diff --git a/mindspace-og-tags.mjs b/mindspace-og-tags.mjs
index 3faba0f..677c46e 100644
--- a/mindspace-og-tags.mjs
+++ b/mindspace-og-tags.mjs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 // <meta name="description"> / hero <img>), reused via extractCoverSignals. Authors who
 // already wrote their own og:image are left untouched; missing site_name / description /
 // brand icon are still backfilled.
+import path from 'node:path';
 import { extractCoverSignals } from './mindspace-thumbnails.mjs';
 
 export const PLATFORM_SITE_NAME = 'TKMind 智趣';
@@ -40,6 +41,15 @@ function resolveImageUrl(image, { origin, pageDirUrl }) {
   return `${pageDirUrl}${trimmed}`;
 }
 
+/** Relative cover paths must exist beside the HTML file; remote/absolute refs are trusted. */
+export function coverImageRefExists(imageRef, htmlFilePath, fileExists = () => false) {
+  const ref = String(imageRef ?? '').trim();
+  if (!ref || ref.startsWith('data:')) return false;
+  if (/^https?:\/\//i.test(ref) || ref.startsWith('//') || ref.startsWith('/')) return true;
+  if (!htmlFilePath) return true;
+  return fileExists(path.join(path.dirname(htmlFilePath), ref));
+}
+
 function rawMetaContent(html, attr, name) {
   const pattern = new RegExp(
     `<meta[^>]+${attr}=["']${name}["'][^>]+content=["']([^"']*)["']|<meta[^>]+content=["']([^"']*)["'][^>]+${attr}=["']${name}["']`,
@@ -82,11 +92,23 @@ function resolveShareDescription(html, { siteName = PLATFORM_SITE_NAME, meta = {
   );
 }
 
-function resolveShareImageUrl(html, { origin, pageDirUrl, fallbackImageUrl = '', meta = {} } = {}) {
+function resolveShareImageUrl(
+  html,
+  { origin, pageDirUrl, fallbackImageUrl = '', meta = {}, htmlFilePath = '', fileExists = null } = {},
+) {
   const existing = rawMetaContent(html, 'property', 'og:image');
   if (existing) return existing;
   const signals = extractCoverSignals(html, meta);
-  return resolveImageUrl(signals.image, { origin, pageDirUrl }) || fallbackImageUrl || '';
+  const imageRef = signals.image;
+  if (imageRef) {
+    const exists =
+      typeof fileExists === 'function' ? coverImageRefExists(imageRef, htmlFilePath, fileExists) : true;
+    if (exists) {
+      const resolved = resolveImageUrl(imageRef, { origin, pageDirUrl });
+      if (resolved) return resolved;
+    }
+  }
+  return fallbackImageUrl || '';
 }
 
 /**
@@ -102,12 +124,21 @@ export function extractSharePreviewMeta(
     siteName = PLATFORM_SITE_NAME,
     brandIconUrl = '',
     meta = {},
+    htmlFilePath = '',
+    fileExists = null,
   } = {},
 ) {
   const source = String(html ?? '');
   const title = rawMetaContent(source, 'property', 'og:title') || rawTitleFromHtml(source) || 'MindSpace 页面';
   const description = resolveShareDescription(source, { siteName, meta });
-  const imageUrl = resolveShareImageUrl(source, { origin, pageDirUrl, fallbackImageUrl, meta });
+  const imageUrl = resolveShareImageUrl(source, {
+    origin,
+    pageDirUrl,
+    fallbackImageUrl,
+    meta,
+    htmlFilePath,
+    fileExists,
+  });
   const resolvedSiteName = rawMetaContent(source, 'property', 'og:site_name') || siteName;
   const iconUrl = brandIconUrl || (origin ? `${origin}${PLATFORM_BRAND_ICON_PATH}` : PLATFORM_BRAND_ICON_PATH);
   return {
@@ -136,6 +167,8 @@ export function injectOgTags(
     siteName = PLATFORM_SITE_NAME,
     brandIconUrl = '',
     meta = {},
+    htmlFilePath = '',
+    fileExists = null,
   } = {},
 ) {
   const source = String(html);
@@ -147,6 +180,8 @@ export function injectOgTags(
     siteName,
     brandIconUrl,
     meta,
+    htmlFilePath,
+    fileExists,
   });
 
   const tags = [];
diff --git a/mindspace-og-tags.test.mjs b/mindspace-og-tags.test.mjs
index 12758d1..d26c3aa 100644
--- a/mindspace-og-tags.test.mjs
+++ b/mindspace-og-tags.test.mjs
@@ -39,13 +39,30 @@ test('falls back to the thumbnail png when the page has no cover of its own', ()
   assert.match(out, /<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">/);
 });
 
-test('prefers the page cover over the thumbnail fallback', () => {
+test('prefers the page cover over the thumbnail fallback when the cover file exists', () => {
   const html = `<head><title>X</title><meta name="mindspace-cover" content='{"cover":"assets/hero.jpg"}'></head>`;
-  const out = injectOgTags(html, { ...ctx, fallbackImageUrl: 'https://m.tkmind.cn/x.thumbnail.png' });
+  const out = injectOgTags(html, {
+    ...ctx,
+    fallbackImageUrl: 'https://m.tkmind.cn/x.thumbnail.png',
+    htmlFilePath: '/tmp/public/page.html',
+    fileExists: (target) => String(target).endsWith('assets/hero.jpg'),
+  });
   assert.match(out, /og:image" content="https:\/\/m\.tkmind\.cn\/MindSpace\/john\/public\/assets\/hero\.jpg"/);
   assert.doesNotMatch(out, /thumbnail\.png/);
 });
 
+test('falls back to thumbnail png when the declared cover file is missing on disk', () => {
+  const html = `<head><title>X</title><meta name="mindspace-cover" content='{"cover":"assets/hero.jpg"}'></head>`;
+  const out = injectOgTags(html, {
+    ...ctx,
+    fallbackImageUrl: 'https://m.tkmind.cn/x.thumbnail.png',
+    htmlFilePath: '/tmp/public/page.html',
+    fileExists: () => false,
+  });
+  assert.match(out, /<meta property="og:image" content="https:\/\/m\.tkmind\.cn\/x\.thumbnail\.png">/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(out, /<meta property="og:image" content="[^"]*assets\/hero\.jpg"/);
+});
+
 test('keeps an author-provided og:image and still backfills site_name', () => {
   const html = `<head><title>T</title><meta property="og:image" content="https://x/y.png"></head>`;
   const out = injectOgTags(html, ctx);
diff --git a/mindspace-public-delivery.mjs b/mindspace-public-delivery.mjs
index b4395e8..2c366e5 100644
--- a/mindspace-public-delivery.mjs
+++ b/mindspace-public-delivery.mjs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import crypto from 'node:crypto';
+import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 
 const INLINE_SCRIPT_PATTERN = /<script\b(?![^>]*\bsrc\b)[^>]*>([\s\S]*?)<\/script>/gi;
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ export function decorateMindSpacePublishedHtml({
   html,
   embed = false,
   context,
+  htmlFilePath = '',
+  fileExists = fs.existsSync,
   userAgent = '',
   preparePublicationHtmlForEmbed,
   injectOgTags,
@@ -69,6 +72,8 @@ export function decorateMindSpacePublishedHtml({
       pageUrl: context.pageUrl,
       pageDirUrl: context.pageDirUrl,
       fallbackImageUrl: context.fallbackImageUrl,
+      htmlFilePath,
+      fileExists,
     });
     const wechatShare = !embed && isWechatUserAgent(userAgent || '');
     if (wechatShare) {
diff --git a/server.mjs b/server.mjs
index ae5a54e..4544e13 100644
--- a/server.mjs
+++ b/server.mjs
@@ -5493,6 +5493,7 @@ async function sendPublishFile(req, res, filePath) {
     html,
     embed,
     context,
+    htmlFilePath: filePath,
     userAgent: req.get('user-agent') || '',
     preparePublicationHtmlForEmbed,
     injectOgTags,