diff --git a/app/manuals/page.tsx b/app/manuals/page.tsx
index 9321d46e..05cee685 100644
--- a/app/manuals/page.tsx
+++ b/app/manuals/page.tsx
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ export default async function ManualsPage() {
   // Prefer Convex-backed metadata, but keep filesystem fallback in place until the shared catalog is fully populated.
   const convexManuals = await listConvexManuals()
   const allManuals = convexManuals.length > 0 ? convexManuals : await scanManuals()
-  let manuals = selectManualsForSite(allManuals).manuals
+  let manuals = convexManuals.length > 0 ? convexManuals : selectManualsForSite(allManuals).manuals
 
   // Hide broken local thumbnails so the public manuals page doesn't spam 404s.
   const thumbnailsRoot = getManualsThumbnailsRoot()