diff --git a/backend/api/routers/audiobook.py b/backend/api/routers/audiobook.py
index 757bdd05..52cda953 100644
--- a/backend/api/routers/audiobook.py
+++ b/backend/api/routers/audiobook.py
@@ -97,12 +97,17 @@ _MAX_CHAPTERS = 10_000
 
 @router.post("/audiobook/import")
 async def audiobook_import(file: UploadFile = File(...)) -> dict:
-    """Import a ``.txt``/``.md``/``.epub`` into a chapter-delimited script.
+    """Import a ``.txt``/``.md``/``.epub``/``.pdf`` into a chapter-delimited script.
 
-    EPUB is parsed in spine order (stdlib only, local); plain text gets ``# ``
-    headings inserted ahead of obvious chapter-title lines. Returns the script
-    text (for the editor) + the resulting chapter count."""
-    from services.longform_import import chapterize_plaintext, epub_to_chapter_script
+    EPUB is parsed in spine order (stdlib only, local); PDF text is extracted
+    with pypdf (pure-Python) then chapterized; plain text gets ``# `` headings
+    inserted ahead of obvious chapter-title lines. Returns the script text (for
+    the editor) + the resulting chapter count."""
+    from services.longform_import import (
+        chapterize_plaintext,
+        epub_to_chapter_script,
+        pdf_to_chapter_script,
+    )
 
     name = (file.filename or "").lower()
     data = await file.read()
@@ -115,6 +120,11 @@ async def audiobook_import(file: UploadFile = File(...)) -> dict:
             script = epub_to_chapter_script(data)
         except ValueError as e:
             raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail=f"couldn't parse EPUB: {e}")
+    elif name.endswith(".pdf"):
+        try:
+            script = pdf_to_chapter_script(data)
+        except ValueError as e:
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail=f"couldn't parse PDF: {e}")
     else:
         script = chapterize_plaintext(data.decode("utf-8", "ignore"))
     if not script.strip():
diff --git a/backend/services/longform_import.py b/backend/services/longform_import.py
index 2745f889..2f2d5a41 100644
--- a/backend/services/longform_import.py
+++ b/backend/services/longform_import.py
@@ -190,3 +190,62 @@ def epub_to_chapter_script(
     if not blocks:
         raise ValueError("no readable chapters found in the EPUB")
     return "\n\n".join(blocks)
+
+
+# Page-count ceiling for PDF ingestion — a defence against a pathological
+# document tying up the worker. 5000 pages comfortably covers any real book.
+_PDF_MAX_PAGES = 5000
+
+
+def pdf_to_chapter_script(data: bytes, *, max_pages: int = _PDF_MAX_PAGES) -> str:
+    """Convert PDF bytes into a ``# Chapter`` / body script.
+
+    Extracts the embedded text layer page-by-page (in page order), joins it,
+    and runs it through :func:`chapterize_plaintext` so ``Chapter N`` /
+    ``Prologue`` lines become headings — same grammar EPUB and plaintext emit.
+    Unlike EPUB this needs a real parser (``pypdf``, pure-Python, no native
+    deps → identical on every platform).
+
+    Limitations surfaced as ``ValueError`` (the route maps these to a 400 with
+    the message, so the user gets actionable feedback rather than a silent
+    empty import):
+
+    * **Scanned / image-only PDFs** have no text layer — there's nothing to
+      extract without OCR, so we raise rather than return an empty script.
+    * **Password-protected PDFs** that don't open with an empty password can't
+      be read.
+    """
+    from pypdf import PdfReader
+    from pypdf.errors import PdfReadError
+
+    try:
+        reader = PdfReader(io.BytesIO(data))
+    except (PdfReadError, OSError, ValueError) as e:
+        raise ValueError(f"not a valid PDF file: {e}") from e
+
+    if reader.is_encrypted:
+        # Many PDFs are encrypted with an empty user password (owner-locked but
+        # freely readable). Try that; a real password we can't supply.
+        try:
+            if reader.decrypt("") == 0:  # 0 == wrong password
+                raise ValueError("PDF is password-protected")
+        except (NotImplementedError, PdfReadError) as e:
+            raise ValueError(f"can't read this encrypted PDF: {e}") from e
+
+    pages = reader.pages
+    if len(pages) > max_pages:
+        raise ValueError(f"PDF has too many pages (max {max_pages})")
+
+    parts: list[str] = []
+    for page in pages:
+        try:
+            text = page.extract_text() or ""
+        except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 — one bad page shouldn't kill the import
+            continue
+        if text.strip():
+            parts.append(text)
+
+    if not parts:
+        raise ValueError(
+            "no extractable text — this looks like a scanned or image-only PDF")
+    return chapterize_plaintext("\n\n".join(parts))
diff --git a/frontend/src/api/audiobook.ts b/frontend/src/api/audiobook.ts
index cd89f942..0d00b058 100644
--- a/frontend/src/api/audiobook.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/api/audiobook.ts
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ export async function audiobookUploadCover(file: File): Promise<{ path: string }
   return res.json();
 }
 
-/** Import a .txt/.md/.epub into a chapter-delimited script. */
+/** Import a .txt/.md/.epub/.pdf into a chapter-delimited script. */
 export async function audiobookImport(file: File): Promise<{ text: string; chapters: number }> {
   const form = new FormData();
   form.append('file', file);
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/AudiobookTab.jsx b/frontend/src/pages/AudiobookTab.jsx
index d1d6a9cc..3f093e15 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/AudiobookTab.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/AudiobookTab.jsx
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ export default function AudiobookTab({ profiles = [] }) {
         <div className="audiobook-tab__actions">
           <label className="ui-btn ui-btn--subtle" style={{ cursor: busy ? 'default' : 'pointer', display: 'inline-flex', alignItems: 'center', gap: 6 }}>
             {importing ? <Loader size={14} className="spin" /> : <Upload size={14} />} {t('audiobook.import')}
-            <input type="file" accept=".txt,.md,.epub" onChange={onImport} disabled={busy} style={{ display: 'none' }} />
+            <input type="file" accept=".txt,.md,.epub,.pdf" onChange={onImport} disabled={busy} style={{ display: 'none' }} />
           </label>
           <button className="ui-btn ui-btn--subtle" onClick={onPreview} disabled={!canRun}>
             {planLoading ? <Loader size={14} className="spin" /> : null} {t('audiobook.preview_plan')}
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index bc2d2535..1dc2e826 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -120,6 +120,11 @@ dependencies = [
     # callbacks (the accurate-progress work in this same plan depends on tqdm).
     "huggingface_hub>=1.7",
     "hf-xet>=1.1",
+    # Audiobook PDF ingest (/audiobook/import). Pure-Python, MIT, zero native
+    # deps → identical behaviour on macOS/Windows/Linux (default-parity rule).
+    # EPUB + plaintext stay stdlib-only; only PDF needs a real parser, and
+    # pypdf is the lightest one that ships no C extensions.
+    "pypdf>=4.0",
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
diff --git a/tests/test_longform_import.py b/tests/test_longform_import.py
index bd446512..dbd19118 100644
--- a/tests/test_longform_import.py
+++ b/tests/test_longform_import.py
@@ -10,10 +10,53 @@ import zipfile
 
 import pytest
 
-from services.longform_import import chapterize_plaintext, epub_to_chapter_script
+from services.longform_import import (
+    chapterize_plaintext,
+    epub_to_chapter_script,
+    pdf_to_chapter_script,
+)
 from services.audiobook import parse_audiobook_script
 
 
+# ── PDF fixture builder ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# A minimal hand-built single-page PDF with a Helvetica text layer, so the PDF
+# tests need no PDF-authoring dependency (mirrors the in-memory-EPUB approach).
+
+def _make_pdf(lines: list[str], *, content_override: bytes | None = None) -> bytes:
+    if content_override is not None:
+        content = content_override
+    else:
+        show = "BT /F1 12 Tf 72 720 Td 16 TL\n"
+        for ln in lines:
+            esc = ln.replace("\\", "\\\\").replace("(", r"\(").replace(")", r"\)")
+            show += f"({esc}) Tj T*\n"
+        show += "ET"
+        content = show.encode("latin-1")
+
+    objs = [
+        b"<< /Type /Catalog /Pages 2 0 R >>",
+        b"<< /Type /Pages /Kids [3 0 R] /Count 1 >>",
+        b"<< /Type /Page /Parent 2 0 R /MediaBox [0 0 612 792] "
+        b"/Resources << /Font << /F1 4 0 R >> >> /Contents 5 0 R >>",
+        b"<< /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /BaseFont /Helvetica >>",
+        b"<< /Length " + str(len(content)).encode() + b" >>\nstream\n" + content + b"\nendstream",
+    ]
+    out = io.BytesIO()
+    out.write(b"%PDF-1.4\n")
+    offsets = []
+    for i, body in enumerate(objs, 1):
+        offsets.append(out.tell())
+        out.write(f"{i} 0 obj\n".encode() + body + b"\nendobj\n")
+    xref_pos = out.tell()
+    n = len(objs) + 1
+    out.write(f"xref\n0 {n}\n".encode())
+    out.write(b"0000000000 65535 f \n")
+    for off in offsets:
+        out.write(f"{off:010d} 00000 n \n".encode())
+    out.write(f"trailer\n<< /Size {n} /Root 1 0 R >>\nstartxref\n{xref_pos}\n%%EOF".encode())
+    return out.getvalue()
+
+
 # ── plain text ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 def test_plaintext_leaves_existing_h1_untouched():
@@ -137,3 +180,42 @@ def test_epub_oversize_entry_skipped():
     data = _make_epub([("Big", "x" * 500)])
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):  # the one entry exceeds the cap → all skipped
         epub_to_chapter_script(data, max_entry_bytes=50)
+
+
+# ── PDF ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def test_pdf_extracts_and_chapterizes():
+    data = _make_pdf(["Chapter 1", "Once upon a time.", "Chapter 2", "The end."])
+    script = pdf_to_chapter_script(data)
+    # Chapter-keyword lines from the extracted text become headings …
+    assert "# Chapter 1" in script
+    assert "# Chapter 2" in script
+    # … and the body survives.
+    assert "Once upon a time." in script
+    # And it parses into two chapters via the shared grammar.
+    assert len(parse_audiobook_script(script).chapters) == 2
+
+
+def test_pdf_without_chapter_markers_is_single_chapter():
+    data = _make_pdf(["Just some flowing prose.", "With no chapter headings at all."])
+    script = pdf_to_chapter_script(data)
+    assert "With no chapter headings" in script
+    assert len(parse_audiobook_script(script).chapters) == 1
+
+
+def test_pdf_corrupt_raises_valueerror():
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        pdf_to_chapter_script(b"this is definitely not a pdf")
+
+
+def test_pdf_image_only_raises_actionable_error():
+    # A valid PDF whose page has no text-showing operators → nothing to extract.
+    data = _make_pdf([], content_override=b"q Q")  # graphics-only, no BT/Tj
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="scanned or image-only"):
+        pdf_to_chapter_script(data)
+
+
+def test_pdf_too_many_pages_guard():
+    data = _make_pdf(["Chapter 1", "Hi."])
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="too many pages"):
+        pdf_to_chapter_script(data, max_pages=0)
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index ac0e782e..780f16a0 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -3117,6 +3117,7 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "pyannote-audio" },
     { name = "pydub" },
     { name = "pyinstaller" },
+    { name = "pypdf" },
     { name = "python-multipart" },
     { name = "scalar-fastapi" },
     { name = "setuptools" },
@@ -3190,6 +3191,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "pyannote-audio", specifier = ">=3.3.2,<4.0" },
     { name = "pydub" },
     { name = "pyinstaller", specifier = ">=6.19.0" },
+    { name = "pypdf", specifier = ">=4.0" },
     { name = "python-multipart" },
     { name = "requests", marker = "extra == 'ui'" },
     { name = "s3prl", marker = "extra == 'eval'" },
@@ -4209,6 +4211,15 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/10/bd/c038d7cc38edc1aa5bf91ab8068b63d4308c66c4c8bb3cbba7dfbc049f9c/pyparsing-3.3.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:850ba148bd908d7e2411587e247a1e4f0327839c40e2e5e6d05a007ecc69911d", size = 122781, upload-time = "2026-01-21T03:57:55.912Z" },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pypdf"
+version = "6.13.2"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/99/0a/48fe05c6bb3aa4bb4d2a4079a383d33c0dfec1edf613a642f07d8b8b5c2e/pypdf-6.13.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:5a96a17dbdfbf9c2ab24c0a13fa0aba182be22ba6f283098712c16fc242f509f", size = 6479250, upload-time = "2026-06-10T16:42:34.5Z" }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/cb/17/378943705992f74e451a06de3401ce68e3213763c81e44d0614559c45599/pypdf-6.13.2-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:6eeb9e57693f29d41bd01255d02660cbbb41fd7fc818a982677389a35e4f2083", size = 346555, upload-time = "2026-06-10T16:42:32.37Z" },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pytest"
 version = "9.0.3"