diff --git a/tests/fuzz/crash-fuzz.js b/tests/fuzz/crash-fuzz.js
index 5b1884b..7c27d68 100644
--- a/tests/fuzz/crash-fuzz.js
+++ b/tests/fuzz/crash-fuzz.js
@@ -498,7 +498,16 @@ async function verify(client, base, r, cycleNo) {
   const coll = db.collection('c');
   const dbDocs = await coll.find({}, { sort: { _id: 1 } }).toArray();
   const dbMap = new Map(dbDocs.map((d) => [d._id, d]));
-  const dbIndexes = await coll.indexes();
+  // `listIndexes` on a namespace that does not exist is NamespaceNotFound, which
+  // is what real MongoDB answers too -- and it is the *expected* state whenever
+  // the surviving prefix contains no write that created the collection (a kill
+  // during the first in-flight command on a fresh log). Treating it as a harness
+  // error made any seed whose first cycle crashed at prefix 0 abort the run
+  // instead of verifying it, which is exactly the case worth verifying.
+  const dbIndexes = await coll.indexes().catch((e) => {
+    if (e.code === 26 || /ns not found|NamespaceNotFound/i.test(e.message)) return [];
+    throw e;
+  });
   const indexExists = dbIndexes.some((i) => i.name === 'k_1');
   if (VERBOSE) {
     console.log(`    [verify] indexes=${JSON.stringify(dbIndexes.map((i) => i.name))} baseIdx=${base.indexCreated} idxPos=${r.idxPos}`);