diff --git a/wled00/bus_manager.h b/wled00/bus_manager.h
index 530cae32d..295a84e52 100644
--- a/wled00/bus_manager.h
+++ b/wled00/bus_manager.h
@@ -119,13 +119,13 @@ class BusDigital : public Bus {
   public:
   BusDigital(BusConfig &bc, uint8_t nr) : Bus(bc.type, bc.start) {
     if (!IS_DIGITAL(bc.type) || !bc.count) return;
+    if (!pinManager.allocatePin(bc.pins[0])) return;
     _pins[0] = bc.pins[0];
-    if (!pinManager.allocatePin(_pins[0])) return;
     if (IS_2PIN(bc.type)) {
-      _pins[1] = bc.pins[1];
-      if (!pinManager.allocatePin(_pins[1])) {
+      if (!pinManager.allocatePin(bc.pins[1])) {
         cleanup(); return;
       }
+      _pins[1] = bc.pins[1];
     }
     reversed = bc.reversed;
     _skip = bc.skipAmount;    //sacrificial pixels
@@ -241,10 +241,11 @@ class BusPwm : public Bus {
     #endif
 
     for (uint8_t i = 0; i < numPins; i++) {
-      _pins[i] = bc.pins[i];
-      if (!pinManager.allocatePin(_pins[i])) {
+      uint8_t currentPin = bc.pins[i];
+      if (!pinManager.allocatePin(currentPin)) {
         deallocatePins(); return;
       }
+      _pins[i] = currentPin; // store only after allocatePin() succeeds
       #ifdef ESP8266
       pinMode(_pins[i], OUTPUT);
       #else
diff --git a/wled00/cfg.cpp b/wled00/cfg.cpp
index d4cce2f37..d054b8b08 100644
--- a/wled00/cfg.cpp
+++ b/wled00/cfg.cpp
@@ -152,14 +152,20 @@ bool deserializeConfig(JsonObject doc, bool fromFS) {
     }
   } else {
     // new install/missing configuration (button 0 has defaults)
-    if (fromFS) 
-      for (uint8_t s=1; s<WLED_MAX_BUTTONS; s++) {
+    if (fromFS) {
+      // relies upon only being called once with fromFS == true, which is currently true.
+      uint8_t s = 0;
+      if (pinManager.allocatePin(btnPin[0],false)) { // initialized to #define value BTNPIN, or zero if not defined(!)
+        ++s; // do not clear default button if allocated successfully 
+      }
+      for (; s<WLED_MAX_BUTTONS; s++) {
         btnPin[s]           = -1;
         buttonType[s]       = BTN_TYPE_NONE;
         macroButton[s]      = 0;
         macroLongPress[s]   = 0;
         macroDoublePress[s] = 0;
       }
+    }
   }
   CJSON(touchThreshold,btn_obj[F("tt")]);
   CJSON(buttonPublishMqtt,btn_obj["mqtt"]);
diff --git a/wled00/wled.cpp b/wled00/wled.cpp
index e925740a3..05b060cb2 100644
--- a/wled00/wled.cpp
+++ b/wled00/wled.cpp
@@ -446,14 +446,60 @@ void WLED::initConnection()
   // Only initialize ethernet board if not NONE
   if (ethernetType != WLED_ETH_NONE && ethernetType < WLED_NUM_ETH_TYPES) {
     ethernet_settings es = ethernetBoards[ethernetType];
-    ETH.begin(
-      (uint8_t) es.eth_address, 
-      (int)     es.eth_power, 
-      (int)     es.eth_mdc, 
-      (int)     es.eth_mdio, 
-      (eth_phy_type_t)   es.eth_type,
-      (eth_clock_mode_t) es.eth_clk_mode
-    );
+    // Use PinManager to ensure pins are available for
+    // ethernet AND to prevent other uses of these pins.
+    bool s = true;
+    byte pinsAllocated[4] { 255, 255, 255, 255 };
+
+    if (s && (s = pinManager.allocatePin((byte)es.eth_power))) {
+      pinsAllocated[0] = (byte)es.eth_power;
+    }
+    if (s && (s = pinManager.allocatePin((byte)es.eth_mdc))) {
+      pinsAllocated[1] = (byte)es.eth_mdc;
+    }
+    if (s && (s = pinManager.allocatePin((byte)es.eth_mdio))) {
+      pinsAllocated[2] = (byte)es.eth_mdio;
+    }
+    switch(es.eth_clk_mode) {
+      case ETH_CLOCK_GPIO0_IN:
+        s = pinManager.allocatePin(0, false);
+        pinsAllocated[3] = 0;
+        break;
+      case ETH_CLOCK_GPIO0_OUT:
+        s = pinManager.allocatePin(0);
+        pinsAllocated[3] = 0;
+        break;
+      case ETH_CLOCK_GPIO16_OUT:
+        s = pinManager.allocatePin(16);
+        pinsAllocated[3] = 16;
+        break;
+      case ETH_CLOCK_GPIO17_OUT:
+        s = pinManager.allocatePin(17);
+        pinsAllocated[3] = 17;
+        break;
+      default:
+        s = false;
+        break;
+    }
+
+    if (s) {
+      s = ETH.begin(
+        (uint8_t) es.eth_address, 
+        (int)     es.eth_power, 
+        (int)     es.eth_mdc, 
+        (int)     es.eth_mdio, 
+        (eth_phy_type_t)   es.eth_type,
+        (eth_clock_mode_t) es.eth_clk_mode
+      );
+    }
+    
+    if (!s) {
+      DEBUG_PRINTLN(F("Ethernet init failed"));
+      // de-allocate only those pins allocated before the failure
+      for (byte p : pinsAllocated) {
+        pinManager.deallocatePin(p);
+      }
+    }
   }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/wled00/wled_ethernet.h b/wled00/wled_ethernet.h
index 2b6021cbf..753e02899 100644
--- a/wled00/wled_ethernet.h
+++ b/wled00/wled_ethernet.h
@@ -20,8 +20,16 @@ ethernet_settings ethernetBoards[] = {
   // WT32-EHT01
   // Please note, from my testing only these pins work for LED outputs:
   //   IO2, IO4, IO12, IO14, IO15
-  // These pins do not appear to work from my testing:
-  //   IO35, IO36, IO39
+  // Pins IO34 through IO39 are input-only on ESP32, so
+  // the following exposed pins won't work to drive WLEDs
+  //   IO35(*), IO36, IO39
+  // The following pins are also exposed via the headers,
+  // and likely can be used as general purpose IO:
+  //   IO05(*), IO32 (CFG), IO33 (485_EN), IO33 (TXD)
+  //
+  //   (*) silkscreen on board revision v1.2 may be wrong:
+  //       IO5 silkscreen on v1.2 says IO35
+  //       IO35 silkscreen on v1.2 says RXD
   {
     1,                 // eth_address, 
     16,                // eth_power,