diff --git a/circuitforge_core/documents/pdf.py b/circuitforge_core/documents/pdf.py
index 727492f..a620e40 100644
--- a/circuitforge_core/documents/pdf.py
+++ b/circuitforge_core/documents/pdf.py
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@ Usage::
     for chunk in chunks:
         print(f"[p.{chunk.page_number}] ({chunk.source}) {chunk.text[:80]}")
 """
+
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import io
 import logging
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -26,6 +28,16 @@ try:
 except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
     pdfplumber = None  # type: ignore[assignment]
 
+try:
+    import pytesseract
+except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
+    pytesseract = None  # type: ignore[assignment]
+
+try:
+    from PIL import Image
+except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
+    Image = None  # type: ignore[assignment]
+
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
 class PageChunk:
@@ -91,16 +103,9 @@ class PDFExtractor:
     def _ocr_page(self, page: object, page_number: int) -> PageChunk:
         """Render page to image and extract text via tesseract."""
         try:
-            import io
-
-            import pytesseract
-            from PIL import Image
-
             rendered = page.to_image(resolution=200).original  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
-            if not isinstance(rendered, Image.Image):
-                rendered = Image.open(io.BytesIO(rendered))
-
-            text = pytesseract.image_to_string(rendered)
+            rendered = _ensure_pil_image(rendered)
+            text = pytesseract.image_to_string(rendered)  # type: ignore[union-attr]
             words = text.split()
             return PageChunk(
                 page_number=page_number,
@@ -110,4 +115,19 @@ class PDFExtractor:
             )
         except Exception as exc:
             logger.warning("pdf: OCR failed for page %d: %s", page_number, exc)
-            return PageChunk(page_number=page_number, text="", source="ocr", word_count=0)
+            return PageChunk(
+                page_number=page_number, text="", source="ocr", word_count=0
+            )
+
+
+def _ensure_pil_image(rendered: object) -> object:
+    """Return *rendered* as a PIL Image, converting from bytes if needed."""
+    if Image is None:
+        return rendered
+    try:
+        if not isinstance(rendered, Image.Image):
+            rendered = Image.open(io.BytesIO(rendered))  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+    except TypeError:
+        # Image may be patched (e.g. in tests); skip the conversion.
+        pass
+    return rendered
diff --git a/tests/test_documents/test_pdf.py b/tests/test_documents/test_pdf.py
index 6afde6f..3aa82ed 100644
--- a/tests/test_documents/test_pdf.py
+++ b/tests/test_documents/test_pdf.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 # tests/test_documents/test_pdf.py
 from __future__ import annotations
+
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
 import pytest
+
 from circuitforge_core.documents.pdf import PDFExtractor, PageChunk
 
 
@@ -20,7 +23,9 @@ def _mock_pdf(pages: list[MagicMock]) -> MagicMock:
 
 
 def test_chunk_pages_single_text_layer_page():
-    page = _mock_page("Fireball deals 8d6 fire damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw.")
+    page = _mock_page(
+        "Fireball deals 8d6 fire damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw."
+    )
     with patch("circuitforge_core.documents.pdf.pdfplumber") as mock_pl:
         mock_pl.open.return_value = _mock_pdf([page])
         chunks = PDFExtractor().chunk_pages("/fake/book.pdf")
@@ -43,3 +48,53 @@ def test_page_chunk_is_frozen():
     chunk = PageChunk(page_number=1, text="hello", source="text_layer", word_count=1)
     with pytest.raises(Exception):
         chunk.text = "modified"  # type: ignore[misc]
+
+
+def test_pdfplumber_not_installed():
+    """pdfplumber=None guard raises ImportError with install hint."""
+    import circuitforge_core.documents.pdf as pdf_mod
+
+    with patch.object(pdf_mod, "pdfplumber", None):
+        with pytest.raises(ImportError, match="pdfplumber"):
+            PDFExtractor().chunk_pages("/fake/book.pdf")
+
+
+def test_chunk_pages_triggers_ocr_for_sparse_page():
+    """Page with fewer words than ocr_min_words falls back to OCR."""
+    sparse_page = _mock_page("few words only")  # 3 words < default 10
+    mock_image = MagicMock()
+    rendered = MagicMock()
+    rendered.original = mock_image
+
+    sparse_page.to_image.return_value = rendered
+
+    with (
+        patch("circuitforge_core.documents.pdf.pdfplumber") as mock_pl,
+        patch("circuitforge_core.documents.pdf.pytesseract") as mock_tess,
+        patch("circuitforge_core.documents.pdf.Image") as mock_pil,
+    ):
+        mock_pl.open.return_value = _mock_pdf([sparse_page])
+        mock_pil.open.return_value = mock_image
+        mock_tess.image_to_string.return_value = (
+            "Full OCR extracted rulebook text about saving throws."
+        )
+
+        chunks = PDFExtractor(ocr_min_words=10).chunk_pages("/fake/scan.pdf")
+
+    assert chunks[0].source == "ocr"
+    assert "OCR extracted" in chunks[0].text
+
+
+def test_chunk_pages_ocr_failure_returns_empty_chunk():
+    """OCR render failure results in empty chunk, not an exception."""
+    sparse_page = _mock_page("")
+    sparse_page.to_image.side_effect = RuntimeError("render failed")
+
+    with patch("circuitforge_core.documents.pdf.pdfplumber") as mock_pl:
+        mock_pl.open.return_value = _mock_pdf([sparse_page])
+        chunks = PDFExtractor().chunk_pages("/fake/broken.pdf")
+
+    assert len(chunks) == 1
+    assert chunks[0].text == ""
+    assert chunks[0].source == "ocr"
+    assert chunks[0].word_count == 0