diff --git a/cmd/tapir/uploads_timeout_test.go b/cmd/tapir/uploads_timeout_test.go
index f25d896..f39fc70 100644
--- a/cmd/tapir/uploads_timeout_test.go
+++ b/cmd/tapir/uploads_timeout_test.go
@@ -43,3 +43,36 @@ func TestBuildTranscriber_AWedgedPrimaryReachesTheFallbackBeforeTheJobDeadline(t
 	require.NoError(t, err, "the wedged primary used the whole job and the fallback never ran")
 	assert.Equal(t, "berget/kb-whisper", got.Endpoint)
 }
+
+func TestBuildTranscriber_AWedgedBaseEngineIsASoftFailureInTheEnsemble(t *testing.T) {
+	// The same deadline must guard the ensemble's BASE engine, not only the chain's primary
+	// (second adversarial review: the wiring was tested for the chain alone).
+	srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		_ = r.ParseMultipartForm(1 << 20)
+		if r.FormValue("model") == "iguana/pianissimo" {
+			<-r.Context().Done()
+			return
+		}
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"text":"hej","duration":1,"segments":[{"start":0,"end":1,"text":"hej"}]}`))
+	}))
+	defer srv.Close()
+	cfg := uploadCfg(t, true)
+	cfg.GatewayURL = srv.URL
+	cfg.TranscribeModel = "iguana/kb-whisper"
+	cfg.ReconcileBaseModel = "iguana/pianissimo"
+	cfg.ReconcileModel = "iguana/gemma4-31b"
+	cfg.TranscribeEngineTimeout = 150 * time.Millisecond
+	wav := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "a.wav")
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(wav, []byte("RIFF....WAVEfmt "), 0o600))
+	job, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 20*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	got, err := buildTranscriber(cfg).Transcribe(job, wav)
+
+	require.NoError(t, err, "a wedged base engine must not use up the job")
+	assert.Equal(t, "hej", got.Text)
+	require.NotNil(t, got.Reconciliation)
+	assert.Equal(t, "single_engine", string(got.Reconciliation.Status))
+	assert.Contains(t, got.Reconciliation.Reason, "timeout")
+}