diff --git a/flutter_readium/CHANGELOG.md b/flutter_readium/CHANGELOG.md
index 1752028b..7bb0693f 100644
--- a/flutter_readium/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/flutter_readium/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ Format follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **Web: audio may never start for a text publication with synchronised audio.** On web a
+  publication is only opened once `ReadiumWebView` mounts and supplies its container element,
+  so an `audioEnable` issued right after `openPublication` found nothing and gave up silently,
+  with nothing to retry it. Such a call is now remembered and replayed at the end of
+  `openPublication`. It still resolves immediately, because the caller awaits it before the
+  host app routes to the page that hosts the reader view.
 - **iOS reader views mounted after `audioEnable` never applied the media-overlay
   column-break CSS.** The MO-active flag lives on the reader view, so a view created
   after audio was enabled started with it off and word highlighting could be split
diff --git a/flutter_readium/web/src/ReadiumReader.ts b/flutter_readium/web/src/ReadiumReader.ts
index 3a574199..3facd223 100644
--- a/flutter_readium/web/src/ReadiumReader.ts
+++ b/flutter_readium/web/src/ReadiumReader.ts
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ class _ReadiumReader {
   /** True when the current EPUB publication has embedded Sync Narration JSON. */
   private _hasSyncNarration = false;
   private _hasGuidedNavigation = false;
+  private _pendingAudioEnable?: { prefsJson: string; fromLocatorJson?: string };
   /** Parsed sync-narration items for the current MediaOverlay publication. Empty for plain audiobooks. */
   private _syncItems: SyncNarrationItem[] = [];
   /**
@@ -454,6 +455,11 @@ class _ReadiumReader {
           );
         }
       }
+
+
+      // Failures fall into the catch below and surface through the existing
+      // open-failure path, since the deferred caller can no longer be thrown to.
+      await this._replayDeferredAudioEnable();
     } catch (error) {
       log.error("Failed to open publication:", error);
       this.closePublication(error);
@@ -461,6 +467,15 @@ class _ReadiumReader {
     }
   }
 
+  private async _replayDeferredAudioEnable(): Promise<void> {
+    const pending = this._pendingAudioEnable;
+    if (!pending) return;
+    // Consume first so a second open (reader remount, hot restart) cannot run it twice.
+    this._pendingAudioEnable = undefined;
+    log.info("openPublication: replaying deferred audioEnable");
+    await this.audioEnable(pending.prefsJson, pending.fromLocatorJson);
+  }
+
   public setEPUBPreferences(newPreferencesString: string) {
     if (!this._nav) {
       log.error("setEPUBPreferences: navigator is not initialized");
@@ -636,6 +651,7 @@ class _ReadiumReader {
     this._audioNav = undefined;
     this._stoppedAudioLocator = undefined;
 
+    this._pendingAudioEnable = undefined;
     this._hasSyncNarration = false;
     this._hasGuidedNavigation = false;
     this._syncItems = [];
@@ -1191,6 +1207,19 @@ class _ReadiumReader {
    */
   public async audioEnable(prefsJson: string, fromLocatorJson?: string): Promise<void> {
     log.info("audioEnable");
+    if (!this._publication && !this._audioNav) {
+      // A text publication is only opened once the reader view mounts and supplies
+      // the #container element, so audioEnable issued right after the Dart-side
+      // openPublication arrives before there is anything to enable. Remember it and
+      // replay it at the end of openPublication instead of dropping it. Resolving
+      // now is required, not just convenient: the caller awaits this before the app
+      // routes to the page that hosts the reader view, so blocking here would wait
+      // on a reader that is waiting on us. No matching play() is recorded because
+      // audioEnable resumes playback itself via _seekAudioAndResume(..., true).
+      log.info("audioEnable: publication not open yet, deferring until it is");
+      this._pendingAudioEnable = { prefsJson, fromLocatorJson };
+      return;
+    }
     const preferencesJsonString =
       !prefsJson || prefsJson === "null" ? "{}" : prefsJson;
     this._activeAudioPreferencesJson = preferencesJsonString;
diff --git a/flutter_readium/web/src/__tests__/ReadiumReader.test.ts b/flutter_readium/web/src/__tests__/ReadiumReader.test.ts
index 56d8f218..6042badc 100644
--- a/flutter_readium/web/src/__tests__/ReadiumReader.test.ts
+++ b/flutter_readium/web/src/__tests__/ReadiumReader.test.ts
@@ -365,3 +365,45 @@ describe("audioEnable restore sequencing", () => {
     expect(audioNav.play).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
 });
+
+describe("audioEnable before the publication is open", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it("defers the call instead of dropping it, and resolves right away", async () => {
+    const reader = new ReadiumReader();
+    const warn = jest.spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => {});
+
+    await reader.audioEnable('{"speed":1.5}', undefined);
+
+    expect((reader as any)._pendingAudioEnable).toEqual({
+      prefsJson: '{"speed":1.5}',
+      fromLocatorJson: undefined,
+    });
+    // Must not take the "no audiobook or Media Overlay content detected" exit:
+    // nothing retries after it, so the book would stay silent forever.
+    expect(warn).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("replays the deferred call once the publication is open", async () => {
+    const reader = new ReadiumReader();
+    (reader as any)._pendingAudioEnable = { prefsJson: "{}", fromLocatorJson: undefined };
+    const replay = jest.spyOn(reader, "audioEnable").mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+
+    await (reader as any)._replayDeferredAudioEnable();
+
+    expect(replay).toHaveBeenCalledWith("{}", undefined);
+    // Consumed, so a reader remount or hot restart cannot run it twice.
+    expect((reader as any)._pendingAudioEnable).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("drops the deferred call when the publication is closed first", () => {
+    const reader = new ReadiumReader();
+    (reader as any)._pendingAudioEnable = { prefsJson: "{}", fromLocatorJson: undefined };
+
+    withDomGlobals(() => reader.closePublication());
+
+    expect((reader as any)._pendingAudioEnable).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});