diff --git a/internal/cnpgi/common/check.go b/internal/cnpgi/common/check.go
index 8cf9dd2a..719b0e5e 100644
--- a/internal/cnpgi/common/check.go
+++ b/internal/cnpgi/common/check.go
@@ -28,21 +28,33 @@ import (
 )
 
 // CheckBackupDestination checks if the backup destination is suitable
-// to archive WALs
+// to archive WALs.
+//
+// The timeline parameter, when > 0, is passed to
+// barman-cloud-check-wal-archive via --timeline so that WAL from earlier
+// timelines (expected after a failover) does not cause the check to fail.
 func CheckBackupDestination(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	barmanConfiguration *cnpgv1.BarmanObjectStoreConfiguration,
 	barmanArchiver *archiver.WALArchiver,
 	serverName string,
+	timeline int,
 ) error {
 	contextLogger := log.FromContext(ctx)
 	contextLogger.Info(
-		"Checking backup destination with barman-cloud-wal-archive",
-		"serverName", serverName)
+		"Checking backup destination with barman-cloud-check-wal-archive",
+		"serverName", serverName,
+		"timeline", timeline)
+
+	// Build options, passing --timeline when available so that WAL from
+	// earlier timelines in the archive is accepted after a failover.
+	var opts []archiver.CheckWalArchiveOption
+	if timeline > 0 {
+		opts = append(opts, archiver.WithTimeline(timeline))
+	}
 
-	// Get WAL archive options
 	checkWalOptions, err := barmanArchiver.BarmanCloudCheckWalArchiveOptions(
-		ctx, barmanConfiguration, serverName)
+		ctx, barmanConfiguration, serverName, opts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error(err, "while getting barman-cloud-wal-archive options")
 		return err
diff --git a/internal/cnpgi/common/timeline.go b/internal/cnpgi/common/timeline.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7637874e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cnpgi/common/timeline.go
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+/*
+Copyright © contributors to CloudNativePG, established as
+CloudNativePG a Series of LF Projects, LLC.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+
+SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+*/
+
+package common
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os/exec"
+	"regexp"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/cloudnative-pg/machinery/pkg/log"
+)
+
+var timelineRe = regexp.MustCompile(`Latest checkpoint's TimeLineID:\s+(\d+)`)
+
+// currentTimeline returns the server's current PostgreSQL timeline by
+// parsing pg_controldata output.
+//
+// This is reliable for the promotion case because PostgreSQL performs a
+// synchronous end-of-recovery checkpoint (which updates the control file)
+// before the server starts accepting connections and before the WAL
+// archiver is signaled. By the time this function is called during the
+// first WAL archive attempt, the control file reflects the promoted
+// timeline.
+//
+// Returns an error if the timeline cannot be determined. Callers must NOT
+// silently fall back to omitting --timeline, as that reintroduces the
+// original "Expected empty archive" bug after failover.
+func currentTimeline(ctx context.Context, pgDataPath string) (int, error) {
+	contextLogger := log.FromContext(ctx)
+
+	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "pg_controldata", pgDataPath) // #nosec G204
+	cmd.Env = append(cmd.Environ(), "LC_ALL=C")
+	out, err := cmd.Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf(
+			"pg_controldata exec failed (PGDATA=%s): %w; "+
+				"WAL archive check cannot run safely without a timeline — "+
+				"set annotation cnpg.io/skipEmptyWalArchiveCheck=enabled "+
+				"as a manual workaround",
+			pgDataPath, err)
+	}
+
+	tl, err := parseTimelineIDFromPgControldataOutput(string(out), pgDataPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+
+	contextLogger.Info("Detected PostgreSQL timeline from pg_controldata",
+		"timeline", tl)
+	return tl, nil
+}
+
+// parseTimelineIDFromPgControldataOutput extracts Latest checkpoint's TimeLineID
+// from pg_controldata stdout. pgDataPath is used only in error messages.
+func parseTimelineIDFromPgControldataOutput(out string, pgDataPath string) (int, error) {
+	matches := timelineRe.FindStringSubmatch(out)
+	if len(matches) < 2 {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf(
+			"could not parse TimeLineID from pg_controldata output "+
+				"(PGDATA=%s); set annotation "+
+				"cnpg.io/skipEmptyWalArchiveCheck=enabled as a manual "+
+				"workaround",
+			pgDataPath)
+	}
+
+	tl, err := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimSpace(matches[1]))
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("parse timeline %q: %w", matches[1], err)
+	}
+
+	return tl, nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/cnpgi/common/timeline_test.go b/internal/cnpgi/common/timeline_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c0f4209
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cnpgi/common/timeline_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+/*
+Copyright © contributors to CloudNativePG, established as
+CloudNativePG a Series of LF Projects, LLC.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+
+SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+*/
+
+package common
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestParseTimelineIDFromPgControldataOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	pgData := "/var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata"
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name         string
+		out          string
+		want         int
+		wantErr      bool
+		errHasPGData bool // if true, error must mention pgData path (parse-not-found cases)
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "typical_pg_controldata_snippet",
+			out: `
+Database cluster state:               in production
+Latest checkpoint location:           0/3000028
+Latest checkpoint's REDO location:    0/3000028
+Latest checkpoint's TimeLineID:       2
+Latest checkpoint's REDO WAL file:    000000010000000000000003
+`,
+			want:    2,
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "timeline_one",
+			out: `Latest checkpoint's TimeLineID:       1
+`,
+			want:    1,
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "missing_timeline_line",
+			out:          "Database cluster state: in production\n",
+			want:         0,
+			wantErr:      true,
+			errHasPGData: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "empty",
+			out:          "",
+			want:         0,
+			wantErr:      true,
+			errHasPGData: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "overflow_timeline",
+			out: `Latest checkpoint's TimeLineID:       999999999999999999999999999999999999
+`,
+			want:    0,
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, err := parseTimelineIDFromPgControldataOutput(tt.out, pgData)
+			if tt.wantErr {
+				if err == nil {
+					t.Fatal("expected error")
+				}
+				if tt.errHasPGData && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), pgData) {
+					t.Errorf("error should mention PGDATA path: %v", err)
+				}
+				return
+			}
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+			if got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("got %d, want %d", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/cnpgi/common/wal.go b/internal/cnpgi/common/wal.go
index 8e58cb42..fe3abeb1 100644
--- a/internal/cnpgi/common/wal.go
+++ b/internal/cnpgi/common/wal.go
@@ -155,18 +155,34 @@ func (w WALServiceImplementation) Archive(
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// Step 2: Check if the archive location is safe to perform archiving
+	// Step 2: Check if the archive location is safe to perform archiving.
+	// This is a one-time check gated by the .check-empty-wal-archive flag
+	// file, which is deleted after the first successful WAL archive.
+	// Timeline detection only runs here — steady-state archiving is
+	// completely unaffected.
 	checkFileExisting, err := fileutils.FileExists(emptyWalArchiveFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("while checking for empty wal archive check file %q: %w", emptyWalArchiveFile, err)
 	}
 
 	if utils.IsEmptyWalArchiveCheckEnabled(&configuration.Cluster.ObjectMeta) && checkFileExisting {
+		// Detect the server's current timeline from pg_controldata so
+		// barman-cloud-check-wal-archive can tolerate WAL from earlier
+		// timelines in the archive (expected after a failover).
+		timeline, err := currentTimeline(ctx, w.PGDataPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			contextLogger.Error(err,
+				"Cannot determine PostgreSQL timeline for WAL archive check; "+
+					"archive attempt will be retried by PostgreSQL")
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
 		if err := CheckBackupDestination(
 			ctx,
 			&objectStore.Spec.Configuration,
 			arch,
 			configuration.ServerName,
+			timeline,
 		); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/internal/cnpgi/restore/restore.go b/internal/cnpgi/restore/restore.go
index 0aad1e55..ff3405db 100644
--- a/internal/cnpgi/restore/restore.go
+++ b/internal/cnpgi/restore/restore.go
@@ -285,9 +285,11 @@ func (impl *JobHookImpl) checkBackupDestination(
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Check if we're ok to archive in the desired destination
+	// Check if we're ok to archive in the desired destination.
+	// During restore/bootstrap, timeline is 0 (omit --timeline) so the
+	// check remains strict — the archive must be empty.
 	if utils.IsEmptyWalArchiveCheckEnabled(&cluster.ObjectMeta) {
-		return common.CheckBackupDestination(ctx, barmanConfiguration, walArchiver, serverName)
+		return common.CheckBackupDestination(ctx, barmanConfiguration, walArchiver, serverName, 0)
 	}
 
 	return nil