diff --git a/internal/app/media.go b/internal/app/media.go
index 6417aaf..5df8ad2 100644
--- a/internal/app/media.go
+++ b/internal/app/media.go
@@ -87,6 +87,13 @@ func (a *App) runMediaWorkers(ctx context.Context, jobs <-chan mediaJob, workers
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func() {
 			defer wg.Done()
+			// Recover from panics to prevent a bad media job from crashing
+			// the whole process (#52).
+			defer func() {
+				if r := recover(); r != nil {
+					fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "media worker panic (recovered): %v\n", r)
+				}
+			}()
 			for {
 				select {
 				case <-ctx.Done():
diff --git a/internal/app/sync.go b/internal/app/sync.go
index e1e8bdc..01e2942 100644
--- a/internal/app/sync.go
+++ b/internal/app/sync.go
@@ -80,6 +80,13 @@ func (a *App) Sync(ctx context.Context, opts SyncOptions) (SyncResult, error) {
 	}
 
 	handlerID := a.wa.AddEventHandler(func(evt interface{}) {
+		// Recover from panics so unexpected message structures do not
+		// crash the entire process (#52).
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "\nevent handler panic (recovered): %v\n", r)
+			}
+		}()
 		lastEvent.Store(time.Now().UTC().UnixNano())
 
 		switch v := evt.(type) {