diff --git a/nextcloud_mcp_server/document_processors/registry.py b/nextcloud_mcp_server/document_processors/registry.py
index 2aff91c5..53b296c2 100644
--- a/nextcloud_mcp_server/document_processors/registry.py
+++ b/nextcloud_mcp_server/document_processors/registry.py
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ class ProcessorRegistry:
                     filename or "<bytes>",
                     reason,
                 )
-                return await self._run_processor(
+                ocr_result = await self._run_processor(
                     ocr,
                     content,
                     content_type,
@@ -273,6 +273,19 @@ class ProcessorRegistry:
                     progress_callback,
                     escalated=True,
                 )
+                # OCR is an enhancement, not a gate: if it can't run (no backend
+                # configured / API down) or returns nothing, keep the tier-1
+                # result rather than failing the document. Otherwise an operator
+                # who sets DOCUMENT_OCR_ENABLED=true without credentials would
+                # make scanned docs fail entirely -- strictly worse than off.
+                if ocr_result.success:
+                    return ocr_result
+                logger.warning(
+                    "OCR escalation did not succeed for %s (%s); keeping the "
+                    "tier-1 result",
+                    filename or "<bytes>",
+                    ocr_result.metadata.get("parse_failed_reason", "error"),
+                )
 
         return result
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_registry_tiering.py b/tests/unit/test_registry_tiering.py
index 1124a69f..37dd6177 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_registry_tiering.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_registry_tiering.py
@@ -117,6 +117,20 @@ async def test_ocr_escalation_on_empty_text(monkeypatch):
     esc.assert_called_once()
 
 
+async def test_ocr_failure_falls_back_to_fast(monkeypatch):
+    # OCR enabled but the backend can't run (no creds / API down) -> keep the
+    # tier-1 result instead of failing the document.
+    monkeypatch.setattr(reg_mod, "get_settings", lambda: _Settings(ocr=True))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(reg_mod, "record_document_escalation", MagicMock())
+    r = _registry(
+        (_Fake("fast", "fast", text=""), 20),
+        (_Fake("ocr", "ocr", text="", success=False), 5),
+    )
+    res = await r.process(b"%PDF-1.7", "application/pdf")
+    assert res.processor == "fast"
+    assert res.success is True
+
+
 async def test_no_ocr_escalation_when_disabled(monkeypatch):
     monkeypatch.setattr(reg_mod, "get_settings", lambda: _Settings(ocr=False))
     r = _registry(