diff --git a/src/tangara/database/tag_parser.cpp b/src/tangara/database/tag_parser.cpp
index ab1d30f3..15323a7c 100644
--- a/src/tangara/database/tag_parser.cpp
+++ b/src/tangara/database/tag_parser.cpp
@@ -312,6 +312,23 @@ auto GenericTagParser::ReadAndParseTags(std::string_view p)
     -> std::shared_ptr<TrackTags> {
   std::string path{p};
   libtags::Aux aux;
+
+  // Fail fast if trying to parse a file that doesn't appear to be a supported audio format
+  // For context, see: https://codeberg.org/cool-tech-zone/tangara-fw/issues/149
+  bool found = false;
+  for (const auto& ext : supported_exts) {
+    // Case-insensitive file extension check
+    if (std::equal(ext.rbegin(), ext.rend(), path.rbegin(),
+                   [](char a, char b) { return std::tolower(a) == std::tolower(b); })) {
+      found=true;
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+  if (!found) {
+    ESP_LOGD(kTag, "skipping unsupported file: %s", path.c_str());
+    return {};
+  }
+
   auto out = TrackTags::create();
   aux.tags = out.get();
 
diff --git a/src/tangara/database/tag_parser.hpp b/src/tangara/database/tag_parser.hpp
index 642c4876..9130b306 100644
--- a/src/tangara/database/tag_parser.hpp
+++ b/src/tangara/database/tag_parser.hpp
@@ -55,6 +55,19 @@ class GenericTagParser : public ITagParser {
  public:
   auto ReadAndParseTags(std::string_view path)
       -> std::shared_ptr<TrackTags> override;
+
+ private:
+  // Supported file extensions for parsing tags, derived from the list of
+  // supported audio formats here:
+  // https://cooltech.zone/tangara/docs/music-library/
+  static constexpr std::string supported_exts[] = {
+    "flac",
+    "mp3",
+    "ogg",
+    "ogx",
+    "opus",
+    "wav"
+  };
 };
 
 }  // namespace database