diff --git a/src/Platform/StellaOps.Platform.WebService/Endpoints/RegistrySearchEndpoints.cs b/src/Platform/StellaOps.Platform.WebService/Endpoints/RegistrySearchEndpoints.cs
index 3949877b1..a7a14e948 100644
--- a/src/Platform/StellaOps.Platform.WebService/Endpoints/RegistrySearchEndpoints.cs
+++ b/src/Platform/StellaOps.Platform.WebService/Endpoints/RegistrySearchEndpoints.cs
@@ -109,6 +109,17 @@ public static class RegistrySearchEndpoints
                 RegistryId = "harbor-fixture"
             });
         }
+        catch (JsonException jex)
+        {
+            logger.LogWarning(jex, "Harbor returned non-JSON response for query '{Query}'", query);
+
+            return Results.Ok(new RegistrySearchResponse
+            {
+                Items = [],
+                TotalCount = 0,
+                RegistryId = "harbor-fixture"
+            });
+        }
         catch (Exception ex) when (ex is HttpRequestException or TaskCanceledException or OperationCanceledException)
         {
             logger.LogWarning(ex, "Harbor registry unreachable during image search for query '{Query}'", query);