diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3e9acf98c..0fcf8a35c 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3221,11 +3221,11 @@ dependencies = [
  "lightcraft-testkit",
  "log",
  "proptest",
- "same-file",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "thiserror 2.0.21",
  "web-time",
+ "winapi-util",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index fc2d90d2e..4e122eb24 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ log = "0.4"
 # All date/time conversion goes through chrono (no hand-rolled calendar code beyond the 400-year range extension; AGENTS.md).
 chrono = { version = "0.4.45", default-features = false, features = ["std"] }
 rayon = "1"
-same-file = "1" # lightcraft-catalog reads a file's volume serial number and file index with it on Windows
+winapi-util = "0.1" # lightcraft-catalog reads a file's volume serial number and file index with it on Windows
 proptest = "1"
 bytemuck = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
 crc32fast = "1"
diff --git a/crates/catalog/Cargo.toml b/crates/catalog/Cargo.toml
index 7a9c80439..b12e18803 100644
--- a/crates/catalog/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/catalog/Cargo.toml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ chrono = { workspace = true }
 web-time = { workspace = true }
 
 [target.'cfg(windows)'.dependencies]
-same-file = { workspace = true }
+winapi-util = { workspace = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 lightcraft-geom = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/catalog/src/safe_file.rs b/crates/catalog/src/safe_file.rs
index 9b8bf5bcd..bc05d4139 100644
--- a/crates/catalog/src/safe_file.rs
+++ b/crates/catalog/src/safe_file.rs
@@ -301,13 +301,13 @@ fn compare_files(a: &Path, b: &Path, strict: bool) -> io::Result<bool> {
             return Ok(false);
         }
         // A hard link has its own path but shares the volume serial number and file index with
-        // its original. A volume that does not report them is compared by resolved path below.
+        // its original. A volume that reports file index 0 is compared by resolved path below.
         // On ReFS two files can share the 64-bit file index, so the lengths are compared first.
         #[cfg(windows)]
         {
-            match ::same_file::is_same_file(a, b) {
-                Ok(true) => return Ok(true),
-                Ok(false) => {}
+            match file_ids(a, b) {
+                Ok((ia, ib)) if same_file_id(ia, ib) => return Ok(true),
+                Ok(_) => {}
                 Err(e) if strict => return Err(e),
                 Err(_) => {}
             }
@@ -319,6 +319,22 @@ fn compare_files(a: &Path, b: &Path, strict: bool) -> io::Result<bool> {
     }
 }
 
+/// The volume serial number and file index of `a` and `b`, read while both files are open.
+#[cfg(windows)]
+fn file_ids(a: &Path, b: &Path) -> io::Result<((u64, u64), (u64, u64))> {
+    use winapi_util::{Handle, file::information};
+    let (ha, hb) = (Handle::from_path_any(a)?, Handle::from_path_any(b)?);
+    let (ia, ib) = (information(&ha)?, information(&hb)?);
+    Ok(((ia.volume_serial_number(), ia.file_index()), (ib.volume_serial_number(), ib.file_index())))
+}
+
+/// Whether two (volume serial number, file index) pairs name one file. A file index of 0 is not
+/// an identity and matches nothing.
+#[cfg(any(windows, test))]
+fn same_file_id(a: (u64, u64), b: (u64, u64)) -> bool {
+    a.1 != 0 && b.1 != 0 && a == b
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -480,4 +496,13 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!same_file_strict(&p.join("under-a-file.jpg"), &p).unwrap());
         let _ = fs::remove_dir_all(&d);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_zero_file_index_is_not_a_file_identity() {
+        assert!(same_file_id((7, 42), (7, 42)));
+        assert!(!same_file_id((7, 42), (7, 43)));
+        assert!(!same_file_id((7, 42), (8, 42)));
+        assert!(!same_file_id((7, 0), (7, 0)), "two files on a volume that reports index 0 are not the same file");
+        assert!(!same_file_id((0, 0), (0, 0)));
+    }
 }