diff --git a/app/Helpers/merge_pdf_helper.php b/app/Helpers/merge_pdf_helper.php
index 063de050..fdfe1b26 100644
--- a/app/Helpers/merge_pdf_helper.php
+++ b/app/Helpers/merge_pdf_helper.php
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ if (! function_exists('merge_ticket_pdfs')) {
         $rows = $claimFiles
             ->where('ticket_id', $ticket_master_id)
             ->where('is_active', 1)
-            ->whereIn('mime_type', $opts['include_mime_types'])
             ->whereIn('file_type', $opts['include_file_types'])
             ->orderBy('id', 'ASC')
             ->findAll();
@@ -86,9 +85,15 @@ if (! function_exists('merge_ticket_pdfs')) {
             // url column may sometimes hold a full URL; we only care about the file basename on disk.
             $full = $uploadDir . basename($name);
             if (is_file($full) && is_readable($full)) {
+                $mime = merge_ticket_pdf_resolve_mime($full, (string) ($row['mime_type'] ?? ''));
+                if (! in_array($mime, $opts['include_mime_types'], true)) {
+                    log_message('error', "merge_ticket_pdfs | unsupported source mime {$mime} | claim_file_id={$row['id']} | path={$full}");
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 $sourceFiles[] = [
                     'path' => $full,
-                    'mime' => strtolower((string) ($row['mime_type'] ?? '')),
+                    'mime' => $mime,
                     'id'   => $row['id'] ?? null,
                 ];
             } else {
@@ -205,6 +210,47 @@ if (! function_exists('merge_ticket_pdfs')) {
     }
 }
 
+if (! function_exists('merge_ticket_pdf_resolve_mime')) {
+    /**
+     * Resolve file type from stored MIME, filesystem MIME, and extension.
+     * Some uploads can be saved as image/jpg, empty MIME, or octet-stream in DB.
+     */
+    function merge_ticket_pdf_resolve_mime(string $path, string $storedMime = ''): string
+    {
+        $storedMime = strtolower(trim($storedMime));
+        if ($storedMime === 'image/jpg') {
+            return 'image/jpeg';
+        }
+        if (in_array($storedMime, ['application/pdf', 'image/jpeg', 'image/png'], true)) {
+            return $storedMime;
+        }
+
+        $detectedMime = '';
+        if (function_exists('mime_content_type')) {
+            $detectedMime = strtolower((string) @mime_content_type($path));
+            if ($detectedMime === 'image/jpg') {
+                return 'image/jpeg';
+            }
+            if (in_array($detectedMime, ['application/pdf', 'image/jpeg', 'image/png'], true)) {
+                return $detectedMime;
+            }
+        }
+
+        $ext = strtolower(pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_EXTENSION));
+        if ($ext === 'pdf') {
+            return 'application/pdf';
+        }
+        if (in_array($ext, ['jpg', 'jpeg'], true)) {
+            return 'image/jpeg';
+        }
+        if ($ext === 'png') {
+            return 'image/png';
+        }
+
+        return $detectedMime ?: ($storedMime ?: 'application/octet-stream');
+    }
+}
+
 if (! function_exists('merge_ticket_pdf_add_image_page')) {
     /**
      * Add an uploaded image as a single PDF page, preserving portrait/landscape