diff --git a/pkg/metricstore/checkpoint.go b/pkg/metricstore/checkpoint.go
index 2dcb5733..d408ce72 100644
--- a/pkg/metricstore/checkpoint.go
+++ b/pkg/metricstore/checkpoint.go
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ func Checkpointing(wg *sync.WaitGroup, ctx context.Context) {
 				cclog.Infof("[METRICSTORE]> start checkpointing (starting at %s)...", from.Format(time.RFC3339))
 
 				if Keys.Checkpoints.FileFormat == "wal" {
+					// Pause WAL writes: the binary snapshot captures all in-memory
+					// data, so WAL records written during checkpoint are redundant
+					// and would be deleted during rotation anyway.
+					walCheckpointActive.Store(true)
 					n, hostDirs, err := ms.ToCheckpointWAL(Keys.Checkpoints.RootDir, from.Unix(), now.Unix())
 					if err != nil {
 						cclog.Errorf("[METRICSTORE]> binary checkpointing failed: %s", err.Error())
@@ -138,6 +142,8 @@ func Checkpointing(wg *sync.WaitGroup, ctx context.Context) {
 						// Rotate WAL files for successfully checkpointed hosts.
 						RotateWALFiles(hostDirs)
 					}
+					walCheckpointActive.Store(false)
+					walDropped.Store(0)
 				} else {
 					n, err := ms.ToCheckpoint(Keys.Checkpoints.RootDir, from.Unix(), now.Unix())
 					if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/metricstore/walCheckpoint.go b/pkg/metricstore/walCheckpoint.go
index 749ff756..0d0b2c8e 100644
--- a/pkg/metricstore/walCheckpoint.go
+++ b/pkg/metricstore/walCheckpoint.go
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ var walStagingWg sync.WaitGroup
 // SendWALMessage from sending on a closed channel (which panics in Go).
 var walShuttingDown atomic.Bool
 
+// walCheckpointActive is set during binary checkpoint writes.
+// While active, SendWALMessage skips sending (returns true) because the
+// snapshot captures all in-memory data, making WAL writes redundant.
+var walCheckpointActive atomic.Bool
+
 // WALMessage represents a single metric write to be appended to the WAL.
 // Cluster and Node are NOT stored in the WAL record (inferred from file path).
 type WALMessage struct {
@@ -146,6 +151,9 @@ func SendWALMessage(msg *WALMessage) bool {
 	if walShardChs == nil || walShuttingDown.Load() {
 		return false
 	}
+	if walCheckpointActive.Load() {
+		return true // Data safe in memory; snapshot will capture it
+	}
 	shard := walShardIndex(msg.Cluster, msg.Node)
 	select {
 	case walShardChs[shard] <- msg:
@@ -727,11 +735,6 @@ func (m *MemoryStore) ToCheckpointWAL(dir string, from, to int64) (int, []string
 					atomic.AddInt32(&errs, 1)
 				} else {
 					atomic.AddInt32(&n, 1)
-					// Delete WAL immediately after successful snapshot.
-					walPath := path.Join(wi.hostDir, "current.wal")
-					if err := os.Remove(walPath); err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
-						cclog.Errorf("[METRICSTORE]> WAL remove %s: %v", walPath, err)
-					}
 					successMu.Lock()
 					successDirs = append(successDirs, wi.hostDir)
 					successMu.Unlock()