diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/models/Playlist.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/models/Playlist.kt
index b690f911..7e918400 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/models/Playlist.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/models/Playlist.kt
@@ -47,7 +47,10 @@ data class PlaylistRef(
  * `trackId` and `streamUrl` are nullable because the upstream track can
  * be removed from the library while the row stays in the playlist —
  * those tiles render grey + unplayable per Flutter's `isAvailable`
- * convention.
+ * convention. [unavailable] is the second, softer case: the track is
+ * still there but its file is missing. Both render grey and refuse to
+ * play; only the second is worth explaining to the user, because it
+ * can fix itself.
  */
 data class PlaylistTrackRef(
     val position: Int,
@@ -59,8 +62,21 @@ data class PlaylistTrackRef(
     val artistName: String = "",
     val durationSec: Int = 0,
     val streamUrl: String? = null,
+    /**
+     * The track is still in the library but its file is missing from
+     * disk (#2527). Unlike a null [trackId] this is expected to be
+     * temporary — the scanner clears it when the file returns, and
+     * adopts the row if it returns under a new name (#2528) — so the
+     * row keeps its identity, its likes and its play history.
+     */
+    val unavailable: Boolean = false,
 ) {
-    val isAvailable: Boolean get() = trackId != null
+    /**
+     * Playable-ness, covering both ways a row can outlive its audio.
+     * Everything that greys a row or refuses to queue it reads this, so
+     * neither concern has to be re-derived at a call site.
+     */
+    val isAvailable: Boolean get() = trackId != null && !unavailable
 
     /**
      * Cover URL derived from the parent album's `/api/albums/{id}/cover`
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/models/wire/PlaylistWire.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/models/wire/PlaylistWire.kt
index dd1b977f..a4fa6152 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/models/wire/PlaylistWire.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/models/wire/PlaylistWire.kt
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ data class PlaylistsListWire(
  * / `artistId` / `streamUrl` are nullable because the upstream track
  * may have been removed from the library while the row stays in the
  * playlist with its display fields preserved.
+ *
+ * [unavailable] is the other way a row outlives its audio (#2527): the
+ * track is still in the library, with its history and likes, but its
+ * file is missing from disk. The server withholds `stream_url` in that
+ * case too, so a client that only checked the URL would already skip
+ * it — the flag is what lets the UI say WHY instead of rendering a
+ * mysteriously dead row. Defaults false so a server that predates the
+ * field deserialises cleanly.
  */
 @Serializable
 data class PlaylistTrackWire(
@@ -53,6 +61,7 @@ data class PlaylistTrackWire(
     @SerialName("artist_name") val artistName: String = "",
     @SerialName("duration_sec") val durationSec: Int = 0,
     @SerialName("stream_url") val streamUrl: String? = null,
+    val unavailable: Boolean = false,
 )
 
 /**
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/data/PlaylistsRepository.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/data/PlaylistsRepository.kt
index d7b697ce..b62ada1a 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/data/PlaylistsRepository.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/data/PlaylistsRepository.kt
@@ -326,4 +326,5 @@ private fun PlaylistTrackWire.toDomain(): PlaylistTrackRef =
         artistName = artistName,
         durationSec = durationSec,
         streamUrl = streamUrl,
+        unavailable = unavailable,
     )
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/ui/PlaylistDetailScreen.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/ui/PlaylistDetailScreen.kt
index 4e69ffd6..1106fdc0 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/ui/PlaylistDetailScreen.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/ui/PlaylistDetailScreen.kt
@@ -577,9 +577,16 @@ private fun TrackRow(
 ) {
     val enabled = row.isAvailable
     val rowAlpha = if (enabled) 1f else UNAVAILABLE_ALPHA
+    // A greyed row with no explanation reads as a bug. Say which kind of
+    // dead it is: a missing file (#2527) is the library's problem and can
+    // fix itself when the file returns, so it earns a line the user can
+    // act on. A removed track needs no note — grey and unplayable is the
+    // whole story once it's gone from the library.
+    val subtitle = row.artistName.ifEmpty { row.albumTitle }
+    val artistLine = if (row.unavailable) "$subtitle · File missing" else subtitle
     TrackRow(
         title = row.title,
-        artist = row.artistName.ifEmpty { row.albumTitle },
+        artist = artistLine,
         trackId = row.trackId.orEmpty(),
         onClick = onClick,
         nowPlaying = nowPlaying,
diff --git a/android/app/src/test/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/data/PlaylistTrackAvailabilityTest.kt b/android/app/src/test/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/data/PlaylistTrackAvailabilityTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..318e7e05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/android/app/src/test/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/playlists/data/PlaylistTrackAvailabilityTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+package com.fabledsword.minstrel.playlists.data
+
+import com.fabledsword.minstrel.models.PlaylistTrackRef
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
+import kotlin.test.assertEquals
+import kotlin.test.assertFalse
+import kotlin.test.assertTrue
+
+/**
+ * A playlist row can outlive its audio two ways — the track was removed
+ * from the library, or the track is still there but its file is missing
+ * (#2527). Both must be unplayable, and neither may be silently dropped
+ * from the list the user curated.
+ */
+class PlaylistTrackAvailabilityTest {
+
+    private fun row(
+        position: Int = 0,
+        trackId: String? = "t-$position",
+        streamUrl: String? = "/api/tracks/t-$position/stream",
+        unavailable: Boolean = false,
+    ) = PlaylistTrackRef(
+        position = position,
+        trackId = trackId,
+        title = "Track $position",
+        albumId = "a-1",
+        albumTitle = "Album",
+        artistId = "ar-1",
+        artistName = "Artist",
+        durationSec = 137,
+        streamUrl = streamUrl,
+        unavailable = unavailable,
+    )
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a playable row is available`() {
+        assertTrue(row().isAvailable)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a removed track is unavailable`() {
+        assertFalse(row(trackId = null, streamUrl = null).isAvailable)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `a missing file is unavailable even though the track id survives`() {
+        assertFalse(row(unavailable = true, streamUrl = null).isAvailable)
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The flag has to stand on its own. The server also withholds the
+     * stream URL, but a cached detail fetched before the file went missing
+     * can still carry a stale URL, and that must not resurrect the row.
+     */
+    @Test
+    fun `the flag disqualifies a row that still has a stream url`() {
+        assertFalse(row(unavailable = true).isAvailable)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `queue building drops both kinds of dead row and keeps the rest`() {
+        val queue = listOf(
+            row(position = 0),
+            row(position = 1, trackId = null, streamUrl = null),
+            row(position = 2, unavailable = true, streamUrl = null),
+            row(position = 3),
+        ).toPlayableTrackRefs()
+
+        assertEquals(listOf("t-0", "t-3"), queue.map { it.id })
+    }
+}