diff --git a/lib/image-pipeline/backend/backend-router.ts b/lib/image-pipeline/backend/backend-router.ts
index e249371..c285197 100644
--- a/lib/image-pipeline/backend/backend-router.ts
+++ b/lib/image-pipeline/backend/backend-router.ts
@@ -196,31 +196,60 @@ export function createBackendRouter(options?: {
       });
     }
 
-    try {
-      args.runBackend(selection.backend);
-      return;
-    } catch (error: unknown) {
-      const shouldAbort = args.executionOptions?.shouldAbort;
-      if (shouldAbort?.()) {
-        throw error;
-      }
+    const shouldAbort = args.executionOptions?.shouldAbort;
+    let backend = selection.backend;
 
-      if (selection.backend.id.toLowerCase() === cpuFallbackBackend.id.toLowerCase()) {
-        throw error;
-      }
+    while (true) {
+      try {
+        args.runBackend(backend);
+        return;
+      } catch (error: unknown) {
+        if (shouldAbort?.()) {
+          throw error;
+        }
 
-      const normalizedError =
-        error instanceof Error ? error : new Error("Image pipeline backend execution failed.");
-      emitFallback({
-        reason: "runtime_error",
-        requestedBackend: selection.backend.id.toLowerCase(),
-        fallbackBackend: cpuFallbackBackend.id,
-        error: normalizedError,
-      });
-      args.runBackend(cpuFallbackBackend);
+        if (backend.id.toLowerCase() === cpuFallbackBackend.id.toLowerCase()) {
+          throw error;
+        }
+
+        const fallbackBackend = resolveRuntimeFallbackBackend(backend.id);
+        if (!fallbackBackend || fallbackBackend.id.toLowerCase() === backend.id.toLowerCase()) {
+          throw error;
+        }
+
+        const normalizedError =
+          error instanceof Error ? error : new Error("Image pipeline backend execution failed.");
+        emitFallback({
+          reason: "runtime_error",
+          requestedBackend: backend.id.toLowerCase(),
+          fallbackBackend: fallbackBackend.id,
+          error: normalizedError,
+        });
+
+        backend = fallbackBackend;
+      }
     }
   }
 
+  function resolveRuntimeFallbackBackend(failedBackendId: string): ImagePipelineBackend | null {
+    const normalizedFailedBackendId = failedBackendId.toLowerCase();
+
+    if (normalizedFailedBackendId === "webgl") {
+      const wasmBackend = byId.get("wasm");
+      const wasmAvailability = readAvailability("wasm");
+      if (
+        wasmBackend &&
+        isBackendEnabledByFlags("wasm") &&
+        wasmAvailability?.enabled !== false &&
+        wasmAvailability?.supported !== false
+      ) {
+        return wasmBackend;
+      }
+    }
+
+    return cpuFallbackBackend;
+  }
+
   return {
     resolveBackend(backendHint) {
       return resolveBackendWithFallbackReason(backendHint).backend;
@@ -307,7 +336,15 @@ export function getPreviewBackendHintForSteps(steps: readonly PreviewBackendRequ
   const rolloutState = getRolloutRouterState();
 
   if (rolloutState.webglEnabled && rolloutState.webglAvailable) {
-    return isWebglPreviewPipelineSupported(steps) ? "webgl" : CPU_BACKEND_ID;
+    if (isWebglPreviewPipelineSupported(steps)) {
+      return "webgl";
+    }
+
+    if (rolloutState.wasmEnabled && rolloutState.wasmAvailable) {
+      return "wasm";
+    }
+
+    return CPU_BACKEND_ID;
   }
 
   if (rolloutState.wasmEnabled && rolloutState.wasmAvailable) {
diff --git a/tests/image-pipeline/wasm-backend.test.ts b/tests/image-pipeline/wasm-backend.test.ts
index 6fecb9a..fbe3afd 100644
--- a/tests/image-pipeline/wasm-backend.test.ts
+++ b/tests/image-pipeline/wasm-backend.test.ts
@@ -70,9 +70,203 @@ describe("wasm backend rollout selection", () => {
 
     expect(backendRouter.getPreviewBackendHintForSteps([createStep()])).toBe("wasm");
   });
+
+  it("prefers wasm when webgl is enabled+available but unsupported for the step set", async () => {
+    vi.doMock("@/lib/image-pipeline/backend/feature-flags", async () => {
+      const actual = await vi.importActual("@/lib/image-pipeline/backend/feature-flags");
+      return {
+        ...actual,
+        getBackendFeatureFlags: () => ({
+          forceCpu: false,
+          webglEnabled: true,
+          wasmEnabled: true,
+        }),
+      };
+    });
+
+    vi.doMock("@/lib/image-pipeline/backend/capabilities", async () => {
+      const actual = await vi.importActual("@/lib/image-pipeline/backend/capabilities");
+      return {
+        ...actual,
+        detectBackendCapabilities: () => ({
+          webgl: true,
+          wasmSimd: true,
+          offscreenCanvas: true,
+        }),
+      };
+    });
+
+    vi.doMock("@/lib/image-pipeline/backend/webgl/webgl-backend", async () => {
+      const actual = await vi.importActual("@/lib/image-pipeline/backend/webgl/webgl-backend");
+      return {
+        ...actual,
+        createWebglPreviewBackend: () => ({
+          id: "webgl",
+          runPreviewStep: vi.fn(),
+          runFullPipeline: vi.fn(),
+        }),
+        isWebglPreviewPipelineSupported: () => false,
+      };
+    });
+
+    const backendRouter = await import("@/lib/image-pipeline/backend/backend-router");
+
+    expect(backendRouter.getPreviewBackendHintForSteps([createStep()])).toBe("wasm");
+  });
 });
 
 describe("wasm backend fallback behavior", () => {
+  it("uses wasm as runtime fallback before cpu when webgl fails", () => {
+    const fallbackEvents: Array<{
+      reason: string;
+      requestedBackend: string;
+      fallbackBackend: string;
+    }> = [];
+    const webglPreview = vi.fn(() => {
+      throw new Error("webgl failed");
+    });
+    const wasmPreview = vi.fn();
+    const cpuPreview = vi.fn();
+    const router = createBackendRouter({
+      backends: [
+        {
+          id: "cpu",
+          runPreviewStep: cpuPreview,
+          runFullPipeline: vi.fn(),
+        },
+        {
+          id: "wasm",
+          runPreviewStep: wasmPreview,
+          runFullPipeline: vi.fn(),
+        },
+        {
+          id: "webgl",
+          runPreviewStep: webglPreview,
+          runFullPipeline: vi.fn(),
+        },
+      ],
+      defaultBackendId: "webgl",
+      backendAvailability: {
+        webgl: {
+          supported: true,
+          enabled: true,
+        },
+        wasm: {
+          supported: true,
+          enabled: true,
+        },
+      },
+      featureFlags: {
+        forceCpu: false,
+        webglEnabled: true,
+        wasmEnabled: true,
+      },
+      onFallback: (event) => {
+        fallbackEvents.push({
+          reason: event.reason,
+          requestedBackend: event.requestedBackend,
+          fallbackBackend: event.fallbackBackend,
+        });
+      },
+    });
+
+    router.runPreviewStep({
+      pixels: new Uint8ClampedArray(4),
+      step: createStep(),
+      width: 1,
+      height: 1,
+      backendHint: "webgl",
+    });
+
+    expect(webglPreview).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(wasmPreview).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(cpuPreview).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(fallbackEvents).toEqual([
+      {
+        reason: "runtime_error",
+        requestedBackend: "webgl",
+        fallbackBackend: "wasm",
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it("falls through to cpu when both webgl and wasm fail at runtime", () => {
+    const fallbackEvents: Array<{
+      reason: string;
+      requestedBackend: string;
+      fallbackBackend: string;
+    }> = [];
+    const cpuPreview = vi.fn();
+    const router = createBackendRouter({
+      backends: [
+        {
+          id: "cpu",
+          runPreviewStep: cpuPreview,
+          runFullPipeline: vi.fn(),
+        },
+        {
+          id: "wasm",
+          runPreviewStep: () => {
+            throw new Error("wasm failed");
+          },
+          runFullPipeline: vi.fn(),
+        },
+        {
+          id: "webgl",
+          runPreviewStep: () => {
+            throw new Error("webgl failed");
+          },
+          runFullPipeline: vi.fn(),
+        },
+      ],
+      defaultBackendId: "webgl",
+      backendAvailability: {
+        webgl: {
+          supported: true,
+          enabled: true,
+        },
+        wasm: {
+          supported: true,
+          enabled: true,
+        },
+      },
+      featureFlags: {
+        forceCpu: false,
+        webglEnabled: true,
+        wasmEnabled: true,
+      },
+      onFallback: (event) => {
+        fallbackEvents.push({
+          reason: event.reason,
+          requestedBackend: event.requestedBackend,
+          fallbackBackend: event.fallbackBackend,
+        });
+      },
+    });
+
+    router.runPreviewStep({
+      pixels: new Uint8ClampedArray(4),
+      step: createStep(),
+      width: 1,
+      height: 1,
+      backendHint: "webgl",
+    });
+
+    expect(cpuPreview).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(fallbackEvents).toEqual([
+      {
+        reason: "runtime_error",
+        requestedBackend: "webgl",
+        fallbackBackend: "wasm",
+      },
+      {
+        reason: "runtime_error",
+        requestedBackend: "wasm",
+        fallbackBackend: "cpu",
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
   it("downgrades to cpu with runtime_error when wasm initialization fails", () => {
     const fallbackEvents: Array<{
       reason: string;