diff --git a/hermes_cli/profiles.py b/hermes_cli/profiles.py
index 779728adc..bf6de16df 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/profiles.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/profiles.py
@@ -863,19 +863,15 @@ def _safe_extract_profile_archive(archive: Path, destination: Path) -> None:
                 pass
 
 
-def import_profile(archive_path: str, name: Optional[str] = None) -> Path:
-    """Import a profile from a tar.gz archive.
+def _inspect_profile_archive_roots(archive: Path) -> set[str]:
+    """Return the archive's top-level directory names.
 
-    If *name* is not given, infers it from the archive's top-level directory.
-    Returns the imported profile directory.
+    Profile imports expect exactly one root directory. Inspecting the archive
+    before extraction lets us stage the import safely instead of mutating a
+    live profile tree first and reconciling names later.
     """
     import tarfile
 
-    archive = Path(archive_path)
-    if not archive.exists():
-        raise FileNotFoundError(f"Archive not found: {archive}")
-
-    # Peek at the archive to find the top-level directory name
     with tarfile.open(archive, "r:gz") as tf:
         top_dirs = {
             parts[0]
@@ -889,13 +885,33 @@ def import_profile(archive_path: str, name: Optional[str] = None) -> Path:
                 for member in tf.getmembers()
                 if member.isdir()
             }
+    return top_dirs
 
-    inferred_name = name or (top_dirs.pop() if len(top_dirs) == 1 else None)
+
+def import_profile(archive_path: str, name: Optional[str] = None) -> Path:
+    """Import a profile from a tar.gz archive.
+
+    If *name* is not given, infers it from the archive's top-level directory.
+    Returns the imported profile directory.
+    """
+    import tempfile
+
+    archive = Path(archive_path)
+    if not archive.exists():
+        raise FileNotFoundError(f"Archive not found: {archive}")
+
+    top_dirs = _inspect_profile_archive_roots(archive)
+    archive_root = top_dirs.pop() if len(top_dirs) == 1 else None
+    inferred_name = name or archive_root
     if not inferred_name:
         raise ValueError(
             "Cannot determine profile name from archive. "
             "Specify it explicitly: hermes profile import <archive> --name <name>"
         )
+    if archive_root is None:
+        raise ValueError(
+            "Profile archive must contain exactly one top-level directory."
+        )
 
     # Archives exported from the default profile have "default/" as top-level
     # dir.  Importing as "default" would target ~/.hermes itself — disallow
@@ -914,12 +930,22 @@ def import_profile(archive_path: str, name: Optional[str] = None) -> Path:
     profiles_root = _get_profiles_root()
     profiles_root.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
-    _safe_extract_profile_archive(archive, profiles_root)
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="hermes_profile_import_") as tmpdir:
+        staging_root = Path(tmpdir)
+        _safe_extract_profile_archive(archive, staging_root)
 
-    # If the archive extracted under a different name, rename
-    extracted = profiles_root / (top_dirs.pop() if top_dirs else inferred_name)
-    if extracted != profile_dir and extracted.exists():
-        extracted.rename(profile_dir)
+        extracted = staging_root / archive_root
+        if not extracted.is_dir():
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Profile archive root is missing or invalid: {archive_root}"
+            )
+
+        final_source = extracted
+        if archive_root != inferred_name:
+            final_source = staging_root / inferred_name
+            extracted.rename(final_source)
+
+        shutil.move(str(final_source), str(profile_dir))
 
     return profile_dir
 
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_profiles.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_profiles.py
index 9c2dafb97..7e181c1a8 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_profiles.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_profiles.py
@@ -455,6 +455,47 @@ class TestExportImport:
         with pytest.raises(FileExistsError):
             import_profile(str(archive_path), name="coder")
 
+    def test_import_with_explicit_name_does_not_mutate_existing_archive_root_profile(
+        self, profile_env, tmp_path
+    ):
+        create_profile("victim", no_alias=True)
+        victim_dir = get_profile_dir("victim")
+        (victim_dir / "marker.txt").write_text("original")
+
+        archive_path = tmp_path / "export" / "victim.tar.gz"
+        archive_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        with tarfile.open(archive_path, "w:gz") as tf:
+            data = b"imported"
+            info = tarfile.TarInfo("victim/marker.txt")
+            info.size = len(data)
+            tf.addfile(info, io.BytesIO(data))
+
+        imported = import_profile(str(archive_path), name="renamed")
+
+        assert imported == get_profile_dir("renamed")
+        assert (imported / "marker.txt").read_text() == "imported"
+        assert (victim_dir / "marker.txt").read_text() == "original"
+
+    def test_import_rejects_archive_with_multiple_top_level_directories(
+        self, profile_env, tmp_path
+    ):
+        archive_path = tmp_path / "export" / "multi-root.tar.gz"
+        archive_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+        with tarfile.open(archive_path, "w:gz") as tf:
+            for member_name, data in (
+                ("alpha/marker.txt", b"a"),
+                ("beta/marker.txt", b"b"),
+            ):
+                info = tarfile.TarInfo(member_name)
+                info.size = len(data)
+                tf.addfile(info, io.BytesIO(data))
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="exactly one top-level directory"):
+            import_profile(str(archive_path), name="coder")
+
+        assert not get_profile_dir("coder").exists()
+
     def test_import_rejects_traversal_archive_member(self, profile_env, tmp_path):
         archive_path = tmp_path / "export" / "evil.tar.gz"
         archive_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)