diff --git a/src/client/client_cli.c b/src/client/client_cli.c
index 29b0bf9..d7cff62 100644
--- a/src/client/client_cli.c
+++ b/src/client/client_cli.c
@@ -92,15 +92,23 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
     } else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--delete") == 0) {
       config->use_delete = true;
     } else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--exclude") == 0 && i + 1 < argc) {
-      int idx = config->exclude_count++;
-      config->exclude_patterns =
-          realloc(config->exclude_patterns, config->exclude_count * sizeof(char*));
-      config->exclude_patterns[idx] = str_dup(argv[++i]);
+      char** tmp = realloc(config->exclude_patterns, (config->exclude_count + 1) * sizeof(char*));
+      if (!tmp) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Error: memory allocation failed for --exclude\n");
+        exit_code = 1;
+        goto cleanup;
+      }
+      config->exclude_patterns = tmp;
+      config->exclude_patterns[config->exclude_count++] = str_dup(argv[++i]);
     } else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--include") == 0 && i + 1 < argc) {
-      int idx = config->include_count++;
-      config->include_patterns =
-          realloc(config->include_patterns, config->include_count * sizeof(char*));
-      config->include_patterns[idx] = str_dup(argv[++i]);
+      char** tmp = realloc(config->include_patterns, (config->include_count + 1) * sizeof(char*));
+      if (!tmp) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Error: memory allocation failed for --include\n");
+        exit_code = 1;
+        goto cleanup;
+      }
+      config->include_patterns = tmp;
+      config->include_patterns[config->include_count++] = str_dup(argv[++i]);
     } else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--max-size") == 0 && i + 1 < argc) {
       config->max_size = strtoull(argv[++i], NULL, 10);
     } else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--min-size") == 0 && i + 1 < argc) {
diff --git a/src/client/client_send.c b/src/client/client_send.c
index a02125c..256d8e4 100644
--- a/src/client/client_send.c
+++ b/src/client/client_send.c
@@ -175,6 +175,13 @@ static int send_single_file(Client* client, File* file, Config* config, bool use
       return -1;
   } else {
     delta_signature_destroy(sig);
+    // rc == 2 can happen if server sends STATUS_DELTA_SIGNATURE but
+    // use_delta is false on the client side. Send STATUS_NEXT to
+    // tell the server to proceed with the full file transfer.
+    if (rc == 2) {
+      if (!send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_NEXT))
+        return -1;
+    }
   }
   if (!send_fn(file, client->file_descriptor, config->use_metadata, compression_level, false))
     return -1;
@@ -254,17 +261,27 @@ static int send_chunks_multithreaded(void* pipeline_context) {
         &context->condition_not_full_loader, &context->loader_done);
     if (current_chunk == NULL) {
       if (context->config->use_delete) {
-        send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_MANIFEST);
-        send_int(client->file_descriptor, context->manifest->size);
-        for (int i = 0; i < context->manifest->size; i++)
-          send_str(client->file_descriptor, (char*)context->manifest->items[i]);
+        if (!send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_MANIFEST))
+          goto send_fail;
+        if (!send_int(client->file_descriptor, context->manifest->size))
+          goto send_fail;
+        for (int i = 0; i < context->manifest->size; i++) {
+          if (!send_str(client->file_descriptor, (char*)context->manifest->items[i]))
+            goto send_fail;
+        }
       }
-      send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_FINISHED);
+      if (!send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_FINISHED))
+        goto send_fail;
       Status s;
       int ok = receive_status(client->file_descriptor, &s) && s == STATUS_OK;
       client_disconnect(client);
       client_delete(client);
       return ok ? thrd_success : thrd_error;
+
+    send_fail:
+      client_disconnect(client);
+      client_delete(client);
+      return thrd_error;
     }
     if (send_chunk(client, current_chunk, context->config) != 0) {
       fprintf(stderr, "Error: unexpected error while sending chunk\n");
@@ -441,13 +458,24 @@ int send_files(Config* config) {
     chunk_destroy(current_chunk);
   }
   if (config->use_delete) {
-    send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_MANIFEST);
-    send_int(client->file_descriptor, manifest->size);
-    for (int i = 0; i < manifest->size; i++)
-      send_str(client->file_descriptor, (char*)manifest->items[i]);
+    if (!send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_MANIFEST)) {
+      array_list_delete(manifest);
+      goto send_fail;
+    }
+    if (!send_int(client->file_descriptor, manifest->size)) {
+      array_list_delete(manifest);
+      goto send_fail;
+    }
+    for (int i = 0; i < manifest->size; i++) {
+      if (!send_str(client->file_descriptor, (char*)manifest->items[i])) {
+        array_list_delete(manifest);
+        goto send_fail;
+      }
+    }
     array_list_delete(manifest);
   }
-  send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_FINISHED);
+  if (!send_status(client->file_descriptor, STATUS_FINISHED))
+    goto send_fail;
   Status s;
   int ok = receive_status(client->file_descriptor, &s) && s == STATUS_OK;
   if (config->show_progress) {
@@ -459,6 +487,12 @@ int send_files(Config* config) {
   client_disconnect(client);
   client_delete(client);
   return ok ? 0 : -1;
+
+send_fail:
+  directory_scanner_destroy(scanner);
+  client_disconnect(client);
+  client_delete(client);
+  return -1;
 }
 
 int send_files_multithreaded(Config* config) {
diff --git a/src/shared/config.h b/src/shared/config.h
index 1ed85fa..183f60c 100644
--- a/src/shared/config.h
+++ b/src/shared/config.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ typedef struct Config {
   char* tls_ca;
 } Config;
 
-#define PROTOCOL_VERSION "1.2.0"
+#define PROTOCOL_VERSION "1.3.0"
 #define DEFAULT_CHUNK_SIZE (10 * 1024 * 1024)
 
 Config* config_create(char* version, char* send_directory, char* receive_directory,
diff --git a/src/shared/file.c b/src/shared/file.c
index 06f11c0..58b0455 100644
--- a/src/shared/file.c
+++ b/src/shared/file.c
@@ -448,6 +448,11 @@ bool file_send_sendfile(File* file, int file_descriptor, bool use_metadata, int
                         bool send_path) {
   // sendfile is incompatible with compression (kernel zero-copy).
   // If compression is requested, fall back to the regular send path.
+  // NOTE: This is a safety net only — callers must ensure compression_level == 0
+  // before calling file_send_sendfile. The fallback to file_send_single_calls
+  // preserves the send_path contract, but callers should not rely on it for
+  // correctness (the --sendfile flag is validated to be mutually exclusive with
+  // -c/--compress at the CLI layer).
   if (compression_level > 0)
     return file_send_single_calls(file, file_descriptor, use_metadata, compression_level,
                                   send_path);
diff --git a/src/shared/metadata.c b/src/shared/metadata.c
index efee84a..f36e2d6 100644
--- a/src/shared/metadata.c
+++ b/src/shared/metadata.c
@@ -107,5 +107,6 @@ void file_restore_metadata(const char* path, FileMetadata* metadata) {
   times[0].tv_nsec = UTIME_OMIT;
   times[1].tv_sec = metadata->mtime_sec;
   times[1].tv_nsec = metadata->mtime_nsec;
-  utimensat(AT_FDCWD, path, times, 0);
+  if (utimensat(AT_FDCWD, path, times, 0) != 0)
+    log_message(LOG_LEVEL_WARNING, "Failed to set timestamps on %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
 }
diff --git a/src/shared/utils.c b/src/shared/utils.c
index aa7d313..ad1e533 100644
--- a/src/shared/utils.c
+++ b/src/shared/utils.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include "array_list.h"
 #include "libgen.h"
 #include <dirent.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -86,8 +87,8 @@ static bool is_dir_in_manifest(const char* rel_path, ArrayList* manifest) {
   size_t len = strlen(rel_path);
   for (int i = 0; i < manifest->size; i++) {
     const char* entry = (const char*)manifest->items[i];
-    // Check if entry starts with rel_path + '/'
-    if (strncmp(entry, rel_path, len) == 0 && entry[len] == '/')
+    // Check if entry starts with rel_path + '/' or matches exactly
+    if (strncmp(entry, rel_path, len) == 0 && (entry[len] == '/' || entry[len] == '\0'))
       return true;
   }
   return false;
@@ -112,8 +113,9 @@ static void delete_extras_walk(const char* abs_path, const char* rel_path, Array
     }
     if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
       delete_extras_walk(child_abs, child_rel, manifest);
-      // After recursion, try to remove the subdirectory if it's now empty
-      if (rmdir(child_abs) != 0) {
+      // After recursion, try to remove the subdirectory if it's now empty.
+      // Ignore ENOENT: the recursive call may have already removed it.
+      if (rmdir(child_abs) != 0 && errno != ENOENT) {
         all_removed = false;
       }
     } else {