diff --git a/src/Cli/InitCommand.php b/src/Cli/InitCommand.php
index 8de2642d..e733a2de 100644
--- a/src/Cli/InitCommand.php
+++ b/src/Cli/InitCommand.php
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 
 namespace Boundwize\StructArmed\Cli;
 
+use Boundwize\StructArmed\Config\ConfigLoader;
+use RuntimeException;
+
+use function basename;
 use function count;
-use function file_exists;
 use function file_put_contents;
 use function sprintf;
 use function str_starts_with;
@@ -53,14 +56,17 @@ public function run(array $arguments, string $basePath): int
             return 1;
         }
 
-        $target = $basePath . '/structarmed.php';
-
-        if (file_exists($target)) {
-            echo "structarmed.php already exists.\n";
+        // Any discoverable config stops init: a new structarmed.php would shadow
+        // an existing structarmed.dist.php, since discovery prefers it.
+        try {
+            echo sprintf("%s already exists.\n", basename(ConfigLoader::discover($basePath)));
 
             return 0;
+        } catch (RuntimeException) {
         }
 
+        $target = $basePath . '/structarmed.php';
+
         file_put_contents($target, <<<'PHP'
 <?php
 
diff --git a/tests/Cli/InitCommandTest.php b/tests/Cli/InitCommandTest.php
index 17ff6180..54209aaa 100644
--- a/tests/Cli/InitCommandTest.php
+++ b/tests/Cli/InitCommandTest.php
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 use function exec;
 use function file_exists;
 use function file_get_contents;
+use function file_put_contents;
 use function getcwd;
 use function implode;
 use function is_dir;
@@ -149,6 +150,25 @@ public function testInitRejectsInvalidPreset(): void
         }
     }
 
+    public function testInitKeepsExistingDistConfig(): void
+    {
+        $basePath = $this->createTempDirectory();
+        $distFile = $basePath . '/structarmed.dist.php';
+
+        file_put_contents($distFile, '<?php');
+
+        try {
+            [$exitCode, $output] = $this->runInit($basePath, []);
+
+            $this->assertSame(0, $exitCode, $output);
+            $this->assertStringContainsString('structarmed.dist.php already exists.', $output);
+            $this->assertFileDoesNotExist($basePath . '/structarmed.php');
+        } finally {
+            unlink($distFile);
+            $this->removeTempDirectory($basePath);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * @param list<string> $arguments
      * @return array{int, string}