diff --git a/packages/studio-server/src/helpers/previewAdapter.test.ts b/packages/studio-server/src/helpers/previewAdapter.test.ts
index 5881449bc..6ef7d8814 100644
--- a/packages/studio-server/src/helpers/previewAdapter.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio-server/src/helpers/previewAdapter.test.ts
@@ -293,6 +293,18 @@ describe("T10 — PreviewAdapter contract (spec for R7)", () => {
       expect(timings["hf-orphan"].start).toBeUndefined();
     });
 
+    it("returns undefined start when the reference target exists but its own timing is unresolvable", () => {
+      make("div", { "data-hf-id": "hf-untimed" }); // no data-end, no data-duration
+      make("div", {
+        "data-hf-id": "hf-outro",
+        "data-start": "hf-untimed + 2",
+        "data-duration": "1",
+      });
+      const adapter = adapterWith(() => null);
+      const timings = adapter.getElementTimings();
+      expect(timings["hf-outro"].start).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
     it("terminates (not an infinite loop) on a mutual A <-> B reference cycle", () => {
       make("div", { "data-hf-id": "hf-a", "data-start": "hf-b", "data-duration": "2" });
       make("div", { "data-hf-id": "hf-b", "data-start": "hf-a", "data-duration": "3" });
diff --git a/packages/studio-server/src/helpers/previewAdapter.ts b/packages/studio-server/src/helpers/previewAdapter.ts
index 4278710b6..e576a524c 100644
--- a/packages/studio-server/src/helpers/previewAdapter.ts
+++ b/packages/studio-server/src/helpers/previewAdapter.ts
@@ -147,6 +147,12 @@ export function createPreviewAdapter(
       // has no data-end) — this function never read data-duration before either,
       // so a reference to a duration-authored (not end-authored) clip used to be
       // unresolvable regardless of the parseFloat bug.
+      //
+      // This is the third copy of "resolve relative data-start" (runtime
+      // startResolver.ts; the SDK's own getElementTimings in session.ts; this
+      // one). The runtime version is substantially more complex (host offsets,
+      // media, live timelines) so a shared extraction isn't a straightforward
+      // win — this one and the SDK's stay hand-kept in sync instead.
       const startCache = new Map<Element, number | undefined>();
       const visiting = new Set<Element>();
 
@@ -184,6 +190,11 @@ export function createPreviewAdapter(
           } else if (expr?.kind === "absolute") {
             resolved = expr.value;
           } else {
+            // parseStartExpression returns null for empty/absent data-start, and
+            // also for a malformed grammar string (e.g. "3 abc" — a leading
+            // number followed by content the reference regex rejects). The
+            // parseFloat below only ever succeeds on that second, malformed
+            // case (a clean number or a clean reference already matched above).
             const sv = startStr !== null ? parseFloat(startStr) : NaN;
             resolved = Number.isFinite(sv) ? sv : undefined;
           }