diff --git a/backend/Cargo.lock b/backend/Cargo.lock
index a7ca47d..c14f3de 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.lock
+++ b/backend/Cargo.lock
@@ -1470,7 +1470,7 @@ checksum = "c41e0c4fef86961ac6d6f8a82609f55f31b05e4fce149ac5710e439df7619ba4"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "mangalord"
-version = "0.36.2"
+version = "0.36.3"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "argon2",
diff --git a/backend/Cargo.toml b/backend/Cargo.toml
index a5dac77..189c027 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "mangalord"
-version = "0.36.2"
+version = "0.36.3"
 edition = "2021"
 default-run = "mangalord"
 
diff --git a/backend/src/app.rs b/backend/src/app.rs
index b3c5ef2..4eeb2aa 100644
--- a/backend/src/app.rs
+++ b/backend/src/app.rs
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ struct RealMetadataPass {
 #[async_trait]
 impl MetadataPass for RealMetadataPass {
     async fn run(&self) -> anyhow::Result<MetadataStats> {
-        pipeline::run_metadata_pass(
+        let result = pipeline::run_metadata_pass(
             &self.browser_manager,
             &self.db,
             self.storage.as_ref(),
@@ -242,7 +242,13 @@ impl MetadataPass for RealMetadataPass {
             &self.download_allowlist,
             self.max_image_bytes,
         )
-        .await
+        .await;
+        if let Err(e) = &result {
+            if crate::crawler::nav::anyhow_looks_browser_dead(e) {
+                self.browser_manager.invalidate().await;
+            }
+        }
+        result
     }
 }
 
@@ -273,7 +279,7 @@ impl ChapterDispatcher for RealChapterDispatcher {
                     return Ok(SyncOutcome::Skipped);
                 };
                 let lease = self.browser_manager.acquire().await?;
-                let outcome = content::sync_chapter_content(
+                let result = content::sync_chapter_content(
                     &lease,
                     &self.db,
                     self.storage.as_ref(),
@@ -286,9 +292,17 @@ impl ChapterDispatcher for RealChapterDispatcher {
                     &self.download_allowlist,
                     self.max_image_bytes,
                 )
-                .await?;
+                .await;
                 drop(lease);
-                Ok(outcome)
+                match result {
+                    Ok(outcome) => Ok(outcome),
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        if crate::crawler::nav::anyhow_looks_browser_dead(&e) {
+                            self.browser_manager.invalidate().await;
+                        }
+                        Err(e)
+                    }
+                }
             }
             // Other payload kinds aren't dispatched by this daemon yet —
             // SyncManga / SyncChapterList are handled inline by the cron's
diff --git a/backend/src/crawler/browser_manager.rs b/backend/src/crawler/browser_manager.rs
index 54a411c..c1725e4 100644
--- a/backend/src/crawler/browser_manager.rs
+++ b/backend/src/crawler/browser_manager.rs
@@ -145,6 +145,28 @@ impl BrowserManager {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Mark the cached browser handle as unhealthy. The next `acquire`
+    /// will re-launch Chromium from scratch.
+    ///
+    /// Same semantics as `shutdown` — the difference is intent:
+    /// `shutdown` runs once at daemon teardown, while `invalidate` is a
+    /// recovery hook callers fire after a CDP / connection / navigation
+    /// failure that suggests the underlying process has died. Calling
+    /// this while other workers still hold leases is safe — their
+    /// outstanding CDP operations will return channel-closed errors
+    /// and those workers will then re-acquire (re-launching Chromium).
+    ///
+    /// Idempotent: calling on an already-invalidated manager is a
+    /// no-op.
+    pub async fn invalidate(&self) {
+        let mut guard = self.inner.lock().await;
+        guard.shared = None;
+        if let Some(handle) = guard.handle.take() {
+            let _ = handle.close().await;
+            tracing::warn!("BrowserManager: handle invalidated — next acquire will relaunch");
+        }
+    }
+
     fn idle_timeout(&self) -> Duration {
         self.idle_timeout
     }
@@ -231,6 +253,23 @@ mod tests {
         assert_send_sync(&h);
     }
 
+    /// Invalidate is the only `BrowserManager` method that's safe to
+    /// exercise in a unit test without launching Chromium — it's a
+    /// no-op when no handle has been cached, and that path is exactly
+    /// the one we want to verify is idempotent.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn invalidate_is_a_noop_when_no_handle_cached() {
+        let mgr = BrowserManager::new(
+            crate::crawler::browser::LaunchOptions::default(),
+            Duration::ZERO,
+            noop_on_launch(),
+        );
+        // Two back-to-back invalidates must both complete; the second
+        // would hang or panic if the first had left torn state.
+        mgr.invalidate().await;
+        mgr.invalidate().await;
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn active_tracker_signals_idle_only_on_zero_transition() {
         let tracker = ActiveTracker::new();
diff --git a/backend/src/crawler/nav.rs b/backend/src/crawler/nav.rs
index e5fcd07..287d22a 100644
--- a/backend/src/crawler/nav.rs
+++ b/backend/src/crawler/nav.rs
@@ -85,6 +85,54 @@ pub async fn wait_for_selector(
 /// under a second.
 pub const SELECTOR_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(10);
 
+impl NavError {
+    /// Heuristic: does this error look like the underlying Chromium
+    /// process has died or its CDP connection has dropped? Used by the
+    /// dispatcher to decide whether to invalidate the
+    /// [`crate::crawler::browser_manager::BrowserManager`] handle so
+    /// the next acquire re-launches.
+    ///
+    /// Errs on the side of "yes" — false positives cost one extra
+    /// Chromium launch, false negatives leave every subsequent worker
+    /// hitting a zombie process until the idle reaper fires.
+    pub fn is_likely_browser_dead(&self) -> bool {
+        match self {
+            Self::Timeout(_) => true,
+            Self::Cdp(e) => cdp_error_looks_dead(&e.to_string()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Walk an `anyhow::Error` chain looking for a [`NavError`] flagged as
+/// likely-dead, or a fallback substring match against well-known
+/// channel/connection messages in any wrapped error. The substring
+/// pass catches `chromiumoxide` errors that surface as the
+/// `anyhow::Error::msg` path rather than as a downcastable type
+/// (notably the `ChannelSendError` family).
+pub fn anyhow_looks_browser_dead(err: &anyhow::Error) -> bool {
+    for cause in err.chain() {
+        if let Some(nav) = cause.downcast_ref::<NavError>() {
+            if nav.is_likely_browser_dead() {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        if cdp_error_looks_dead(&cause.to_string()) {
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+    false
+}
+
+fn cdp_error_looks_dead(msg: &str) -> bool {
+    let m = msg.to_ascii_lowercase();
+    m.contains("channel")
+        || m.contains("connection")
+        || m.contains("websocket")
+        || m.contains("transport")
+        || m.contains("closed")
+        || m.contains("nav timeout")
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -108,6 +156,34 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(e.to_string(), "navigation timed out after 30s");
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn timeout_is_treated_as_likely_browser_dead() {
+        let e = NavError::Timeout(NAV_TIMEOUT);
+        assert!(e.is_likely_browser_dead());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn anyhow_with_nav_timeout_in_chain_is_flagged() {
+        let inner: Result<(), NavError> = Err(NavError::Timeout(NAV_TIMEOUT));
+        let outer = inner.unwrap_err();
+        let wrapped: anyhow::Error =
+            anyhow::Error::new(outer).context("wait for chapter nav");
+        assert!(anyhow_looks_browser_dead(&wrapped));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn anyhow_with_channel_message_is_flagged() {
+        let e: anyhow::Error = anyhow::anyhow!("CDP channel send error: closed");
+        assert!(anyhow_looks_browser_dead(&e));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn anyhow_with_innocuous_parse_error_is_not_flagged() {
+        let e: anyhow::Error =
+            anyhow::anyhow!("parse manga detail: chapter row regex did not match");
+        assert!(!anyhow_looks_browser_dead(&e));
+    }
+
     /// Same sanity check as [`timeout_elapses_on_a_future_that_never_resolves`],
     /// but for the [`wait_for_selector`] polling pattern: the loop must
     /// surrender on `Elapsed` rather than spinning past the deadline.
diff --git a/frontend/package.json b/frontend/package.json
index 9950e1a..b210564 100644
--- a/frontend/package.json
+++ b/frontend/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "mangalord-frontend",
-  "version": "0.36.2",
+  "version": "0.36.3",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {