diff --git a/next.config.ts b/next.config.ts
index 055b1dcf7..66662bb82 100644
--- a/next.config.ts
+++ b/next.config.ts
@@ -302,11 +302,14 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
   outputFileTracingIncludes: {
     "*": [
       "./src/lib/ai/prompts/safety-contracts.*.yaml",
-      // Document AI local text extraction runs `pdf-parse` (→ pdfjs-dist)
-      // server-side in the content-index job — the provider-free fallback that
-      // keeps content search working with no AI configured. Both are pure JS +
-      // wasm; there is NO native `.node` on the text-layer path (`@napi-rs/canvas`
-      // is only pulled for image rendering, which `getText()` never invokes).
+      // Document AI local text extraction reads the text layer with pdfjs-dist
+      // (`getTextContent`, `src/lib/documents/local-extract.ts`) server-side in
+      // the content-index job — the provider-free fallback that keeps content
+      // search working with no AI configured. It is pure JS + wasm; there is NO
+      // native `.node` on the text-layer path (`@napi-rs/canvas` is only pulled
+      // for image rendering). Nothing at runtime imports `pdf-parse` any more
+      // (its own older pdfjs clashed with the app's); its glob below is dead
+      // weight kept until the image is rebuilt and checked without it.
       // The standalone tracer can miss pdfjs-dist's wasm decoders (they resolve
       // via `new URL(..., import.meta.url)`), so pin both packages into the
       // runtime image explicitly. pnpm keeps pdfjs-dist unhoisted under `.pnpm`.
diff --git a/src/__tests__/single-pdfjs-guard.test.ts b/src/__tests__/single-pdfjs-guard.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..897189e1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/single-pdfjs-guard.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/**
+ * Structural guard: the server runs one pdfjs.
+ *
+ * ## The failure this freezes
+ *
+ * `pdf-parse` brings its own `pdfjs-dist` beside the app's, and under Node
+ * every pdfjs copy keeps its worker on the one `globalThis.pdfjsWorker`. While
+ * local text extraction went through pdf-parse, whichever copy ran first in a
+ * process broke the other: "The API version "6.4.299" does not match the
+ * Worker version "5.4.296"". Thumbnails and vision reads failed after a text
+ * extraction, and the text extraction failed after a raster.
+ *
+ * ## What it proves and what it does not
+ *
+ * No runtime file under `src/` imports `pdf-parse`, so the only pdfjs the
+ * server loads is the app's own. Tests may still read generated PDFs back with
+ * it; they run in their own processes. The pdfjs-one-version tests prove the
+ * two orders in one process; this file stops the import from coming back.
+ */
+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 SRC = join(process.cwd(), "src");
+
+/**
+ * Every runtime module under `src/`: the suites, mocks and generated client
+ * are not loaded by the server. About 3,400 today; the floor sits below that
+ * with headroom, so a walk that comes back short fails instead of passing.
+ */
+function runtimeFiles(): string[] {
+  const files = walkSourceFiles(SRC, {
+    floor: 5000,
+    extensions: [".ts", ".tsx", ".js", ".jsx", ".mjs", ".cjs", ".mts", ".cts"],
+  }).filter(
+    (rel) =>
+      !rel.startsWith("generated/") &&
+      !rel.split("/").includes("__tests__") &&
+      !rel.split("/").includes("__mocks__") &&
+      !/\.test\.(ts|tsx)$/.test(rel),
+  );
+  return [...requireFloor("runtime files under src/", files, 3000)];
+}
+
+/** A static import, a re-export, a dynamic import or a require of pdf-parse. */
+const PDF_PARSE_IMPORT =
+  /(?:\bfrom\s*|\bimport\s*\(\s*|\brequire\s*\(\s*|\bimport\s+)["']pdf-parse(?:\/[^"']*)?["']/;
+
+describe("one pdfjs in the server", () => {
+  it("no runtime file imports pdf-parse", () => {
+    const importers = runtimeFiles().filter((rel) =>
+      PDF_PARSE_IMPORT.test(
+        stripComments(readFileSync(join(SRC, rel), "utf8")),
+      ),
+    );
+    expect(importers).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it("recognises each way of importing it", () => {
+    for (const line of [
+      'import { PDFParse } from "pdf-parse";',
+      'import type { PDFParse } from "pdf-parse";',
+      'const { PDFParse } = await import("pdf-parse");',
+      "const m = require('pdf-parse/worker');",
+      'export { PDFParse } from "pdf-parse";',
+    ]) {
+      expect(PDF_PARSE_IMPORT.test(line), line).toBe(true);
+    }
+    expect(PDF_PARSE_IMPORT.test('import x from "pdf-parser";')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/documents/local-extract.ts b/src/lib/documents/local-extract.ts
index 8476eb803..39b33df09 100644
--- a/src/lib/documents/local-extract.ts
+++ b/src/lib/documents/local-extract.ts
@@ -84,7 +84,10 @@ function pageText(items: Array<PdfTextItem | object>): string {
       else if (x - last.end > size * 0.1 && !/\s$/.test(text)) text += " ";
     }
     text += item.str;
-    if (item.hasEOL) text += "\n";
+    // An empty run that only ends a line adds no blank line of its own.
+    if (item.hasEOL && !(item.str === "" && text.endsWith("\n"))) {
+      text += "\n";
+    }
     last = { end: x + item.width, y, size };
   }
   return text;