diff --git a/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.test.ts b/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.test.ts
index 172418fc9..6c2751f93 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.test.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.test.ts
@@ -709,3 +709,44 @@ describe("PNG chunk walk — integrity of the fallback itself", () => {
     ).toBeNull();
   });
 });
+
+describe("crc32 works on every runtime the package declares", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.resetModules();
+    vi.doUnmock("node:zlib");
+  });
+
+  /** Load ffprobe.ts as it would evaluate on Node 22.0/22.1. */
+  async function loadWithoutNativeCrc32() {
+    const actual = await vi.importActual<typeof import("node:zlib")>("node:zlib");
+    vi.resetModules();
+    // zlib.crc32 landed in 22.2.0, but engine and cli both declare
+    // `"node": ">=22"` behind a major-only gate. A NAMED import of a missing
+    // export throws at module evaluation, so ffprobe.ts would fail to load
+    // entirely on those runtimes — before any PNG is touched.
+    vi.doMock("node:zlib", () => ({ ...actual, crc32: undefined }));
+    return import("./ffprobe.js");
+  }
+
+  it("parses an HDR PNG identically with the native crc32 unavailable", async () => {
+    const png = buildPngWithChunks([
+      pngChunk("IHDR", [0, 0, 0x0f, 0, 0, 0, 0x08, 0x70, 16, 2, 0, 0, 0]),
+      pngChunk("cICP", [9, 16, 0, 1]),
+      pngChunk("IEND", []),
+    ]);
+    const withNative = extractPngMetadataFromBuffer(png);
+    expect(withNative?.colorSpace?.colorTransfer).toBe("smpte2084");
+
+    const fresh = await loadWithoutNativeCrc32();
+    expect(fresh.extractPngMetadataFromBuffer(png)).toEqual(withNative);
+  });
+
+  it("rejects a corrupt chunk on the fallback path too", async () => {
+    const bad = pngChunk("IHDR", [0, 0, 0x0f, 0, 0, 0, 0x08, 0x70, 16, 2, 0, 0, 0]);
+    bad[bad.length - 1] ^= 0xff;
+    const png = buildPngWithChunks([bad, pngChunk("IEND", [])]);
+
+    const fresh = await loadWithoutNativeCrc32();
+    expect(fresh.extractPngMetadataFromBuffer(png)).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.ts b/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.ts
index b02adfb71..9b367ffbc 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/utils/ffprobe.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // fallow-ignore-file code-duplication complexity
 import { spawn } from "child_process";
 import { readFileSync } from "fs";
-import { crc32 } from "node:zlib";
+import * as zlib from "node:zlib";
 import { basename, extname } from "path";
 import { redactTelemetryString } from "@hyperframes/core";
 import { FFPROBE_PATH_ENV, getFfprobeBinary } from "./ffmpegBinaries.js";
@@ -170,11 +170,34 @@ interface StillImageMetadata {
 
 // node:zlib's crc32 is native and takes a running seed, so the chunk type and
 // the chunk data can be CRC'd in sequence without concatenating them into a
-// throwaway buffer. The hand-rolled bit-at-a-time loop this replaces cost
-// ~210 ms on a 12 MiB PNG; this is ~1.3 ms. Available on this repo's
-// "node": ">=22".
+// throwaway buffer: ~210 ms -> ~1.3 ms on a 12 MiB PNG.
+//
+// It landed in Node 22.2.0, and this repo declares `"node": ">=22"` with a
+// major-only runtime gate, so 22.0 and 22.1 are still supported. A NAMED
+// import of a missing export throws at module evaluation — i.e. `ffprobe.ts`
+// would fail to load at all on those, long before any PNG is parsed — so the
+// namespace import plus this capability check is deliberate. Raising the
+// floor to 22.2.0 instead would be a user-facing support change, which does
+// not belong in a PNG bug fix.
+const nativeCrc32 = typeof zlib.crc32 === "function" ? zlib.crc32 : undefined;
+
+/** Bit-at-a-time fallback for Node 22.0/22.1. Correct, just slower. */
+function crc32Fallback(data: Buffer, seed: number): number {
+  let crc = seed ^ 0xffffffff;
+  for (let i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
+    crc ^= data[i] ?? 0;
+    for (let bit = 0; bit < 8; bit++) {
+      const mask = -(crc & 1);
+      crc = (crc >>> 1) ^ (0xedb88320 & mask);
+    }
+  }
+  return (crc ^ 0xffffffff) >>> 0;
+}
+
 function chunkCrc32(chunkType: string, chunkData: Buffer): number {
-  return crc32(chunkData, crc32(Buffer.from(chunkType, "ascii")));
+  const typeBytes = Buffer.from(chunkType, "ascii");
+  if (nativeCrc32) return nativeCrc32(chunkData, nativeCrc32(typeBytes));
+  return crc32Fallback(chunkData, crc32Fallback(typeBytes, 0));
 }
 
 export function extractPngMetadataFromBuffer(buf: Buffer): StillImageMetadata | null {