<p>In the face of increased disruptions driven by growing climate non-stationarity and infrastructure complexity, Safe-to-Fail (STF) has emerged as a design theory aimed at managing the consequences of infrastructure failure. Despite its growing acceptance within the climate adaptation community, STF research has not yet sufficiently explored (1) the practical applicability across different types of infrastructure (e.g., power, stormwater, transportation, water supply) and environmental contexts (e.g., geographical variability); and (2) the governance shifts needed to foster STF-oriented infrastructure design. To address these gaps, we position STF within the Social-Ecological-Technological Systems (SETS) framework to advance a failure-management design process that proactively navigates infrastructure complexity. This integration unlocks spaces for design of social and ecological adaptation strategies (e.g., social networks, adaptive governance, green and blue infrastructure) that loosen the reliance of human capabilities (e.g., information, food and clean water, maintenance of good health, safety) on technological-centered infrastructure (e.g., roads, power lines, stormwater pipes and pumps), thus providing alternatives to preserve critical human capabilities even amidst disruptions. Therefore, STF and SETS enhance the requisite variety of infrastructure, i.e., they stretch the portfolio of adaptation strategies to match increasingly unstable environmental stressors, thereby going beyond robust and technologically centered interventions. Through practical examples across infrastructures and environments, we demonstrate that the integration of STF and SETS is valuable in translating knowledge into action. From a governance standpoint, infrastructure agencies need to facilitate knowledge sharing among siloed departments, expand stakeholder engagement, and rethink ways of navigating tradeoffs that emerge from decision processes aimed at alleviating the consequences of failure.</p>