diff --git a/next.config.ts b/next.config.ts
index a844e2081..055b1dcf7 100644
--- a/next.config.ts
+++ b/next.config.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,16 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
   // still covers the full program.
   typescript: { tsconfigPath: "tsconfig.build.json" },
   poweredByHeader: false,
+  // The image optimizer is off. Nothing renders through `next/image`: logos,
+  // icons and avatars are plain `<img>` elements served from `public/` or
+  // from an authenticated route. With the optimizer on, `/_next/image` still
+  // fetched, decoded and re-encoded whatever local path a request named,
+  // which is surface this app has no use for and where the framework has
+  // shipped critical advisories. Off, Next answers that route with 404
+  // before it reads a single parameter. `next-image-optimizer-guard.test.ts`
+  // holds this: it fails when `next/image` is imported while the optimizer
+  // is off, and when the optimizer comes back with SVG input allowed.
+  images: { unoptimized: true },
   // v1.4.38.4 — expose the package.json version to the client bundle
   // so the `<VersionPoller>` can compare the shell-baked version
   // against the live `/api/version` response and trigger a self-heal
diff --git a/src/__tests__/next-image-optimizer-guard.test.ts b/src/__tests__/next-image-optimizer-guard.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..16f8a3124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/next-image-optimizer-guard.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+/**
+ * The image optimizer stays off while nothing uses it.
+ *
+ * `next.config.ts` sets `images.unoptimized`, which makes Next answer
+ * `/_next/image` with 404 before it reads a parameter, so the route that
+ * fetches, decodes and re-encodes images is not reachable at all. Two ways
+ * to undo that quietly, and this pins both:
+ *
+ *   1. A component imports `next/image` (or `next/legacy/image`) while the
+ *      optimizer is off. It would render, unoptimized, and the next person
+ *      to notice the missing optimization would switch the optimizer back on
+ *      without the review this flag deserves. Using `next/image` means
+ *      revisiting this decision, so the import fails here first.
+ *   2. The optimizer comes back on with `dangerouslyAllowSVG`. An SVG is a
+ *      document, not a picture, and the framework's own advisories have been
+ *      about exactly that input. Re-enabling the optimizer is allowed; doing
+ *      it with SVG input allowed is not.
+ */
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import {
+  requireFloor,
+  stripComments,
+  walkSourceFiles,
+} from "./helpers/source-files";
+
+const ROOT = process.cwd();
+const SRC = join(ROOT, "src");
+
+type ImagesConfig = {
+  unoptimized?: boolean;
+  dangerouslyAllowSVG?: boolean;
+};
+
+async function imagesConfig(): Promise<ImagesConfig> {
+  const mod = (await import("../../next.config")) as {
+    default: { images?: ImagesConfig };
+  };
+  return mod.default.images ?? {};
+}
+
+/** Matches any import of `specifier` (static, dynamic, `require`, re-export). */
+function importOf(specifier: string): RegExp {
+  const escaped = specifier.replace(/[/]/g, "\\/");
+  return new RegExp(
+    `(?:\\bfrom\\s*|\\bimport\\s*\\(\\s*|\\brequire\\s*\\(\\s*|^\\s*import\\s+)["']${escaped}["']`,
+    "m",
+  );
+}
+
+const NEXT_IMAGE_IMPORT = importOf("next/(?:legacy/)?image");
+
+/** Every non-generated, non-test source file under `src/` matching `re`. */
+function importers(re: RegExp): string[] {
+  return walkSourceFiles(SRC, { floor: 3000 })
+    .filter((rel) => !rel.startsWith("generated/"))
+    .filter((rel) => !rel.includes("__tests__/"))
+    .filter((rel) =>
+      re.test(stripComments(readFileSync(join(SRC, rel), "utf8"))),
+    );
+}
+
+describe("next/image optimizer", () => {
+  it("the import matcher recognises every form of the import", () => {
+    // The sweep below passes when it matches nothing, so the matcher has to
+    // be shown to match before an empty result means anything.
+    for (const line of [
+      'import Image from "next/image";',
+      "import Image from 'next/legacy/image';",
+      'const Image = await import("next/image");',
+      'const Image = require("next/image");',
+      'import "next/image";',
+      'export { default } from "next/image";',
+    ]) {
+      expect(NEXT_IMAGE_IMPORT.test(line), line).toBe(true);
+    }
+    for (const line of [
+      "// `next/image` is wrong here",
+      'const path = "/_next/image?url=x";',
+      'import { foo } from "next/image-extra";',
+    ]) {
+      expect(NEXT_IMAGE_IMPORT.test(stripComments(line)), line).toBe(false);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("the same sweep finds the imports of a sibling module", () => {
+    // An empty result for `next/image` is only worth something if the walk,
+    // the comment stripping and the matcher together do find real imports.
+    // `next/link` is imported the same way all over the tree.
+    requireFloor("next/link importers", importers(importOf("next/link")), 100);
+  });
+
+  it("is off, and then nothing imports next/image", async () => {
+    const images = await imagesConfig();
+    if (images.unoptimized !== true) return;
+    expect(importers(NEXT_IMAGE_IMPORT)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it("is never on with SVG input allowed", async () => {
+    const images = await imagesConfig();
+    if (images.unoptimized === true) return;
+    expect(images.dangerouslyAllowSVG ?? false).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("is off today", async () => {
+    // The two cases above each skip on the other branch. This pins which
+    // branch the tree is on, so flipping it is a visible change to this
+    // file and not a silent switch between the two.
+    expect((await imagesConfig()).unoptimized).toBe(true);
+  });
+});