diff --git a/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.test.ts b/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.test.ts
index 7d3a6678..a9f3959e 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.test.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
+import { EventEmitter } from "events";
 import { readFileSync } from "fs";
 import { resolve } from "path";
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { extractMediaMetadata, extractPngMetadataFromBuffer } from "./ffprobe.js";
 
 function crc32(buf: Buffer): number {
@@ -107,3 +108,135 @@ describe("extractPngMetadataFromBuffer", () => {
     expect(extractPngMetadataFromBuffer(fixture)?.colorSpace?.colorTransfer).toBe("smpte2084");
   });
 });
+
+interface SpawnCall {
+  command: string;
+  args: readonly string[];
+}
+
+interface FakeProc extends EventEmitter {
+  stdout: EventEmitter;
+  stderr: EventEmitter;
+}
+
+type SpawnOutcome =
+  | { kind: "missing" }
+  | { kind: "error"; message: string; code?: string }
+  | { kind: "exit"; code: number; stdout?: string; stderr?: string };
+
+function createSpawnSpy(outcomes: SpawnOutcome[]): {
+  spawn: (command: string, args: readonly string[]) => FakeProc;
+  calls: SpawnCall[];
+} {
+  const calls: SpawnCall[] = [];
+  let invocation = 0;
+  const spawn = (command: string, args: readonly string[]): FakeProc => {
+    calls.push({ command, args });
+    const outcome = outcomes[invocation] ?? outcomes[outcomes.length - 1];
+    invocation += 1;
+
+    const proc = new EventEmitter() as FakeProc;
+    proc.stdout = new EventEmitter();
+    proc.stderr = new EventEmitter();
+
+    process.nextTick(() => {
+      if (!outcome) return;
+      if (outcome.kind === "missing") {
+        const err = new Error("spawn ffprobe ENOENT") as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+        err.code = "ENOENT";
+        proc.emit("error", err);
+        return;
+      }
+      if (outcome.kind === "error") {
+        const err = new Error(outcome.message) as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+        if (outcome.code) err.code = outcome.code;
+        proc.emit("error", err);
+        return;
+      }
+      if (outcome.stdout) proc.stdout.emit("data", Buffer.from(outcome.stdout));
+      if (outcome.stderr) proc.stderr.emit("data", Buffer.from(outcome.stderr));
+      proc.emit("close", outcome.code);
+    });
+
+    return proc;
+  };
+  return { spawn, calls };
+}
+
+describe("ffprobe missing-binary fallback", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.resetModules();
+    vi.doUnmock("child_process");
+  });
+
+  it("extractMediaMetadata falls back to PNG cICP metadata when ffprobe is missing", async () => {
+    const { spawn, calls } = createSpawnSpy([{ kind: "missing" }]);
+    vi.resetModules();
+    vi.doMock("child_process", () => ({ spawn }));
+
+    const { extractMediaMetadata: extractMediaMetadataMocked } = await import("./ffprobe.js");
+    const fixture = resolve(
+      __dirname,
+      "../../../producer/tests/hdr-regression/src/hdr-photo-pq.png",
+    );
+    const meta = await extractMediaMetadataMocked(fixture);
+
+    expect(calls.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(calls[0]?.command).toBe("ffprobe");
+    expect(meta.videoCodec).toBe("png");
+    expect(meta.durationSeconds).toBe(0);
+    expect(meta.fps).toBe(0);
+    expect(meta.hasAudio).toBe(false);
+    expect(meta.isVFR).toBe(false);
+    expect(meta.colorSpace?.colorTransfer).toBe("smpte2084");
+    expect(meta.colorSpace?.colorPrimaries).toBe("bt2020");
+  });
+
+  it("extractMediaMetadata rethrows ffprobe-missing error for non-image files without fallback", async () => {
+    const { spawn } = createSpawnSpy([{ kind: "missing" }]);
+    vi.resetModules();
+    vi.doMock("child_process", () => ({ spawn }));
+
+    const { extractMediaMetadata: extractMediaMetadataMocked } = await import("./ffprobe.js");
+
+    await expect(extractMediaMetadataMocked("/tmp/no-such-video.mp4")).rejects.toThrow(/ffprobe/);
+  });
+
+  it("extractAudioMetadata surfaces a ffprobe-missing error verbatim", async () => {
+    const { spawn, calls } = createSpawnSpy([{ kind: "missing" }]);
+    vi.resetModules();
+    vi.doMock("child_process", () => ({ spawn }));
+
+    const { extractAudioMetadata } = await import("./ffprobe.js");
+
+    await expect(extractAudioMetadata("/tmp/no-such-audio.wav")).rejects.toThrow(
+      /ffprobe not found/,
+    );
+    expect(calls.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(calls[0]?.command).toBe("ffprobe");
+  });
+
+  it("analyzeKeyframeIntervals surfaces a ffprobe-missing error verbatim", async () => {
+    const { spawn, calls } = createSpawnSpy([{ kind: "missing" }]);
+    vi.resetModules();
+    vi.doMock("child_process", () => ({ spawn }));
+
+    const { analyzeKeyframeIntervals } = await import("./ffprobe.js");
+
+    await expect(analyzeKeyframeIntervals("/tmp/no-such-video.mp4")).rejects.toThrow(
+      /ffprobe not found/,
+    );
+    expect(calls.length).toBe(1);
+    expect(calls[0]?.command).toBe("ffprobe");
+  });
+
+  it("ffprobe-missing error message includes install hint", async () => {
+    const { spawn } = createSpawnSpy([{ kind: "missing" }]);
+    vi.resetModules();
+    vi.doMock("child_process", () => ({ spawn }));
+
+    const { extractAudioMetadata } = await import("./ffprobe.js");
+
+    await expect(extractAudioMetadata("/tmp/example.mp3")).rejects.toThrow(/install FFmpeg/i);
+  });
+});