diff --git a/db/migrations/20260816180040_renormalize_album_created_at.sql b/db/migrations/20260816180040_renormalize_album_created_at.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9af7b2e5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrations/20260816180040_renormalize_album_created_at.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+-- +goose Up
+
+-- Repairs album.created_at values stored in RFC3339 T-format by CopyAttributes.
+-- These values sort incorrectly in "Recently Added", which compares timestamps as raw strings.
+
+UPDATE album SET created_at = replace(replace(created_at, 'T', ' '), 'Z', '+00:00')
+WHERE created_at LIKE '%T%';
+
+-- +goose Down
+
+SELECT 1;
diff --git a/persistence/album_repository.go b/persistence/album_repository.go
index 2f0621b73..5d7aad22e 100644
--- a/persistence/album_repository.go
+++ b/persistence/album_repository.go
@@ -329,8 +329,11 @@ func (r *albumRepository) GetYears(libraryIDs ...int) ([]int, error) {
 }
 
 func (r *albumRepository) CopyAttributes(fromID, toID string, columns ...string) error {
+	// Cast values to text so go-sqlite3 does not decode datetime columns as time.Time
+	// and reformat them as RFC3339 when written back.
+	sel := slice.Map(columns, func(c string) string { return fmt.Sprintf("cast(%[1]s as text) as %[1]s", c) })
 	var from dbx.NullStringMap
-	err := r.queryOne(Select(columns...).From(r.tableName).Where(Eq{"id": fromID}), &from)
+	err := r.queryOne(Select(sel...).From(r.tableName).Where(Eq{"id": fromID}), &from)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("getting album to copy fields from: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/persistence/album_repository_test.go b/persistence/album_repository_test.go
index 526642aa6..f6768768d 100644
--- a/persistence/album_repository_test.go
+++ b/persistence/album_repository_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@ import (
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 )
 
+// rawColumn returns a column exactly as stored, bypassing go-sqlite3's decoding of
+// `datetime` columns into time.Time.
+func rawColumn(r sqlRepository, id, column string) string {
+	var res struct{ Value string }
+	sel := squirrel.Select("cast(" + column + " as text) as value").
+		From(r.tableName).Where(squirrel.Eq{"id": id})
+	ExpectWithOffset(1, r.queryOne(sel, &res)).To(Succeed())
+	return res.Value
+}
+
 var _ = Describe("AlbumRepository", func() {
 	var albumRepo *albumRepository
 	var ctx context.Context
@@ -69,6 +79,22 @@ var _ = Describe("AlbumRepository", func() {
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 			Expect(got.CreatedAt).To(BeTemporally("~", dstTime, time.Second))
 		})
+		It("returns not found and leaves destination untouched when source does not exist", func() {
+			err := albumRepo.CopyAttributes("copy-missing", "copy-dst", "created_at")
+			Expect(errors.Is(err, model.ErrNotFound)).To(BeTrue())
+			got, getErr := albumRepo.Get("copy-dst")
+			Expect(getErr).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(got.CreatedAt).To(BeTemporally("~", dstTime, time.Second))
+		})
+		It("keeps the copied created_at in the driver's space-separated format", func() {
+			// Copying through a Go string would rewrite it as RFC3339 ("2020-01-02T03:04:05Z"),
+			// which string-sorts above every space-format timestamp and pins the album to the
+			// top of "Recently Added".
+			Expect(albumRepo.CopyAttributes("copy-src", "copy-dst", "created_at")).To(Succeed())
+			Expect(rawColumn(albumRepo.sqlRepository, "copy-dst", "created_at")).
+				To(Equal(rawColumn(albumRepo.sqlRepository, "copy-src", "created_at")))
+			Expect(rawColumn(albumRepo.sqlRepository, "copy-dst", "created_at")).ToNot(ContainSubstring("T"))
+		})
 	})
 
 	Describe("GetCursor", func() {