diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 34c1d05..b019356 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- added: `syncedDocument` accepts an optional `SyncedDocumentOptions` object with `cleanFailStrategy` (`'preserve'` to keep the last good value, `'reset'` to revert to defaults) and `onCleanFail` callback for notification when the cleaner rejects a document.
+
 ## 0.2.23 (2025-09-11)
 
 - added: Accept a chunk size for rolling database streaming queries.
diff --git a/src/couchdb/synced-document.ts b/src/couchdb/synced-document.ts
index ba6936c..3a01cce 100644
--- a/src/couchdb/synced-document.ts
+++ b/src/couchdb/synced-document.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { asMaybe, Cleaner, uncleaner } from 'cleaners'
+import { Cleaner, uncleaner } from 'cleaners'
 import { DocumentScope } from 'nano'
 import { makeEvent, OnEvent } from 'yavent'
 
@@ -37,17 +37,22 @@ export interface SyncedDocument<T> {
  * The fallback will be the initial value of the returned babysitter,
  * until `sync` is called to sync with the database.
  */
+export interface SyncedDocumentOptions {
+  cleanFailStrategy?: 'preserve' | 'reset'
+  onCleanFail?: (error: unknown) => void
+}
+
 export function syncedDocument<T>(
   id: string,
-  cleaner: Cleaner<T>
+  cleaner: Cleaner<T>,
+  opts: SyncedDocumentOptions = {}
 ): SyncedDocument<T> {
-  const fallback = cleaner({})
-  const asDocument = asMaybe(cleaner, fallback)
-  const wasDocument = uncleaner(asDocument)
+  const { cleanFailStrategy = 'reset', onCleanFail } = opts
+  const wasDocument = uncleaner(cleaner)
   const [on, emit] = makeEvent<T>()
 
   const out: SyncedDocument<T> = {
-    doc: fallback,
+    doc: cleaner({}),
     rev: undefined,
     id,
     onChange: on,
@@ -57,7 +62,17 @@ export function syncedDocument<T>(
         if (asMaybeNotFoundError(error) == null) throw error
         return { _id: id, _rev: undefined }
       })
-      const clean = asDocument(rest)
+
+      let clean: T
+      try {
+        clean = cleaner(rest)
+      } catch (error) {
+        try {
+          onCleanFail?.(error)
+        } catch {}
+        clean = cleanFailStrategy === 'preserve' ? out.doc : cleaner({})
+      }
+
       const dirty = wasDocument(clean)
       if (_rev == null || !matchJson(dirty, rest)) {
         const result = await db.insert({ _id, _rev, ...dirty })
diff --git a/test/couchdb/synced-document.test.ts b/test/couchdb/synced-document.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..372fc94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/couchdb/synced-document.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+import { expect } from 'chai'
+import { asNumber, asObject, asOptional, asString } from 'cleaners'
+import { describe, it } from 'mocha'
+import { DocumentScope } from 'nano'
+
+import { syncedDocument } from '../../src/couchdb/synced-document'
+
+const asConfig = asObject({
+  name: asOptional(asString, 'default'),
+  count: asOptional(asNumber, 0)
+})
+
+type Config = ReturnType<typeof asConfig>
+
+function makeMockDb(
+  store: Record<string, { _rev: string; [key: string]: unknown }> = {}
+): DocumentScope<unknown> {
+  let revCounter = 0
+  return {
+    get: async (id: string) => {
+      const doc = store[id]
+      if (doc == null)
+        throw Object.assign(new Error('not_found'), { error: 'not_found' })
+      return { _id: id, ...doc }
+    },
+    insert: async (doc: {
+      _id: string
+      _rev?: string
+      [key: string]: unknown
+    }) => {
+      const rev = `${++revCounter}-abc`
+      const { _id, ...rest } = doc
+      store[_id] = { ...rest, _rev: rev }
+      return { ok: true, id: _id, rev }
+    }
+  } as any
+}
+
+describe('syncedDocument', function () {
+  it('initializes with fallback from cleaner({})', function () {
+    const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig)
+    expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'default', count: 0 })
+    expect(doc.rev).equals(undefined)
+    expect(doc.id).equals('config')
+  })
+
+  it('creates missing documents on sync', async function () {
+    const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig)
+    const db = makeMockDb()
+
+    await doc.sync(db)
+
+    expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'default', count: 0 })
+    expect(doc.rev).to.be.a('string')
+  })
+
+  it('reads existing clean documents', async function () {
+    const store = {
+      config: { _rev: '1-existing', name: 'prod', count: 42 }
+    }
+    const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig)
+    const db = makeMockDb(store)
+
+    await doc.sync(db)
+
+    expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'prod', count: 42 })
+    expect(doc.rev).equals('1-existing')
+  })
+
+  it('repairs dirty documents (extra fields)', async function () {
+    const store = {
+      config: { _rev: '1-existing', name: 'prod', count: 42, extra: 'junk' }
+    }
+    const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig)
+    const db = makeMockDb(store)
+
+    await doc.sync(db)
+
+    expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'prod', count: 42 })
+    expect(doc.rev).not.equals('1-existing')
+  })
+
+  it('fires onChange when document is created', async function () {
+    const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig)
+    const db = makeMockDb()
+    const changes: Config[] = []
+    doc.onChange(value => changes.push(value))
+
+    await doc.sync(db)
+
+    expect(changes).to.have.length(1)
+    expect(changes[0]).deep.equals({ name: 'default', count: 0 })
+  })
+
+  it('does not fire onChange when nothing changed', async function () {
+    const store = {
+      config: { _rev: '1-existing', name: 'default', count: 0 }
+    }
+    const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig)
+    const db = makeMockDb(store)
+    await doc.sync(db)
+
+    const changes: Config[] = []
+    doc.onChange(value => changes.push(value))
+    await doc.sync(db)
+
+    expect(changes).to.have.length(0)
+  })
+
+  describe('cleanFailStrategy = "reset" (default)', function () {
+    it('resets to fallback when document fails cleaner', async function () {
+      const store = {
+        config: { _rev: '1-existing', name: 'prod', count: 42 }
+      }
+      const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig)
+      const db = makeMockDb(store)
+
+      await doc.sync(db)
+      expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'prod', count: 42 })
+
+      // Corrupt the document:
+      store.config = {
+        _rev: store.config._rev,
+        name: 999 as any,
+        count: 'bad' as any
+      }
+
+      await doc.sync(db)
+      expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'default', count: 0 })
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('cleanFailStrategy = "preserve"', function () {
+    it('preserves last good value when document fails cleaner', async function () {
+      const store = {
+        config: { _rev: '1-existing', name: 'prod', count: 42 }
+      }
+      const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig, {
+        cleanFailStrategy: 'preserve'
+      })
+      const db = makeMockDb(store)
+
+      await doc.sync(db)
+      expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'prod', count: 42 })
+
+      store.config = {
+        _rev: store.config._rev,
+        name: 999 as any,
+        count: 'bad' as any
+      }
+
+      await doc.sync(db)
+      expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'prod', count: 42 })
+    })
+
+    it('falls back to cleaner({}) when no previous good state exists', async function () {
+      const store = {
+        config: { _rev: '1-existing', name: 999 as any, count: 'bad' as any }
+      }
+      const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig, {
+        cleanFailStrategy: 'preserve'
+      })
+      const db = makeMockDb(store)
+
+      await doc.sync(db)
+      expect(doc.doc).deep.equals({ name: 'default', count: 0 })
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe('onCleanFail callback', function () {
+    it('fires with the error when the cleaner fails', async function () {
+      const store = {
+        config: { _rev: '1-existing', name: 999 as any, count: 'bad' as any }
+      }
+      const errors: unknown[] = []
+      const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig, {
+        onCleanFail: error => errors.push(error)
+      })
+      const db = makeMockDb(store)
+
+      await doc.sync(db)
+
+      expect(errors).to.have.length(1)
+      expect(errors[0]).to.be.an('error')
+    })
+
+    it('does not fire when the cleaner succeeds', async function () {
+      const store = {
+        config: { _rev: '1-existing', name: 'prod', count: 42 }
+      }
+      const errors: unknown[] = []
+      const doc = syncedDocument('config', asConfig, {
+        onCleanFail: error => errors.push(error)
+      })
+      const db = makeMockDb(store)
+
+      await doc.sync(db)
+
+      expect(errors).to.have.length(0)
+    })
+  })
+})