diff --git a/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-playback-launch.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-playback-launch.test.ts
index a8c905e4..3529ed72 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-playback-launch.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-playback-launch.test.ts
@@ -267,3 +267,46 @@ test('playback handler does not let stats metadata failures block playback start
 
   assert.deepEqual(commands[1], ['loadfile', 'https://stream.example/video.m3u8', 'replace']);
 });
+
+test('playback handler does not let media title failures block playback startup', async () => {
+  const commands: Array<Array<string | number>> = [];
+  const handler = createPlayJellyfinItemInMpvHandler({
+    ensureMpvConnectedForPlayback: async () => true,
+    getMpvClient: () => ({ connected: true, send: () => {} }),
+    resolvePlaybackPlan: async () => ({
+      url: 'https://stream.example/video.m3u8',
+      mode: 'direct',
+      title: 'Episode 4',
+      itemTitle: 'Episode 4',
+      seriesTitle: null,
+      seasonNumber: null,
+      episodeNumber: null,
+      startTimeTicks: 0,
+      audioStreamIndex: null,
+      subtitleStreamIndex: null,
+    }),
+    applyJellyfinMpvDefaults: () => {},
+    showVisibleOverlay: () => {},
+    sendMpvCommand: (command) => commands.push(command),
+    armQuitOnDisconnect: () => {},
+    schedule: () => {},
+    convertTicksToSeconds: (ticks) => ticks / 10_000_000,
+    preloadExternalSubtitles: () => {},
+    setActivePlayback: () => {},
+    setLastProgressAtMs: () => {},
+    reportPlaying: () => {},
+    showMpvOsd: () => {},
+    updateCurrentMediaTitle: () => {
+      throw new Error('title state unavailable');
+    },
+  });
+
+  await handler({
+    session: baseSession,
+    clientInfo: baseClientInfo,
+    jellyfinConfig: {},
+    itemId: 'item-4',
+  });
+
+  assert.deepEqual(commands[1], ['loadfile', 'https://stream.example/video.m3u8', 'replace']);
+});
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-playback-launch.ts b/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-playback-launch.ts
index 636a4319..0ab8f50b 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-playback-launch.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-playback-launch.ts
@@ -107,8 +107,8 @@ export function createPlayJellyfinItemInMpvHandler(deps: {
     deps.applyJellyfinMpvDefaults(mpvClient);
     deps.sendMpvCommand(['set_property', 'sub-auto', 'no']);
     const playbackUrl = applyStartTimeTicksToPlaybackUrl(plan.url, params.startTimeTicksOverride);
-    deps.updateCurrentMediaTitle?.(plan.title);
     try {
+      deps.updateCurrentMediaTitle?.(plan.title);
       deps.recordJellyfinPlaybackMetadata?.({
         mediaPath: playbackUrl,
         displayTitle: plan.title,
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ export function createPlayJellyfinItemInMpvHandler(deps: {
         itemId: params.itemId,
       });
     } catch {
-      // Best-effort stats metadata must not block playback startup.
+      // Best-effort metadata/title hooks must not block playback startup.
     }
     deps.sendMpvCommand(['loadfile', playbackUrl, 'replace']);
     if (params.setQuitOnDisconnectArm !== false) {
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-subtitle-preload.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-subtitle-preload.test.ts
index d6c6a411..79b16a6b 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-subtitle-preload.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-subtitle-preload.test.ts
@@ -331,6 +331,35 @@ test('preload jellyfin subtitles cleans previous cached subtitles before a new p
   assert.deepEqual(cleanupCalls, [['/tmp/subminer-jellyfin-subtitles-0']]);
 });
 
+test('preload jellyfin subtitles logs cleanup failures without rejecting', async () => {
+  const logs: string[] = [];
+  let cleanupShouldFail = false;
+  const preload = createPreloadJellyfinExternalSubtitlesHandler(
+    makeDeps({
+      listJellyfinSubtitleTracks: async () => [
+        { index: 0, language: 'eng', title: 'English', deliveryUrl: 'https://sub/a.srt' },
+      ],
+      getMpvClient: () => ({ requestProperty: async () => [] }),
+      cacheSubtitleTrack: async (track) => ({
+        path: `/tmp/subminer-jellyfin-subtitles-${track.index}/track.srt`,
+        cleanupDir: `/tmp/subminer-jellyfin-subtitles-${track.index}`,
+      }),
+      cleanupCachedSubtitles: () => {
+        if (cleanupShouldFail) {
+          throw new Error('cleanup failed');
+        }
+      },
+      logDebug: (message) => logs.push(message),
+    }),
+  );
+
+  await preload({ session, clientInfo, itemId: 'item-1' });
+  cleanupShouldFail = true;
+  await assert.doesNotReject(() => preload({ session, clientInfo, itemId: 'item-2' }));
+
+  assert.deepEqual(logs, ['Failed to preload Jellyfin external subtitles']);
+});
+
 test('preload jellyfin subtitles serializes overlapping preload runs', async () => {
   let releaseFirstList!: () => void;
   const firstListBlocked = new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-subtitle-preload.ts b/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-subtitle-preload.ts
index bebce847..c26d7eb4 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-subtitle-preload.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/jellyfin-subtitle-preload.ts
@@ -174,9 +174,7 @@ function hasExpectedExternalSubtitleTracks(
     return true;
   }
   const loadedExternalFilenames = new Set(
-    tracks
-      .filter((track) => track.externalFilename)
-      .map((track) => track.externalFilename),
+    tracks.filter((track) => track.externalFilename).map((track) => track.externalFilename),
   );
   return expectedExternalFilenames.every((filePath) => loadedExternalFilenames.has(filePath));
 }
@@ -247,9 +245,8 @@ export function createPreloadJellyfinExternalSubtitlesHandler(deps: {
     clientInfo: JellyfinClientInfo;
     itemId: string;
   }): Promise<void> => {
-    cleanupActiveCache();
-
     try {
+      cleanupActiveCache();
       const tracks = await deps.listJellyfinSubtitleTracks(
         params.session,
         params.clientInfo,
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/update/update-service.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/update/update-service.test.ts
index c8addb34..29709ee0 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/update/update-service.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/update/update-service.test.ts
@@ -390,9 +390,5 @@ test('manual update check keeps current prerelease builds on configured stable c
   const result = await service.checkForUpdates({ source: 'manual' });
 
   assert.equal(result.status, 'up-to-date');
-  assert.deepEqual(calls, [
-    'app:stable',
-    'fetch:stable',
-    'no-update:0.15.0-beta.3',
-  ]);
+  assert.deepEqual(calls, ['app:stable', 'fetch:stable', 'no-update:0.15.0-beta.3']);
 });