diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/PdfViewer.svelte.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/PdfViewer.svelte.test.ts
index a4b49ba9..17d1827c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/PdfViewer.svelte.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/PdfViewer.svelte.test.ts
@@ -1,40 +1,11 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { cleanup, render } from 'vitest-browser-svelte';
 import { page } from 'vitest/browser';
-import type { LibLoader } from '$lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte';
 import PdfViewer from './PdfViewer.svelte';
+import { makeFakeLibLoader } from './testHelpers';
 
 afterEach(cleanup);
 
-function makeFakePdfjsLib() {
-	class TextLayerMock {
-		render() {
-			return Promise.resolve();
-		}
-		cancel() {}
-	}
-
-	return {
-		GlobalWorkerOptions: { workerSrc: '' },
-		getDocument: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
-			promise: Promise.resolve({
-				numPages: 2,
-				getPage: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
-					getViewport: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({ width: 595, height: 842 }),
-					render: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({ promise: Promise.resolve() }),
-					streamTextContent: vi.fn().mockReturnValue(new ReadableStream())
-				})
-			})
-		}),
-		TextLayer: TextLayerMock
-	} as unknown as typeof import('pdfjs-dist');
-}
-
-function makeFakeLibLoader(): LibLoader {
-	const fakePdfjs = makeFakePdfjsLib();
-	return vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([fakePdfjs, { default: '' }] as const);
-}
-
 describe('PdfViewer — empty / error states', () => {
 	it('renders the no-file placeholder when url is empty', async () => {
 		render(PdfViewer, { url: '', libLoader: makeFakeLibLoader() });
@@ -293,18 +264,18 @@ describe('PdfViewer — loaded state', () => {
 
 	it('shows previous and next page navigation buttons', async () => {
 		render(PdfViewer, { url: '/api/documents/test-id/file', libLoader: makeFakeLibLoader() });
-		await expect.element(page.getByRole('button', { name: /zurück/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
-		await expect.element(page.getByRole('button', { name: /weiter/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
+		await expect.element(page.getByRole('button', { name: /zurück/i })).toBeVisible();
+		await expect.element(page.getByRole('button', { name: /weiter/i })).toBeVisible();
 	});
 
 	it('shows zoom controls', async () => {
 		render(PdfViewer, { url: '/api/documents/test-id/file', libLoader: makeFakeLibLoader() });
-		await expect.element(page.getByRole('button', { name: /vergrößern/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
-		await expect.element(page.getByRole('button', { name: /verkleinern/i })).toBeInTheDocument();
+		await expect.element(page.getByRole('button', { name: /vergrößern/i })).toBeVisible();
+		await expect.element(page.getByRole('button', { name: /verkleinern/i })).toBeVisible();
 	});
 
 	it('displays the page counter once the PDF has loaded', async () => {
 		render(PdfViewer, { url: '/api/documents/test-id/file', libLoader: makeFakeLibLoader() });
-		await expect.element(page.getByText(/1\s*\/\s*2/)).toBeInTheDocument();
+		await expect.element(page.getByText(/1\s*\/\s*2/)).toBeVisible();
 	});
 });
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/testHelpers.ts b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/testHelpers.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f7e5c295
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/testHelpers.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { vi } from 'vitest';
+import type { LibLoader } from './usePdfRenderer.svelte';
+
+export function makeFakePdfjsLib() {
+	class TextLayerMock {
+		render() {
+			return Promise.resolve();
+		}
+		cancel() {}
+	}
+
+	return {
+		GlobalWorkerOptions: { workerSrc: '' },
+		getDocument: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
+			promise: Promise.resolve({
+				numPages: 2,
+				getPage: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+					getViewport: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({ width: 595, height: 842 }),
+					render: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({ promise: Promise.resolve() }),
+					streamTextContent: vi.fn().mockReturnValue(new ReadableStream())
+				})
+			})
+		}),
+		TextLayer: TextLayerMock
+	} as unknown as typeof import('pdfjs-dist');
+}
+
+export function makeFakeLibLoader(): LibLoader {
+	const fakePdfjs = makeFakePdfjsLib();
+	return vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([fakePdfjs, { default: '' }] as const);
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.test.ts
index 2a1c9f90..6b48c3f8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/document/viewer/usePdfRenderer.svelte.test.ts
@@ -1,24 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
-import type { LibLoader } from './usePdfRenderer.svelte';
 import { createPdfRenderer } from './usePdfRenderer.svelte';
-
-function makeFakeLibLoader(): LibLoader {
-	return vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([
-		{
-			GlobalWorkerOptions: { workerSrc: '' },
-			getDocument: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
-				promise: Promise.resolve({ numPages: 1, getPage: vi.fn() })
-			}),
-			TextLayer: class {
-				render() {
-					return Promise.resolve();
-				}
-				cancel() {}
-			}
-		} as unknown as typeof import('pdfjs-dist'),
-		{ default: '' }
-	] as const);
-}
+import { makeFakeLibLoader } from './testHelpers';
 
 // Note: init() and loadDocument() require pdfjsLib (browser module).
 // These tests cover pure state logic only — bounds clamping and zoom limits.
@@ -222,4 +204,24 @@ describe('createPdfRenderer', () => {
 		await r.init();
 		expect(fakeLoader).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
 	});
+
+	it('loadDocument sets error and loading=false when getDocument().promise rejects', async () => {
+		const failingLib = {
+			GlobalWorkerOptions: { workerSrc: '' },
+			getDocument: vi.fn().mockReturnValue({
+				promise: Promise.reject(new Error('PDF not found'))
+			}),
+			TextLayer: class {
+				render() {
+					return Promise.resolve();
+				}
+				cancel() {}
+			}
+		} as unknown as typeof import('pdfjs-dist');
+		const r = createPdfRenderer(vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([failingLib, { default: '' }] as const));
+		await r.init();
+		await r.loadDocument('/bad/path');
+		expect(r.loading).toBe(false);
+		expect(r.error).toBe('PDF not found');
+	});
 });