diff --git a/src/dotenv/main.py b/src/dotenv/main.py
index 3123690a..f60d4d3b 100644
--- a/src/dotenv/main.py
+++ b/src/dotenv/main.py
@@ -135,6 +135,25 @@ def get_key(
     return DotEnv(dotenv_path, verbose=True, encoding=encoding).get(key_to_get)
 
 
+def _discard_temp_file(path: pathlib.Path) -> None:
+    """
+    Delete `rewrite`'s temporary file, ignoring any failure to do so.
+
+    This runs while another exception is propagating, so it must not raise:
+    that error is the one worth reporting. On Windows, a file whose mode has
+    no owner-write bit carries the read-only attribute and can't be unlinked,
+    so the mode is reset before a second attempt.
+    """
+    try:
+        path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+    except OSError:
+        try:
+            path.chmod(stat.S_IWRITE | stat.S_IREAD)
+            path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        except OSError:
+            logger.warning("python-dotenv could not remove the temporary file %s", path)
+
+
 @contextmanager
 def rewrite(
     path: StrPath,
@@ -183,10 +202,10 @@ def rewrite(
 
             os.replace(dest_path, path)
         except BaseException:
-            dest_path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            _discard_temp_file(dest_path)
             raise
     else:
-        dest_path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        _discard_temp_file(dest_path)
         raise error from None
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 6f9d4c5c..ce83a657 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import io
 import logging
 import os
+import pathlib
 import stat
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -195,6 +196,44 @@ def test_set_key_permission_error(dotenv_path):
     assert dotenv_path.read_text() == ""
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    sys.platform != "win32" and os.geteuid() == 0,
+    reason="Root user can access files even with 000 permissions.",
+)
+def test_set_key_permission_error_leaves_no_temp_file(dotenv_path):
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        # On Windows, make file read-only
+        dotenv_path.chmod(stat.S_IREAD)
+    else:
+        # On Unix, remove all permissions
+        dotenv_path.chmod(0o000)
+
+    try:
+        with pytest.raises(PermissionError):
+            dotenv.set_key(dotenv_path, "a", "b")
+
+        assert list(dotenv_path.parent.glob(".tmp_*")) == []
+    finally:
+        # Restore permissions
+        if sys.platform == "win32":
+            dotenv_path.chmod(stat.S_IWRITE | stat.S_IREAD)
+        else:
+            dotenv_path.chmod(0o600)
+
+
+def test_rewrite_reports_original_error_when_cleanup_fails(dotenv_path):
+    replace_error = OSError("replace failed")
+
+    with mock.patch("dotenv.main.os.replace", side_effect=replace_error):
+        with mock.patch.object(
+            pathlib.Path, "unlink", side_effect=OSError("unlink failed")
+        ):
+            with pytest.raises(OSError) as excinfo:
+                dotenv.set_key(dotenv_path, "a", "b")
+
+    assert excinfo.value is replace_error
+
+
 def test_get_key_no_file(tmp_path):
     nx_path = tmp_path / "nx"
     logger = logging.getLogger("dotenv.main")