diff --git a/teressa-copeland-homes/src/lib/ai/extract-text.ts b/teressa-copeland-homes/src/lib/ai/extract-text.ts
index 6167522..6d94eb8 100644
--- a/teressa-copeland-homes/src/lib/ai/extract-text.ts
+++ b/teressa-copeland-homes/src/lib/ai/extract-text.ts
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@
 // @ts-ignore — legacy .mjs build; types re-exported from main pdfjs-dist declaration
 import { getDocument, GlobalWorkerOptions } from 'pdfjs-dist/legacy/build/pdf.mjs';
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
 
-// Empty string = no worker thread (fake/synchronous worker) — required for Node.js server context.
-// Do NOT use: new URL('pdfjs-dist/build/pdf.worker.min.mjs', import.meta.url) — that is browser-only.
-GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = '';
+// pdfjs-dist 5.x fake-worker mode: must point workerSrc to the actual worker file so
+// _setupFakeWorkerGlobal can `await import(this.workerSrc)` in Node.js.
+// Empty string is falsy → PDFWorker.workerSrc getter throws before the import runs.
+GlobalWorkerOptions.workerSrc = `file://${join(process.cwd(), 'node_modules/pdfjs-dist/legacy/build/pdf.worker.mjs')}`;
 
 export interface PageText {
   page: number;    // 1-indexed