diff --git a/internal/uploads/worker.go b/internal/uploads/worker.go
index f6914bd..591cab8 100644
--- a/internal/uploads/worker.go
+++ b/internal/uploads/worker.go
@@ -275,11 +275,18 @@ func (w *Worker) Process(ctx context.Context, job Job) {
 		abort(domain.UploadErrTranscriptionFailed)
 		return
 	}
-	if kind, bad := w.audioLengthProblem(wav, job.Duration); bad {
-		abort(kind)
-		log.Error("upload: converted audio length rejected", "kind", string(kind))
+	got, tooLong := w.audioLengthProblem(wav)
+	if tooLong {
+		abort(domain.UploadErrTooLong)
+		log.Error("upload: converted audio is over the limit", "audio_s", int(got.Seconds()), "limit_s", int(w.maxDuration.Seconds()))
 		return
 	}
+	if w.maxDuration > 0 && job.Duration > 0 {
+		if note := shortfallNote(got, job.Duration); note != "" {
+			log.Warn("upload: audio is much shorter than the file claimed", "audio_s", int(got.Seconds()), "claimed_s", int(job.Duration.Seconds()))
+			tr.Annotate("audio", note)
+		}
+	}
 	tr.Done("audio")
 
 	if !planned {
@@ -343,21 +350,29 @@ const (
 )
 
 // audioLengthProblem measures the converted WAV (16 kHz mono 16-bit PCM is 32,000 bytes a
-// second after a 44-byte header) against the limit and against what the file claimed.
-func (w *Worker) audioLengthProblem(wav string, claimed time.Duration) (domain.UploadErrorKind, bool) {
+// second after a 44-byte header) against the limit. It returns the real length and whether
+// that is over the limit by more than the tolerance.
+func (w *Worker) audioLengthProblem(wav string) (got time.Duration, tooLong bool) {
 	if w.maxDuration <= 0 {
-		return "", false
+		return 0, false
 	}
 	info, err := os.Stat(wav)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", false
+		return 0, false
 	}
-	got := time.Duration(float64(max(info.Size()-44, 0)) / 32000 * float64(time.Second))
-	switch {
-	case got > w.maxDuration+tooLongSlack:
-		return domain.UploadErrTooLong, true
-	case float64(got) < incompleteBelow*float64(claimed) && claimed-got > incompleteShortfall:
-		return domain.UploadErrIncomplete, true
+	got = time.Duration(float64(max(info.Size()-44, 0)) / 32000 * float64(time.Second))
+	return got, got > w.maxDuration+tooLongSlack
+}
+
+// shortfallNote is a remark for the audio step when the converted audio is much shorter
+// than the file claimed, or "" when it is not. It is a NOTE and never a failure: a
+// container header can over-estimate a complete file (a variable-bitrate MP3 without a Xing
+// header claimed 79 minutes for 20 real ones), so refusing would turn away real
+// recordings, while saying nothing about a truncated one would hide a partial transcript.
+func shortfallNote(got, claimed time.Duration) string {
+	if float64(got) >= incompleteBelow*float64(claimed) || claimed-got <= incompleteShortfall {
+		return ""
 	}
-	return "", false
+	return fmt.Sprintf("The audio is %s long; the file claimed %s. If the recording was cut off, upload the complete one.",
+		FormatDuration(got), FormatDuration(claimed))
 }