diff --git a/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts b/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts
index c7fa224998..d2ad6384e4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/browser/ffmpeg.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { getCachedGpuEncoder } from "@hyperframes/engine";
-import { findFfBinary } from "@hyperframes/parsers/ff-binaries";
+import { findFfBinary, getSkippedX86Binary } from "@hyperframes/parsers/ff-binaries";
 import { detectLinuxDistro, ffmpegInstallCommand } from "./linuxDeps.js";
 import { runCancellableProcess } from "../utils/cancellableProcess.js";
 
@@ -96,6 +96,12 @@ export function getFFmpegInstallCommand(): string | undefined {
 }
 
 export function getFFmpegInstallHint(): string {
+  const skipped = getSkippedX86Binary();
+  const base = installHint();
+  return skipped ? `${base} (ignored ${skipped}: x86_64 only, it cannot run on this Mac)` : base;
+}
+
+function installHint(): string {
   const command = getFFmpegInstallCommand();
   // Guarding on `command`, not the platform alone: the function above is the
   // sole owner of platform-to-command, so the day win32 stops returning one
diff --git a/packages/parsers/src/ffBinaries.test.ts b/packages/parsers/src/ffBinaries.test.ts
index 6ecec82644..a9da5deae2 100644
--- a/packages/parsers/src/ffBinaries.test.ts
+++ b/packages/parsers/src/ffBinaries.test.ts
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ describe("findFfBinary", () => {
 
   function installerProject(
     name: "ffmpeg" | "ffprobe",
-    { viaInstaller = false, mode = 0o755 } = {},
+    { viaInstaller = false, mode = 0o755, content = "" as string | Buffer } = {},
   ) {
     const project = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-ff-installer-")));
     const platformPackage = `@${name}-installer/${process.platform}-${process.arch}`;
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ describe("findFfBinary", () => {
       );
     }
     const binary = join(packageDir, process.platform === "win32" ? `${name}.exe` : name);
-    writeFileSync(binary, "");
+    writeFileSync(binary, content);
     chmodSync(binary, mode);
     return { project, binary };
   }
@@ -279,6 +279,29 @@ describe("findFfBinary", () => {
     },
   );
 
+  describe.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")("on Apple Silicon without Rosetta", () => {
+    const machO = (cpu: number) => Buffer.from([0xcf, 0xfa, 0xed, 0xfe, cpu, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01]);
+
+    function asAppleSilicon() {
+      Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", { value: "darwin", configurable: true });
+      vi.spyOn(process, "arch", "get").mockReturnValue("arm64");
+    }
+
+    it("skips an x86_64 installer binary", async () => {
+      asAppleSilicon();
+      const { project } = installerProject("ffprobe", { content: machO(0x07) });
+
+      expect(await findInProjectDir(project, "ffprobe")).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    it("keeps an arm64 installer binary", async () => {
+      asAppleSilicon();
+      const { project, binary } = installerProject("ffprobe", { content: machO(0x0c) });
+
+      expect(await findInProjectDir(project, "ffprobe")).toBe(binary);
+    });
+  });
+
   it("returns undefined when the binary is nowhere, and caches the miss until cleared", async () => {
     delete process.env.HYPERFRAMES_FFMPEG_PATH;
     Object.defineProperty(process, "platform", { value: "linux", configurable: true });
@@ -345,3 +368,25 @@ describe("findFfBinary", () => {
     expect(execFileSync).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
   });
 });
+
+describe("isX86OnlyMachO", () => {
+  function fixture(bytes: number[]): string {
+    const file = join(realpathSync(mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-macho-"))), "ffprobe");
+    writeFileSync(file, Buffer.from(bytes));
+    onTestFinished(() => rmSync(file, { force: true }));
+    return file;
+  }
+
+  it("flags a 64-bit x86_64 Mach-O (the ffprobe-static darwin/arm64 payload)", async () => {
+    const { isX86OnlyMachO } = await importFresh();
+    expect(isX86OnlyMachO(fixture([0xcf, 0xfa, 0xed, 0xfe, 0x07, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01]))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("passes an arm64 Mach-O, a universal binary, a script and a missing file", async () => {
+    const { isX86OnlyMachO } = await importFresh();
+    expect(isX86OnlyMachO(fixture([0xcf, 0xfa, 0xed, 0xfe, 0x0c, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01]))).toBe(false);
+    expect(isX86OnlyMachO(fixture([0xca, 0xfe, 0xba, 0xbe, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02]))).toBe(false);
+    expect(isX86OnlyMachO(fixture([0x23, 0x21, 0x2f, 0x62, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x2f, 0x73]))).toBe(false);
+    expect(isX86OnlyMachO("/nonexistent/ffprobe")).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/parsers/src/ffBinaries.ts b/packages/parsers/src/ffBinaries.ts
index 3c91cec4de..78e1322a6d 100644
--- a/packages/parsers/src/ffBinaries.ts
+++ b/packages/parsers/src/ffBinaries.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";
-import { accessSync, constants, existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { accessSync, closeSync, constants, existsSync, openSync, readSync } from "node:fs";
 import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 import { delimiter, dirname, join, resolve } from "node:path";
 
@@ -41,11 +41,48 @@ function chooseBestPathCandidate(
   );
 }
 
+const MACHO_CPU_X86_64 = 0x01000007;
+const ROSETTA_RUNTIME = "/Library/Apple/usr/libexec/oah/libRosettaRuntime";
+
+// A Mach-O built only for x86_64 (some npm packages ship one under darwin/arm64). A universal
+// binary or an unreadable file is not one.
+export function isX86OnlyMachO(file: string): boolean {
+  const header = Buffer.alloc(8);
+  try {
+    const fd = openSync(file, "r");
+    try {
+      readSync(fd, header, 0, 8, 0);
+    } finally {
+      closeSync(fd);
+    }
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return header.readUInt32LE(0) === 0xfeedfacf && header.readUInt32LE(4) === MACHO_CPU_X86_64;
+}
+
+// Without Rosetta an Apple Silicon Mac cannot run an x86_64 binary, so it must not be chosen.
+function runsOnThisMac(candidate: string): boolean {
+  if (process.platform !== "darwin" || process.arch !== "arm64" || existsSync(ROSETTA_RUNTIME)) {
+    return true;
+  }
+  if (!isX86OnlyMachO(candidate)) return true;
+  skippedX86Binary ??= candidate;
+  return false;
+}
+
+let skippedX86Binary: string | undefined;
+
+/** The first x86_64-only binary skipped on this Mac, for naming in the "not found" hint. */
+export function getSkippedX86Binary(): string | undefined {
+  return skippedX86Binary;
+}
+
 function isExecutablePathCandidate(candidate: string): boolean {
   if (process.platform === "win32") return existsSync(candidate);
   try {
     accessSync(candidate, constants.X_OK);
-    return true;
+    return runsOnThisMac(candidate);
   } catch {
     return false;
   }
@@ -95,7 +132,7 @@ const COMMON_BIN_DIRS =
 function findInCommonDirsOrInstallerPackage(name: FfBinaryName): string | undefined {
   for (const dir of COMMON_BIN_DIRS) {
     const candidate = `${dir}/${name}`;
-    if (existsSync(candidate)) return candidate;
+    if (existsSync(candidate) && runsOnThisMac(candidate)) return candidate;
   }
   return findInInstallerPackage(name);
 }
@@ -205,4 +242,5 @@ export function findFfBinary(
 export function clearFfBinaryLookupCache(): void {
   pathLookupCache.clear();
   lastMissAt.clear();
+  skippedX86Binary = undefined;
 }