diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 318e1c2..2ac6cea 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ checksum = "1fbdf580320f38b612e485521afda1ee26d10cc9884efaaa750d383e13e3c5f4"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "bz2zstd"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "bzip2",
@@ -714,7 +714,7 @@ checksum = "d6790f58c7ff633d8771f42965289203411a5e5c68388703c06e14f24770b41e"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "parallel_bzip2_decoder"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 dependencies = [
  "aho-corasick",
  "anyhow",
diff --git a/bz2zstd/src/main.rs b/bz2zstd/src/main.rs
index 646acc7..8ffda15 100644
--- a/bz2zstd/src/main.rs
+++ b/bz2zstd/src/main.rs
@@ -158,18 +158,43 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
         }
     };
 
-    // Security Check: Verify that input and output file paths are distinct
+    // Security Check: Verify that input and output file paths are distinct.
     // This prevents a 'Bus error' (SIGBUS) caused by truncating a file that is
     // currently memory-mapped as input.
-    if let Ok(canon_input) = std::fs::canonicalize(&args.input) {
-        if let Ok(canon_output) = std::fs::canonicalize(&output_path) {
-            if canon_input == canon_output {
-                return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
-                    "Input and output files must be different: {:?}",
-                    output_path
-                ));
+    //
+    // We check both:
+    // 1. Canonical paths (detects same file via different paths/symlinks)
+    // 2. Device/Inode (detects same file via hard links on Unix)
+    let is_same_file = (|| -> Result<bool> {
+        let input_canon = std::fs::canonicalize(&args.input);
+        let output_canon = std::fs::canonicalize(&output_path);
+
+        if let (Ok(in_c), Ok(out_c)) = (input_canon, output_canon) {
+            if in_c == out_c {
+                return Ok(true);
             }
         }
+
+        #[cfg(unix)]
+        {
+            use std::os::unix::fs::MetadataExt;
+            let input_meta = std::fs::metadata(&args.input);
+            let output_meta = std::fs::metadata(&output_path);
+            if let (Ok(in_m), Ok(out_m)) = (input_meta, output_meta) {
+                if in_m.dev() == out_m.dev() && in_m.ino() == out_m.ino() {
+                    return Ok(true);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        Ok(false)
+    })()?;
+
+    if is_same_file {
+        return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
+            "Input and output files must be different: {:?}",
+            output_path
+        ));
     }
 
     // === STAGE 3: WRITER THREAD ===