl::error::ErrorKind::InvalidState,
+            "DETAIL: This slot has been invalidated because it exceeded the maximum reserved size"
+        );
+        assert!(is_slot_invalidation_error(&error));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_is_slot_invalidation_error_no_match() {
         let error = etl::etl_error!(etl::error::ErrorKind::InvalidState, "connection refused");
diff --git a/tests/slot_recovery_tests.rs b/tests/slot_recovery_tests.rs
index cd7806f..960e00b 100644
--- a/tests/slot_recovery_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/slot_recovery_tests.rs
@@ -12,15 +12,15 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 use etl::store::both::postgres::PostgresStore;
 use postgres_stream::migrations::migrate_etl;
 use postgres_stream::sink::memory::MemorySink;
-use postgres_stream::slot_recovery::handle_slot_recovery;
+use postgres_stream::slot_recovery::{handle_slot_recovery, is_slot_invalidation_error};
 use postgres_stream::stream::PgStream;
 use postgres_stream::test_utils::{
     TestDatabase, acquire_exclusive_test_lock, test_stream_config_with_id, unique_pipeline_id,
 };
 
-/// Test that a pipeline fails when attempting to use an invalidated slot.
+/// Test startup with an inactive, invalidated slot still triggers recovery flow.
 #[tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread")]
-async fn test_pipeline_fails_on_invalidated_slot() {
+async fn test_start_with_inactive_invalidated_slot_triggers_recovery() {
     // Acquire exclusive lock since we modify system settings
     let _lock = acquire_exclusive_test_lock().await;
 
@@ -81,6 +81,19 @@ async fn test_pipeline_fails_on_invalidated_slot() {
 
     assert!(slot_exists, "Slot should persist after graceful shutdown");
 
+    // Verify slot is inactive before invalidation and restart.
+    let slot_active: bool = sqlx::query_scalar(&format!(
+        "select active from pg_replication_slots where slot_name = '{slot_name}'"
+    ))
+    .fetch_one(&db.pool)
+    .await
+    .unwrap();
+
+    assert!(
+        !slot_active,
+        "Slot should be inactive after pipeline shutdown"
+    );
+
     // Step 4: Invalidate the slot by generating WAL
     sqlx::query("alter system set max_slot_wal_keep_size = '1MB'")
         .execute(&db.pool)
@@ -123,18 +136,22 @@ async fn test_pipeline_fails_on_invalidated_slot() {
         .unwrap();
     sqlx::query("checkpoint").execute(&db.pool).await.unwrap();
 
-    // Verify slot is now invalidated
-    let wal_status: String = sqlx::query_scalar(&format!(
-        "select wal_status from pg_replication_slots where slot_name = '{slot_name}'"
+    // Verify slot is now invalidated and still inactive
+    let slot_state: (String, bool) = sqlx::query_as(&format!(
+        "select wal_status, active from pg_replication_slots where slot_name = '{slot_name}'"
     ))
     .fetch_one(&db.pool)
     .await
     .unwrap();
 
     assert_eq!(
-        wal_status, "lost",
+        slot_state.0, "lost",
         "Slot should be invalidated (wal_status=lost)"
     );
+    assert!(
+        !slot_state.1,
+        "Slot should still be inactive when restart begins"
+    );
 
     // Verify confirmed_flush_lsn is preserved for recovery
     let confirmed_lsn: Option<String> = sqlx::query_scalar(&format!(
@@ -172,8 +189,8 @@ async fn test_pipeline_fails_on_invalidated_slot() {
         .await
         .unwrap();
 
-    // Assert the expected behavior
-    match start_result {
+    // Assert startup fails with a slot invalidation error.
+    let slot_error = match start_result {
         Ok(()) => {
             // If start succeeded, wait a bit and check if it fails during operation
             tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
@@ -190,13 +207,7 @@ async fn test_pipeline_fails_on_invalidated_slot() {
                         "Pipeline should have failed due to invalidated slot, but completed successfully"
                     );
                 }
-                Ok(Err(e)) => {
-                    let error_msg = e.to_string().to_lowercase();
-                    assert!(
-                        error_msg.contains("slot") || error_msg.contains("replication"),
-                        "Expected slot-related error, got: {e}"
-                    );
-                }
+                Ok(Err(e)) => e,
                 Err(_) => {
                     // Timeout - pipeline is still running, need to shut it down
                     let _ = shutdown_tx.shutdown();
@@ -206,17 +217,30 @@ async fn test_pipeline_fails_on_invalidated_slot() {
                 }
             }
         }
-        Err(e) => {
-            let error_msg = e.to_string().to_lowercase();
-            // This is expected - the pipeline should fail because the slot is invalidated
-            assert!(
-                error_msg.contains("slot")
-                    || error_msg.contains("replication")
-                    || error_msg.contains("can no longer"),
-                "Expected slot-related error, got: {e}"
-            );
-        }
-    }
+        Err(e) => e,
+    };
+
+    assert!(
+        is_slot_invalidation_error(&slot_error),
+        "Expected slot invalidation error, got: {slot_error}"
+    );
+
+    // Simulate the startup recovery loop trigger path from core.rs.
+    handle_slot_recovery(&db.pool, pipeline_id)
+        .await
+        .expect("Slot recovery should succeed for inactive invalidated slot");
+
+    let old_slot_dropped: bool = sqlx::query_scalar(&format!(
+        "SELECT NOT EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM pg_replication_slots WHERE slot_name = '{slot_name}')"
+    ))
+    .fetch_one(&db.pool)
+    .await
+    .unwrap();
+
+    assert!(
+        old_slot_dropped,
+        "Recovery should drop invalidated inactive slot"
+    );
 }
 
 /// Test that handle_slot_recovery sets up failover checkpoint and allows pipeline restart.