diff --git a/internal/topdata/native.go b/internal/topdata/native.go
index cc26e70..d674a74 100644
--- a/internal/topdata/native.go
+++ b/internal/topdata/native.go
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ func buildNativeUnchecked(p *project.Project, opts NativeBuildOptions, progress
 	if err != nil {
 		return BuildResult{}, err
 	}
-	lockAdded, lockPruned, err := saveNativeBaseLockfiles(collected)
+	lockAdded, lockPruned, err := saveNativeLockfiles(collected)
 	if err != nil {
 		return BuildResult{}, err
 	}
@@ -419,11 +419,11 @@ func nativeCompileGroup(datasetName string) string {
 	}
 }
 
-func saveNativeBaseLockfiles(collected []nativeCollectedDataset) (int, int, error) {
+func saveNativeLockfiles(collected []nativeCollectedDataset) (int, int, error) {
 	added := 0
 	pruned := 0
 	for _, dataset := range collected {
-		if dataset.Dataset.Kind != nativeDatasetBase || dataset.Dataset.LockPath == "" {
+		if dataset.Dataset.LockPath == "" {
 			continue
 		}
 		current, err := loadLockfile(dataset.Dataset.LockPath)
@@ -2769,7 +2769,6 @@ func collectPlainDataset(dataset nativeDataset) (nativeCollectedDataset, error)
 	}
 
 	rows := make([]map[string]any, 0, len(rawRows))
-	lockModified := false
 	explicitID := make([]bool, 0, len(rawRows))
 	for index, raw := range rawRows {
 		rowObj, ok := raw.(map[string]any)
@@ -2804,7 +2803,6 @@ func collectPlainDataset(dataset nativeDataset) (nativeCollectedDataset, error)
 				usedIDs[nextID] = struct{}{}
 				nextID = nextAvailableID(usedIDs)
 			}
-			lockModified = true
 			continue
 		}
 		if !explicitID[index] {
@@ -2812,12 +2810,6 @@ func collectPlainDataset(dataset nativeDataset) (nativeCollectedDataset, error)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if lockModified {
-		if err := saveLockfile(dataset.LockPath, lockData); err != nil {
-			return nativeCollectedDataset{}, fmt.Errorf("dataset %s: %w", dataset.Name, err)
-		}
-	}
-
 	slices.SortFunc(rows, func(a, b map[string]any) int {
 		return a["id"].(int) - b["id"].(int)
 	})
diff --git a/internal/topdata/topdata_test.go b/internal/topdata/topdata_test.go
index e58b692..468d1b6 100644
--- a/internal/topdata/topdata_test.go
+++ b/internal/topdata/topdata_test.go
@@ -11330,6 +11330,39 @@ func TestBuildNativeSupportsLoosePlainTableAtTopdataDataRoot(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestValidateProjectDoesNotRewritePlainDatasetLockfile(t *testing.T) {
+	root := testProjectRoot(t)
+	mkdirAll(t, filepath.Join(root, "topdata", "data", "ruleset"))
+	writeFile(t, filepath.Join(root, "topdata", "base_dialog.json"), "{}\n")
+	lockPath := filepath.Join(root, "topdata", "data", "ruleset", "lock.json")
+	writeFile(t, filepath.Join(root, "topdata", "data", "ruleset", "base.json"), `{
+  "output": "ruleset.2da",
+  "columns": ["Name", "Value"],
+  "rows": [
+    {"id": 0, "key": "ruleset:test_rule", "Name": "TEST_RULE", "Value": "1"}
+  ]
+}`+"\n")
+	writeFile(t, lockPath, "{}\n")
+
+	before, err := os.ReadFile(lockPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read initial lockfile: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	report := ValidateProject(testProject(root))
+	if report.HasErrors() {
+		t.Fatalf("expected validation to succeed, got:\n%s", diagnosticsText(report.Diagnostics))
+	}
+
+	after, err := os.ReadFile(lockPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("read lockfile after validation: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(after) != string(before) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected validation to leave plain dataset lockfile unchanged, got:\n%s", string(after))
+	}
+}
+
 func TestValidateProjectErrorsOnTopPackageAssetCollision(t *testing.T) {
 	root := testProjectRoot(t)
 	mkdirAll(t, filepath.Join(root, "topdata", "data", "repadjust"))