diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ae1a9ee..32db0a1 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "siteforge",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "2.0.40",
+  "version": "2.0.41",
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "vite",
diff --git a/server/routes/nuggets-host-upload.js b/server/routes/nuggets-host-upload.js
index ce0d9a9..dde2402 100644
--- a/server/routes/nuggets-host-upload.js
+++ b/server/routes/nuggets-host-upload.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto'
-import { readFile, writeFile, unlink } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { readFile, writeFile, unlink, mkdir } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import path from 'node:path'
 import multer from 'multer'
 import rateLimit from 'express-rate-limit'
@@ -231,6 +231,10 @@ const otpRateLimiter = rateLimit({
 
 // ── Route registration ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 export function register(app) {
+  // Ensure temp upload dir exists (non-blocking; created well before any upload)
+  mkdir(UPLOAD_TEMP_DIR, { recursive: true }).catch(err => {
+    console.error('[nuggets-upload] could not create upload-tmp dir:', err.message)
+  })
   // ── Host auth ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
   app.get('/api/nuggets-upload/me', async (req, res) => {
@@ -389,7 +393,16 @@ export function register(app) {
 
   // ── Episode upload (audio file + metadata) ───────────────────────────
 
-  app.post('/api/nuggets-upload/upload', requireHostAuth, upload.single('file'), async (req, res) => {
+  app.post('/api/nuggets-upload/upload', requireHostAuth, (req, res, next) => {
+    upload.single('file')(req, res, err => {
+      if (!err) return next()
+      if (err.code === 'LIMIT_FILE_SIZE') {
+        return res.status(400).json({ message: 'File exceeds the 500 MB limit.' })
+      }
+      console.error('[nuggets-upload] multer error:', err.message)
+      return res.status(500).json({ message: `File upload error: ${err.message}` })
+    })
+  }, async (req, res) => {
     if (!req.file) {
       res.status(400).json({ message: 'No file received.' })
       return