diff --git a/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md b/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
index 3a0db9928d..e13282b45e 100644
--- a/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/docs/install/environment-variables.md
@@ -38,17 +38,18 @@ Regardless of filesystem, it is not recommended to use a network share for your
 
 ## General
 
-| Variable                            | Description                                     |           Default            | Containers               | Workers            |
-| :---------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------- | :--------------------------: | :----------------------- | :----------------- |
-| `TZ`                                | Timezone                                        |                              | server                   | microservices      |
-| `IMMICH_ENV`                        | Environment (production, development)           |         `production`         | server, machine learning | api, microservices |
-| `IMMICH_LOG_LEVEL`                  | Log Level (verbose, debug, log, warn, error)    |            `log`             | server, machine learning | api, microservices |
-| `IMMICH_MEDIA_LOCATION`             | Media Location                                  |   `./upload`<sup>\*1</sup>   | server                   | api, microservices |
-| `IMMICH_CONFIG_FILE`                | Path to config file                             |                              | server                   | api, microservices |
-| `NO_COLOR`                          | Set to `true` to disable color-coded log output |           `false`            | server, machine learning |                    |
-| `CPU_CORES`                         | Amount of cores available to the immich server  | auto-detected cpu core count | server                   |                    |
-| `IMMICH_API_METRICS_PORT`           | Port for the OTEL metrics                       |            `8081`            | server                   | api                |
-| `IMMICH_MICROSERVICES_METRICS_PORT` | Port for the OTEL metrics                       |            `8082`            | server                   | microservices      |
+| Variable                            | Description                                         |           Default            | Containers               | Workers            |
+| :---------------------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------- | :--------------------------: | :----------------------- | :----------------- |
+| `TZ`                                | Timezone                                            |                              | server                   | microservices      |
+| `IMMICH_ENV`                        | Environment (production, development)               |         `production`         | server, machine learning | api, microservices |
+| `IMMICH_LOG_LEVEL`                  | Log Level (verbose, debug, log, warn, error)        |            `log`             | server, machine learning | api, microservices |
+| `IMMICH_MEDIA_LOCATION`             | Media Location                                      |   `./upload`<sup>\*1</sup>   | server                   | api, microservices |
+| `IMMICH_CONFIG_FILE`                | Path to config file                                 |                              | server                   | api, microservices |
+| `NO_COLOR`                          | Set to `true` to disable color-coded log output     |           `false`            | server, machine learning |                    |
+| `CPU_CORES`                         | Amount of cores available to the immich server      | auto-detected cpu core count | server                   |                    |
+| `IMMICH_API_METRICS_PORT`           | Port for the OTEL metrics                           |            `8081`            | server                   | api                |
+| `IMMICH_MICROSERVICES_METRICS_PORT` | Port for the OTEL metrics                           |            `8082`            | server                   | microservices      |
+| `IMMICH_PROCESS_INVALID_IMAGES`     | When `true`, generate thumbnails for invalid images |                              | server                   | microservices      |
 
 \*1: With the default `WORKDIR` of `/usr/src/app`, this path will resolve to `/usr/src/app/upload`.
 It only need to be set if the Immich deployment method is changing.
diff --git a/server/src/interfaces/media.interface.ts b/server/src/interfaces/media.interface.ts
index fdf70865ef..f7389d3d06 100644
--- a/server/src/interfaces/media.interface.ts
+++ b/server/src/interfaces/media.interface.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export interface ThumbnailOptions {
   colorspace: string;
   quality: number;
   crop?: CropOptions;
+  processInvalidImages: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface VideoStreamInfo {
diff --git a/server/src/repositories/media.repository.ts b/server/src/repositories/media.repository.ts
index 6e56bf48c3..4003193ad4 100644
--- a/server/src/repositories/media.repository.ts
+++ b/server/src/repositories/media.repository.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ export class MediaRepository implements IMediaRepository {
   }
 
   async generateThumbnail(input: string | Buffer, output: string, options: ThumbnailOptions): Promise<void> {
-    const pipeline = sharp(input, { failOn: 'error', limitInputPixels: false })
+    // some invalid images can still be processed by sharp, but we want to fail on them by default to avoid crashes
+    const pipeline = sharp(input, { failOn: options.processInvalidImages ? 'none' : 'error', limitInputPixels: false })
       .pipelineColorspace(options.colorspace === Colorspace.SRGB ? 'srgb' : 'rgb16')
       .rotate();
 
diff --git a/server/src/services/media.service.spec.ts b/server/src/services/media.service.spec.ts
index d4ec8e6533..173af4bd3e 100644
--- a/server/src/services/media.service.spec.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/media.service.spec.ts
@@ -296,6 +296,7 @@ describe(MediaService.name, () => {
         format,
         quality: 80,
         colorspace: Colorspace.SRGB,
+        processInvalidImages: false,
       });
       expect(assetMock.update).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ id: 'asset-id', previewPath });
     });
@@ -326,6 +327,7 @@ describe(MediaService.name, () => {
           format: ImageFormat.JPEG,
           quality: 80,
           colorspace: Colorspace.P3,
+          processInvalidImages: false,
         },
       );
       expect(assetMock.update).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
@@ -468,6 +470,7 @@ describe(MediaService.name, () => {
           format,
           quality: 80,
           colorspace: Colorspace.SRGB,
+          processInvalidImages: false,
         });
         expect(assetMock.update).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ id: 'asset-id', thumbnailPath });
       },
@@ -498,6 +501,7 @@ describe(MediaService.name, () => {
         size: 250,
         quality: 80,
         colorspace: Colorspace.P3,
+        processInvalidImages: false,
       },
     );
     expect(assetMock.update).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
@@ -524,6 +528,7 @@ describe(MediaService.name, () => {
           size: 250,
           quality: 80,
           colorspace: Colorspace.P3,
+          processInvalidImages: false,
         },
       ],
     ]);
@@ -548,6 +553,7 @@ describe(MediaService.name, () => {
           size: 250,
           quality: 80,
           colorspace: Colorspace.P3,
+          processInvalidImages: false,
         },
       ],
     ]);
@@ -570,6 +576,7 @@ describe(MediaService.name, () => {
         size: 250,
         quality: 80,
         colorspace: Colorspace.P3,
+        processInvalidImages: false,
       },
     );
     expect(mediaMock.getImageDimensions).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
@@ -590,11 +597,34 @@ describe(MediaService.name, () => {
         size: 250,
         quality: 80,
         colorspace: Colorspace.P3,
+        processInvalidImages: false,
       },
     );
     expect(mediaMock.getImageDimensions).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it('should process invalid images if enabled', async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv('IMMICH_PROCESS_INVALID_IMAGES', 'true');
+
+    assetMock.getByIds.mockResolvedValue([assetStub.imageDng]);
+
+    await sut.handleGenerateThumbnail({ id: assetStub.image.id });
+
+    expect(mediaMock.generateThumbnail).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      assetStub.imageDng.originalPath,
+      'upload/thumbs/user-id/as/se/asset-id-thumbnail.webp',
+      {
+        format: ImageFormat.WEBP,
+        size: 250,
+        quality: 80,
+        colorspace: Colorspace.P3,
+        processInvalidImages: true,
+      },
+    );
+    expect(mediaMock.getImageDimensions).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+  });
+
   describe('handleGenerateThumbhash', () => {
     it('should skip thumbhash generation if asset not found', async () => {
       assetMock.getByIds.mockResolvedValue([]);
diff --git a/server/src/services/media.service.ts b/server/src/services/media.service.ts
index 33b80c9416..9dbf269007 100644
--- a/server/src/services/media.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/media.service.ts
@@ -199,7 +199,13 @@ export class MediaService {
         try {
           const useExtracted = didExtract && (await this.shouldUseExtractedImage(extractedPath, image.previewSize));
           const colorspace = this.isSRGB(asset) ? Colorspace.SRGB : image.colorspace;
-          const imageOptions = { format, size, colorspace, quality: image.quality };
+          const imageOptions = {
+            format,
+            size,
+            colorspace,
+            quality: image.quality,
+            processInvalidImages: process.env.IMMICH_PROCESS_INVALID_IMAGES === 'true',
+          };
 
           const outputPath = useExtracted ? extractedPath : asset.originalPath;
           await this.mediaRepository.generateThumbnail(outputPath, path, imageOptions);
diff --git a/server/src/services/person.service.spec.ts b/server/src/services/person.service.spec.ts
index 46087436ab..70f20d6250 100644
--- a/server/src/services/person.service.spec.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/person.service.spec.ts
@@ -958,6 +958,7 @@ describe(PersonService.name, () => {
             width: 274,
             height: 274,
           },
+          processInvalidImages: false,
         },
       );
       expect(personMock.update).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
@@ -987,6 +988,7 @@ describe(PersonService.name, () => {
             width: 510,
             height: 510,
           },
+          processInvalidImages: false,
         },
       );
     });
@@ -1012,6 +1014,7 @@ describe(PersonService.name, () => {
             width: 408,
             height: 408,
           },
+          processInvalidImages: false,
         },
       );
     });
@@ -1038,6 +1041,7 @@ describe(PersonService.name, () => {
             width: 588,
             height: 588,
           },
+          processInvalidImages: false,
         },
       );
     });
diff --git a/server/src/services/person.service.ts b/server/src/services/person.service.ts
index 18b7ce6315..338628e469 100644
--- a/server/src/services/person.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/person.service.ts
@@ -559,6 +559,7 @@ export class PersonService {
       colorspace: image.colorspace,
       quality: image.quality,
       crop: this.getCrop({ old: { width: oldWidth, height: oldHeight }, new: { width, height } }, { x1, y1, x2, y2 }),
+      processInvalidImages: process.env.IMMICH_PROCESS_INVALID_IMAGES === 'true',
     } as const;
 
     await this.mediaRepository.generateThumbnail(inputPath, thumbnailPath, thumbnailOptions);