diff --git a/src/application/ClientConfigurationDocument.ts b/src/application/ClientConfigurationDocument.ts
index 65b4ba8de..27b5393d2 100644
--- a/src/application/ClientConfigurationDocument.ts
+++ b/src/application/ClientConfigurationDocument.ts
@@ -128,6 +128,20 @@ const parseDocument = (
   return objectSchema.parse(document);
 };
 
+/** A parsed configuration whose structure, not its syntax, cannot hold MCP servers. */
+export class ClientConfigurationShapeError extends TypeError {}
+
+const requireObject = (
+  value: unknown,
+  description: string,
+): Record<string, unknown> => {
+  const parsed = objectSchema.safeParse(value);
+  if (parsed.success) return parsed.data;
+  throw new ClientConfigurationShapeError(`${description} must be an object`, {
+    cause: parsed.error,
+  });
+};
+
 /** Members of OpenCode V2's `mcp` object that are not server names. */
 const OPENCODE_V2_MCP_SETTINGS = new Set(["servers", "timeout"]);
 
@@ -140,10 +154,21 @@ export const parseClientConfiguration = (
     throw new TypeError("client does not have a supported MCP config format");
   // DeepSeek Harness stores a Cordis patch list, not a server table.
   if (format === "dsh") return parseDshCordisDocument(text);
-  const document = parseDocument(text, format);
+  let document: Record<string, unknown>;
+  try {
+    document = parseDocument(text, format);
+  } catch (cause: unknown) {
+    if (cause instanceof z.ZodError)
+      throw new ClientConfigurationShapeError(
+        "The configuration root must be an object",
+        { cause },
+      );
+    throw cause;
+  }
   const serversKey = clientConfigurationServersKey(format);
   const value = document[serversKey];
-  const servers = value === undefined ? {} : objectSchema.parse(value);
+  const servers =
+    value === undefined ? {} : requireObject(value, `"${serversKey}"`);
   const native = servers.servers;
   // A V1 server named `servers` has a string `type` discriminator; the V2
   // table may instead hold a server object named `type`.
@@ -164,7 +189,7 @@ export const parseClientConfiguration = (
     };
   return {
     document,
-    servers: objectSchema.parse(native),
+    servers: requireObject(native, `"${serversKey}.servers"`),
     serversPath: [serversKey, "servers"],
     dialect: "opencode_v2",
     legacyServers: Object.fromEntries(
diff --git a/src/application/Uninstall.ts b/src/application/Uninstall.ts
index 6822460bb..24ff88ea6 100644
--- a/src/application/Uninstall.ts
+++ b/src/application/Uninstall.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import {
+  ClientConfigurationShapeError,
   parseClientConfiguration,
   serializeClientConfiguration,
   clientServerPath,
@@ -279,12 +280,13 @@ const readClientConfiguration = async (
     const parsed = parseClientConfiguration(original, client.format);
     return { kind: "configuration", transactionPath, original, parsed };
   } catch (cause: unknown) {
-    void cause;
     return itemRead(
       item(
         client.name,
         "failed",
-        `Configuration is not valid ${client.format === "toml" || client.format === "grok" ? "TOML" : client.format === "opencode" ? "JSONC" : "JSON"} and was not changed. Repair it, then rerun uninstall.`,
+        cause instanceof ClientConfigurationShapeError
+          ? `Configuration was not changed: ${cause.message}. Repair it, then rerun uninstall.`
+          : `Configuration is not valid ${client.format === "toml" || client.format === "grok" ? "TOML" : client.format === "opencode" ? "JSONC" : "JSON"} and was not changed. Repair it, then rerun uninstall.`,
       ),
     );
   }
diff --git a/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts b/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
index db0b517e7..6ee7543e9 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/filesystem/clientLifecycle.test.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import { PRODUCT_IDENTITY } from "../../../src/identity.js";
 
 import { readClientRegistrationStatuses } from "../../../src/application/ClientRegistrationStatus.js";
 import { configureClientConfiguration } from "../../../src/application/SetupClientConfiguration.js";
+import { readConfigurationFile } from "../../../src/application/ClientConfigurationFiles.js";
 import {
   detectClients,
   systemSetupHost,
@@ -1593,6 +1594,34 @@ describe("uninstall configuration preflight", () => {
     expect(await readFile(config, "utf8")).toBe("not-json");
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    ['{"mcpServers": null}', '"mcpServers" must be an object'],
+    ["[]", "The configuration root must be an object"],
+  ])(
+    "names the structural problem in valid JSON %s",
+    async (content, problem) => {
+      const home = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-shape-");
+      roots.push(home);
+      const config = join(home, ".cursor/mcp.json");
+      await mkdir(dirname(config), { recursive: true });
+      await writeFile(config, content);
+      expect(await readConfigurationFile(config, "json")).toMatchObject({
+        ok: false,
+        error: {
+          kind: "malformed",
+          detail: `Configuration ${config} is malformed: ${problem}`,
+        },
+      });
+      const result = await runUninstall(false, systemUninstallHost(home));
+      expect(result.items).toContainEqual({
+        name: "cursor",
+        status: "failed",
+        detail: `Configuration was not changed: ${problem}. Repair it, then rerun uninstall.`,
+      });
+      expect(await readFile(config, "utf8")).toBe(content);
+    },
+  );
+
   it("stops before any removal when one client configuration is malformed", async () => {
     const home = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-uninstall-stop-");
     roots.push(home);