diff --git a/core/artwork/artwork.go b/core/artwork/artwork.go
index f3dcb7593..077ca31d4 100644
--- a/core/artwork/artwork.go
+++ b/core/artwork/artwork.go
@@ -19,6 +19,19 @@ import (
 
 var ErrUnavailable = errors.New("artwork unavailable")
 
+// maxTeeBytes bounds the per-serve capture buffer; artwork is a few MB, and anything larger is not
+// hashed (skipped), so a pathological source can't accumulate unbounded memory across serves.
+const maxTeeBytes = 20 * 1024 * 1024
+
+// capAtNow keeps a future artwork mtime (clock skew, a future-stamped file) from being stored as the
+// blurhash version, which would let the DTO's !Before check pin the hash until wall time caught up.
+func capAtNow(t time.Time) time.Time {
+	if now := time.Now(); t.After(now) {
+		return now
+	}
+	return t
+}
+
 type Artwork interface {
 	Get(ctx context.Context, artID model.ArtworkID, size int, square bool) (io.ReadCloser, time.Time, error)
 	GetOrPlaceholder(ctx context.Context, id string, size int, square bool) (io.ReadCloser, time.Time, error)
@@ -59,6 +72,11 @@ func (a *artwork) GetOrPlaceholder(ctx context.Context, id string, size int, squ
 		reader, lastUpdate, err = a.Get(ctx, artID, size, square)
 	}
 	if errors.Is(err, ErrUnavailable) {
+		if a.blurHashes != nil && eligibleKind(artID) {
+			// No bytes flowed through the tee; a real deletion must still clear the stored hash. The
+			// worker re-checks so a transient fetch failure doesn't clobber a valid hash.
+			a.blurHashes.EnqueueClearIfGone(artID, capAtNow(consts.ServerStart))
+		}
 		if artID.Kind == model.KindArtistArtwork {
 			reader, _ = resources.FS().Open(consts.PlaceholderArtistArt)
 		} else {
@@ -80,21 +98,17 @@ func (a *artwork) Get(ctx context.Context, artID model.ArtworkID, size int, squa
 		if !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) && !errors.Is(err, ErrUnavailable) {
 			log.Error(ctx, "Error accessing image cache", "id", artID, "size", size, err)
 		}
-		// A vanished source must still reach the worker, or a stored hash would keep describing
-		// artwork that no longer exists.
-		if a.blurHashes != nil && errors.Is(err, ErrUnavailable) {
-			a.blurHashes.EnqueueGone(artID)
-		}
 		return nil, time.Time{}, err
 	}
-	if a.blurHashes != nil && size == 0 && !square {
-		// Every original-size serve carries the reader's true version; the worker's freshness guard
-		// turns already-hashed rows into a cheap read and only recomputes when the hash is stale or
-		// missing. Enqueuing on cache hits too (not just fills) is what backfills warm caches adopted
-		// from a pre-blurhash version, whose rows migrated in with an empty hash.
-		a.blurHashes.Enqueue(artID, artReader.LastUpdated())
+	reader = r
+	if a.blurHashes != nil && size == 0 && !square && eligibleKind(artID) {
+		// Tee the served bytes: the blurhash is computed from exactly what the client downloads, so it
+		// changes precisely when the served cover changes. Placeholder bytes (playlist fallback) clear.
+		version := capAtNow(artReader.LastUpdated())
+		reader = &teeCachedStream{CachedStream: r, tee: newTeeReader(io.NopCloser(r), maxTeeBytes,
+			func(data []byte) { a.blurHashes.EnqueueBytes(artID, data, version) })}
 	}
-	return r, artReader.LastUpdated(), nil
+	return reader, artReader.LastUpdated(), nil
 }
 
 type coverArtGetter interface {
diff --git a/core/artwork/blurhash_tee.go b/core/artwork/blurhash_tee.go
index f603f1f65..60c0d3661 100644
--- a/core/artwork/blurhash_tee.go
+++ b/core/artwork/blurhash_tee.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package artwork
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"io"
+
+	"github.com/navidrome/navidrome/utils/cache"
 )
 
 // teeReader mirrors bytes read from src into buf, and on Close invokes onComplete with the captured
@@ -46,3 +48,14 @@ func (t *teeReader) Close() error {
 	}
 	return err
 }
+
+// teeCachedStream wraps a *cache.CachedStream so reads are teed for blurhash capture while callers
+// still see a ReadCloser. Seek is intentionally dropped: blurhash-eligible serves are full reads
+// (every artwork handler does io.Copy), so no caller Seeks a teed stream.
+type teeCachedStream struct {
+	*cache.CachedStream
+	tee *teeReader
+}
+
+func (t *teeCachedStream) Read(p []byte) (int, error) { return t.tee.Read(p) }
+func (t *teeCachedStream) Close() error               { return t.tee.Close() }
diff --git a/core/artwork/e2e/blurhash_test.go b/core/artwork/e2e/blurhash_test.go
index 148a3ff56..9c834a15c 100644
--- a/core/artwork/e2e/blurhash_test.go
+++ b/core/artwork/e2e/blurhash_test.go
@@ -74,8 +74,8 @@ var _ = Describe("BlurHash", func() {
 			firstHash = updated.BlurHash
 		}, "10s", "100ms").Should(Succeed())
 
-		// Swap the cover bytes and rescan: the folder's image version moves, so the reader key moves,
-		// the cache misses and the fill re-triggers the compute — no serve-time force hint needed.
+		// Swap the cover bytes and rescan, then serve: the tee hashes the newly-served bytes, so the
+		// stored hash moves to describe the new cover.
 		setLayout(fstest.MapFS{
 			"Artist/Album/01 - Song.mp3": trackFile(1, "Song"),
 			"Artist/Album/cover.png":     realPNG("swapped-cover"),
@@ -105,13 +105,13 @@ var _ = Describe("BlurHash", func() {
 			g.Expect(updated.BlurHash).ToNot(BeEmpty())
 		}, "10s", "100ms").Should(Succeed())
 
-		// No rescan: the folder row still lists the cover, but the file is gone — the serve's
-		// ErrUnavailable alone must trigger the clear.
+		// No rescan: the folder row still lists the cover, but the file is gone. The serve falls back
+		// to the placeholder (GetOrPlaceholder, the real Jellyfin/Subsonic path), and the worker's
+		// gone-recheck confirms the source is really gone and clears the stored hash.
 		setLayout(fstest.MapFS{
 			"Artist/Album/01 - Song.mp3": trackFile(1, "Song"),
 		})
-		_, err := readArtworkOrErr(al.CoverArtID())
-		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(readOrPlaceholder(al.CoverArtID())).To(Equal(placeholderBytes()))
 
 		Eventually(func(g Gomega) {
 			updated, err := ds.Album(ctx).Get(al.ID)
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ var _ = Describe("BlurHash", func() {
 		}, "10s", "100ms").Should(Succeed())
 	})
 
-	PIt("recomputes when cover bytes change under a preserved mtime (cache disabled)", func() {
+	It("recomputes when cover bytes change under a preserved mtime (cache disabled)", func() {
 		cover := realPNG("orig-bytes")
 		fixed := time.Date(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
 		cover.ModTime = fixed
diff --git a/core/artwork/e2e/helpers_test.go b/core/artwork/e2e/helpers_test.go
index e3abca097..807c368e1 100644
--- a/core/artwork/e2e/helpers_test.go
+++ b/core/artwork/e2e/helpers_test.go
@@ -158,6 +158,18 @@ func readArtworkOrErr(artID model.ArtworkID) ([]byte, error) {
 	return io.ReadAll(r)
 }
 
+// readOrPlaceholder serves through GetOrPlaceholder — the path real Jellyfin/Subsonic handlers use —
+// so a vanished album/artist cover falls back to the placeholder, whose bytes drive the blurhash clear.
+func readOrPlaceholder(artID model.ArtworkID) []byte {
+	GinkgoHelper()
+	r, _, err := aw.GetOrPlaceholder(ctx, artID.String(), 0, false)
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+	defer r.Close()
+	b, err := io.ReadAll(r)
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+	return b
+}
+
 // noopProvider implements external.Provider with not-found returns so the
 // "external" priority entry never produces a result.
 type noopProvider struct{}