diff --git a/backend/app/downloads/edit.py b/backend/app/downloads/edit.py
index c57342c..395721d 100644
--- a/backend/app/downloads/edit.py
+++ b/backend/app/downloads/edit.py
@@ -364,29 +364,41 @@ _BROWSER_SAFE_VCODEC = ("h264",)
 _BROWSER_SAFE_ACODEC = ("aac", "mp3")
 
 
+def parse_probe_streams(payload: str) -> tuple[str | None, str | None]:
+    """(video_codec, audio_codec) out of ffprobe's JSON stream list, lowercased.
+
+    JSON, not the flat `default=nw=1` output: there the fields arrive in ffprobe's own struct
+    order, which puts `codec_name` BEFORE `codec_type`, so a line-by-line "remember the last
+    codec_type" parser attributes every name to the PREVIOUS stream. Measured on real downloads:
+    an ordinary H.264+AAC mp4 probed as `v=aac a=None` — the browser-playability check then
+    believed the video stream was AAC and re-encoded a perfectly fine file on every download."""
+    try:
+        streams = json.loads(payload or "{}").get("streams") or []
+    except ValueError:
+        return None, None
+    vcodec = acodec = None
+    for s in streams:
+        name = (s.get("codec_name") or "").lower() or None
+        ctype = (s.get("codec_type") or "").lower()
+        if ctype == "video" and vcodec is None:
+            vcodec = name
+        elif ctype == "audio" and acodec is None:
+            acodec = name
+    return vcodec, acodec
+
+
 def probe_codecs(path: Path) -> tuple[str | None, str | None]:
     """Return (video_codec, audio_codec) lowercased via one ffprobe call; None for a missing
     stream or if ffprobe fails (a failed probe is treated as 'leave it alone' upstream)."""
     try:
         out = subprocess.run(
             ["ffprobe", "-v", "error", "-show_entries", "stream=codec_type,codec_name",
-             "-of", "default=nw=1", str(path)],
+             "-of", "json", str(path)],
             capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=30, check=True,
-        ).stdout.lower()
+        ).stdout
     except (subprocess.TimeoutExpired, subprocess.CalledProcessError, OSError):
         return None, None
-    vcodec = acodec = None
-    ctype = None
-    for line in out.splitlines():
-        if line.startswith("codec_type="):
-            ctype = line.split("=", 1)[1].strip()
-        elif line.startswith("codec_name="):
-            name = line.split("=", 1)[1].strip() or None
-            if ctype == "video" and vcodec is None:
-                vcodec = name
-            elif ctype == "audio" and acodec is None:
-                acodec = name
-    return vcodec, acodec
+    return parse_probe_streams(out)
 
 
 def probe_duration(path: Path) -> int:
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_download_output.py b/backend/tests/test_download_output.py
index c71ad80..d48bcad 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_download_output.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_download_output.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ so a missing filepath (an arbitrary-URL extractor) skipped the staging fallback
 with "PosixPath('.') has an empty name" instead of downloading."""
 import pytest
 
-from app.downloads.edit import _concat_quote
+from app.downloads.edit import _concat_quote, parse_probe_streams
 from app.worker import _media_info, _produced_file
 from pathlib import Path, PurePosixPath
 
@@ -62,6 +62,35 @@ class TestMediaInfo:
         assert _media_info(info)["id"] == "vid"
 
 
+class TestParseProbeStreams:
+    # ffprobe emits codec_name BEFORE codec_type, so the old line parser shifted every name onto
+    # the previous stream and an H.264+AAC mp4 came back as (aac, None) → a needless re-encode.
+    def test_reads_each_stream_by_its_own_type(self):
+        payload = '{"streams":[{"codec_name":"h264","codec_type":"video"},{"codec_name":"aac","codec_type":"audio"}]}'
+        assert parse_probe_streams(payload) == ("h264", "aac")
+
+    def test_audio_first_ordering_is_handled(self):
+        payload = '{"streams":[{"codec_name":"AAC","codec_type":"audio"},{"codec_name":"H264","codec_type":"video"}]}'
+        assert parse_probe_streams(payload) == ("h264", "aac")
+
+    def test_extra_streams_do_not_win_over_the_first_of_their_kind(self):
+        payload = (
+            '{"streams":[{"codec_name":"h264","codec_type":"video"},'
+            '{"codec_name":"vp9","codec_type":"video"},'
+            '{"codec_name":"mov_text","codec_type":"subtitle"},'
+            '{"codec_name":"opus","codec_type":"audio"}]}'
+        )
+        assert parse_probe_streams(payload) == ("h264", "opus")
+
+    def test_audio_only_and_video_only(self):
+        assert parse_probe_streams('{"streams":[{"codec_name":"opus","codec_type":"audio"}]}') == (None, "opus")
+        assert parse_probe_streams('{"streams":[{"codec_name":"av1","codec_type":"video"}]}') == ("av1", None)
+
+    def test_garbage_is_not_a_crash(self):
+        assert parse_probe_streams("") == (None, None)
+        assert parse_probe_streams("not json") == (None, None)
+
+
 class TestConcatQuote:
     # PurePosixPath so the escaping is asserted identically on a Windows dev box and in the
     # Linux test container (a WindowsPath would eat the backslash as a separator).