diff --git a/src/framework/audio/chunking.cpp b/src/framework/audio/chunking.cpp
index dcfa30d5..811d996b 100644
--- a/src/framework/audio/chunking.cpp
+++ b/src/framework/audio/chunking.cpp
@@ -648,8 +648,19 @@ void append_chunk_speech_metadata(
         const int64_t local_start = std::max<int64_t>(local_span.start_sample, 0);
         const int64_t local_end = std::min<int64_t>(local_span.end_sample, source_samples);
         if (local_start >= local_end) {
-            throw std::runtime_error(std::string("Audio chunker speech metadata merge received a ") +
-                label + " outside the chunk span");
+            std::ostringstream warning;
+            warning << "dropping " << label << " outside chunk span"
+                    << " local_start=" << local_span.start_sample
+                    << " local_end=" << local_span.end_sample
+                    << " source_samples=" << source_samples
+                    << " source_start=" << source_span.start_sample
+                    << " source_end=" << source_span.end_sample
+                    << " keep_start=" << keep_span.start_sample
+                    << " keep_end=" << keep_span.end_sample
+                    << " source_sample_rate=" << source_sample_rate
+                    << " timestamp_sample_rate=" << timestamp_sample_rate;
+            debug::log_message(debug::LogLevel::Warning, "audio.chunking", warning.str());
+            return std::optional<runtime::TimeSpan>{};
         }
         runtime::TimeSpan global{
             timestamp_source_span.start_sample + local_start,
diff --git a/tests/unittests/test_audio_chunking.cpp b/tests/unittests/test_audio_chunking.cpp
index cf7d9489..2d0686ca 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/test_audio_chunking.cpp
+++ b/tests/unittests/test_audio_chunking.cpp
@@ -879,6 +879,41 @@ void test_chunk_word_timestamp_merge_drops_outside_words() {
     require_span(merged[1].span, 1050, 1080, "second valid word span");
 }
 
+void test_chunk_speech_metadata_merge_drops_outside_spans() {
+    engine::runtime::TaskResult chunk;
+    auto kept_segment = speech(20, 40);
+    kept_segment.text = "kept segment";
+    chunk.speech_segments.push_back(kept_segment);
+    auto outside_segment = speech(120, 140);
+    outside_segment.text = "outside segment";
+    chunk.speech_segments.push_back(outside_segment);
+
+    engine::runtime::SpeakerTurn kept_turn;
+    kept_turn.span = engine::runtime::TimeSpan{50, 80};
+    kept_turn.speaker_id = "SPEAKER_00";
+    chunk.speaker_turns.push_back(kept_turn);
+    engine::runtime::SpeakerTurn outside_turn;
+    outside_turn.span = engine::runtime::TimeSpan{120, 140};
+    outside_turn.speaker_id = "SPEAKER_01";
+    chunk.speaker_turns.push_back(outside_turn);
+
+    engine::runtime::TaskResult merged;
+    engine::audio::append_chunk_speech_metadata(
+        merged,
+        chunk,
+        engine::runtime::TimeSpan{1000, 1100},
+        engine::runtime::TimeSpan{1000, 1100},
+        16000,
+        16000);
+
+    engine::test::require_eq(merged.speech_segments.size(), static_cast<size_t>(1), "outside speech segment dropped");
+    engine::test::require_eq(merged.speech_segments[0].text, std::string("kept segment"), "valid speech segment kept");
+    require_span(merged.speech_segments[0].span, 1020, 1040, "valid speech segment span");
+    engine::test::require_eq(merged.speaker_turns.size(), static_cast<size_t>(1), "outside speaker turn dropped");
+    engine::test::require_eq(merged.speaker_turns[0].speaker_id, std::string("SPEAKER_00"), "valid speaker turn kept");
+    require_span(merged.speaker_turns[0].span, 1050, 1080, "valid speaker turn span");
+}
+
 }  // namespace
 
 int main() {
@@ -912,6 +947,7 @@ int main() {
         test_chunk_speech_metadata_merge_rescales_chunk_domain();
         test_chunk_word_timestamp_merge_rejects_invalid_spans();
         test_chunk_word_timestamp_merge_drops_outside_words();
+        test_chunk_speech_metadata_merge_drops_outside_spans();
         std::cout << "audio_chunking_test passed\n";
     } catch (const std::exception & ex) {
         std::cerr << "audio_chunking_test failed: " << ex.what() << "\n";