diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.test.ts
index c9e07a51..94b2046d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,27 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { createPdfRenderer } from './usePdfRenderer.svelte';
 import { makeFakeLibLoader } from './testHelpers';
+import { m } from '$lib/paraglide/messages.js';
+
+function makeRenderingLib(renderPromise: Promise<void>): typeof import('pdfjs-dist') {
+	const page = {
+		getViewport: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({ width: 100, height: 100 }),
+		render: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({ promise: renderPromise, cancel: vi.fn() }),
+		streamTextContent: vi.fn().mockReturnValue(new ReadableStream())
+	};
+	return {
+		GlobalWorkerOptions: { workerSrc: '' },
+		getDocument: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
+			promise: Promise.resolve({ numPages: 1, getPage: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(page) })
+		}),
+		TextLayer: class {
+			render() {
+				return Promise.resolve();
+			}
+			cancel() {}
+		}
+	} as unknown as typeof import('pdfjs-dist');
+}
 
 // Note: init() and loadDocument() require pdfjsLib (browser module).
 // These tests cover pure state logic only — bounds clamping and zoom limits.
@@ -231,6 +252,31 @@ describe('createPdfRenderer', () => {
 		expect(arg.wasmUrl?.endsWith('/')).toBe(true);
 	});
 
+	it('renderCurrentPage sets a localized error when the render rejects (not silently blank)', async () => {
+		const lib = makeRenderingLib(Promise.reject(new Error('JBig2 failed to initialize')));
+		const r = createPdfRenderer(vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([lib, { default: '' }] as const));
+		await r.init();
+		r.setElements(document.createElement('canvas'), document.createElement('div'));
+		await r.loadDocument('/x');
+		await r.renderCurrentPage();
+
+		expect(r.error).toBe(m.doc_render_failed());
+	});
+
+	it('renderCurrentPage does NOT set an error when the render is cancelled', async () => {
+		const cancelled = Object.assign(new Error('cancelled'), {
+			name: 'RenderingCancelledException'
+		});
+		const lib = makeRenderingLib(Promise.reject(cancelled));
+		const r = createPdfRenderer(vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([lib, { default: '' }] as const));
+		await r.init();
+		r.setElements(document.createElement('canvas'), document.createElement('div'));
+		await r.loadDocument('/x');
+		await r.renderCurrentPage();
+
+		expect(r.error).toBeNull();
+	});
+
 	it('loadDocument sets error and loading=false when getDocument().promise rejects', async () => {
 		const failingLib = {
 			GlobalWorkerOptions: { workerSrc: '' },
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.ts b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.ts
index c21ad2dd..1e169969 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { PDFDocumentProxy, RenderTask } from 'pdfjs-dist';
+import { m } from '$lib/paraglide/messages.js';
 
 export type LibLoader = () => Promise<readonly [typeof import('pdfjs-dist'), { default: string }]>;
 
@@ -105,6 +106,10 @@ export function createPdfRenderer(libLoader: LibLoader = defaultLibLoader) {
 				(e as { name: string }).name === 'RenderingCancelledException'
 			)
 				return;
+			// A real decode/render failure (e.g. a wasm decoder that could not
+			// initialise) — surface a localized message instead of leaving a
+			// silent blank canvas. Never leak the raw pdf.js error text.
+			error = m.doc_render_failed();
 			return;
 		}
 		renderTask = null;