diff --git a/internal/platform/identities.go b/internal/platform/identities.go
index 8d7baa9..bd4bd75 100644
--- a/internal/platform/identities.go
+++ b/internal/platform/identities.go
@@ -66,9 +66,11 @@ const (
 // Params parameterises the install bundle. Namespaces and the registry location
 // have safe defaults; VelocityCIDRs has none — see the field comment.
 type Params struct {
-	// ControlNamespace is where felis-api/operator/reaper run. Their SAs live here
-	// and the RoleBindings' subjects reference them here, even though the Roles
-	// they bind to live in the minecraft (and build) namespaces.
+	// ControlNamespace is where felis-api/operator run. All three SAs live here and
+	// the RoleBindings' subjects reference them here, even though the Roles they bind
+	// to live in the minecraft (and build) namespaces. The reaper CronJob alone runs
+	// in the Minecraft namespace, because a Pod can only mount PVCs from its own
+	// namespace and its backup PVC is provisioned there.
 	ControlNamespace string
 	// MinecraftNamespace is where MinecraftServer workloads, their RCON Secrets,
 	// and their world PVCs live. All three identities' minecraft-scoped Roles, and
diff --git a/internal/platform/workloads.go b/internal/platform/workloads.go
index 74c5676..83e68b1 100644
--- a/internal/platform/workloads.go
+++ b/internal/platform/workloads.go
@@ -472,8 +472,15 @@ func reaperCronJob(p Params) *batchv1.CronJob {
 	}
 
 	return &batchv1.CronJob{
-		TypeMeta:   metav1.TypeMeta{APIVersion: "batch/v1", Kind: "CronJob"},
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: SAReaper, Namespace: p.ControlNamespace, Labels: labels},
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{APIVersion: "batch/v1", Kind: "CronJob"},
+		// The CronJob lives in the MINECRAFT namespace: a Pod can only mount PVCs
+		// from its own namespace and the backup PVC is provisioned there alongside
+		// the backup Jobs. Placed under ControlNamespace it could never schedule
+		// (FailedScheduling: persistentvolumeclaim not found) in any stock install;
+		// the reaper Role/RoleBinding were already minecraft-scoped for the same
+		// reason, and the minecraft felis-config replica (felis setup) supplies the
+		// config mount.
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: SAReaper, Namespace: p.MinecraftNamespace, Labels: labels},
 		Spec: batchv1.CronJobSpec{
 			Schedule:                   reaperSchedule,
 			ConcurrencyPolicy:          batchv1.ForbidConcurrent,
diff --git a/internal/platform/workloads_test.go b/internal/platform/workloads_test.go
index c3934fb..55b3a9d 100644
--- a/internal/platform/workloads_test.go
+++ b/internal/platform/workloads_test.go
@@ -519,8 +519,11 @@ func TestReaperCronJob_Shape(t *testing.T) {
 	if cj.Name != SAReaper {
 		t.Errorf("CronJob name = %q, want %q", cj.Name, SAReaper)
 	}
-	if cj.Namespace != p.ControlNamespace {
-		t.Errorf("CronJob namespace = %q, want control ns %q", cj.Namespace, p.ControlNamespace)
+	// The CronJob must sit where its PVC lives: a Pod cannot mount a PVC across
+	// namespaces, and the backup PVC is provisioned in the Minecraft namespace.
+	// (Rendered under ControlNamespace it failed to schedule on a live cluster.)
+	if cj.Namespace != p.MinecraftNamespace {
+		t.Errorf("CronJob namespace = %q, want minecraft ns %q (its backup PVC's namespace)", cj.Namespace, p.MinecraftNamespace)
 	}
 
 	spec := cj.Spec