diff --git a/web/i18n/en/error/queue.json b/web/i18n/en/error/queue.json
index 064dce5a..3f2f8a86 100644
--- a/web/i18n/en/error/queue.json
+++ b/web/i18n/en/error/queue.json
@@ -15,5 +15,6 @@
     "ffmpeg.no_input_type": "the file's type isn't supported",
     "ffmpeg.crashed": "ffmpeg worker crashed, see console for details",
     "ffmpeg.no_render": "ffmpeg render is empty, something very odd happened",
-    "ffmpeg.no_args": "ffmpeg worker didn't get required arguments"
+    "ffmpeg.no_args": "ffmpeg worker didn't get required arguments",
+    "ffmpeg.no_audio_channel": "this video has no audio track, nothing to do"
 }
diff --git a/web/src/lib/task-manager/workers/ffmpeg.ts b/web/src/lib/task-manager/workers/ffmpeg.ts
index 7568fb8a..cfb4868d 100644
--- a/web/src/lib/task-manager/workers/ffmpeg.ts
+++ b/web/src/lib/task-manager/workers/ffmpeg.ts
@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@ const ffmpeg = async (variant: string, files: File[], args: string[], output: Fi
             return error("queue.ffmpeg.no_input_format");
         }
 
+        // handle the edge case when a video doesn't have an audio track
+        // but user still tries to extract it
+        if (files.length === 1 && file_info.streams?.length === 1) {
+            if (output.type?.startsWith("audio") && file_info.streams[0].codec_type !== "audio") {
+                return error("queue.ffmpeg.no_audio_channel");
+            }
+        }
+
         self.postMessage({
             cobaltFFmpegWorker: {
                 progress: {