diff --git a/internal/redact/redact.go b/internal/redact/redact.go
index 3bb76e2694d..bfa64beace9 100644
--- a/internal/redact/redact.go
+++ b/internal/redact/redact.go
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@ import "github.com/anchore/go-logger/adapter/redact"
 
 var store redact.Store
 
+// Set replaces the package-level redaction store. Library consumers that construct and execute a syft
+// command more than once within the same process (each call getting its own fresh clio state, and thus
+// its own redaction store) will legitimately call Set again; that's expected and simply swaps in the new
+// store, consistent with how the sibling bus and log singleton packages behave on repeated Set calls.
+// Redactions added to a store before it's replaced no longer apply to output produced afterwards.
 func Set(s redact.Store) {
-	if store != nil {
-		// if someone is trying to set a redaction store and we already have one then something is wrong. The store
-		// that we're replacing might already have values in it, so we should never replace it.
-		panic("replace existing redaction store (probably unintentional)")
-	}
 	store = s
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/redact/redact_test.go b/internal/redact/redact_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..074ef996c04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/redact/redact_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package redact
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	gologgerredact "github.com/anchore/go-logger/adapter/redact"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+// TestSet_ReplacingExistingStoreDoesNotPanic is a regression test for
+// https://github.com/anchore/syft/issues/2285: library consumers that
+// construct and execute a syft command more than once in the same process
+// (e.g. https://github.com/anchore/syft/blob/main/cmd/syft/internal/clio_setup_config.go
+// calling redact.Set on every clio initializer run) used to panic on the
+// second call, because Set refused to replace an already-set store.
+func TestSet_ReplacingExistingStoreDoesNotPanic(t *testing.T) {
+	orig := store
+	defer func() { store = orig }()
+
+	Set(gologgerredact.NewStore())
+	Add("first-secret")
+	assert.Equal(t, "prefix ******* suffix", Apply("prefix first-secret suffix"))
+
+	assert.NotPanics(t, func() {
+		Set(gologgerredact.NewStore())
+	})
+
+	// the replaced store doesn't carry over redactions registered before the swap
+	assert.Equal(t, "prefix first-secret suffix", Apply("prefix first-secret suffix"))
+
+	// but works normally going forward
+	Add("second-secret")
+	assert.Equal(t, "prefix ******* suffix", Apply("prefix second-secret suffix"))
+}