diff --git a/superset/utils/screenshots.py b/superset/utils/screenshots.py
index be965a5aee3..b7b12ad4dba 100644
--- a/superset/utils/screenshots.py
+++ b/superset/utils/screenshots.py
@@ -325,11 +325,14 @@ class BaseScreenshot:
                         cache_payload.error()
                         image = None
 
+                # Cache the result (success or error) to avoid immediate retries
                 if image:
                     with event_logger.log_context(
                         f"screenshot.cache.{self.thumbnail_type}"
                     ):
                         cache_payload.update(image)
+                else:
+                    cache_payload.error()
 
                 logger.info("Caching thumbnail: %s", cache_key)
                 self.cache.set(cache_key, cache_payload.to_dict())
diff --git a/superset/utils/webdriver.py b/superset/utils/webdriver.py
index bd612428cbd..505223fd2ae 100644
--- a/superset/utils/webdriver.py
+++ b/superset/utils/webdriver.py
@@ -406,11 +406,15 @@ class WebDriverPlaywright(WebDriverProxy):
                             load_wait=self._screenshot_load_wait,
                             animation_wait=selenium_animation_wait,
                         )
-                        if img is None:
-                            logger.error(
-                                "Tiled screenshot failed at url %s; "
-                                "not falling back to avoid sending a blank PDF",
-                                url,
+                        if not img:
+                            logger.warning(
+                                (
+                                    "Tiled screenshot failed, "
+                                    "falling back to standard screenshot"
+                                )
+                            )
+                            img = WebDriverPlaywright._get_screenshot(
+                                page, element, element_name
                             )
                         logger.debug(
                             "Tiled screenshot result: %d bytes for url: %s",
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_screenshot_cache_fix.py b/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_screenshot_cache_fix.py
index cf62a01d348..20585a4e629 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_screenshot_cache_fix.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/utils/test_screenshot_cache_fix.py
@@ -155,6 +155,26 @@ class TestCacheOnlyOnSuccess:
         assert cached_value["status"] == "Updated"
         assert cached_value["image"] is not None
 
+    def test_cache_error_status_when_screenshot_returns_empty_bytes(
+        self, mocker: MockerFixture, screenshot_obj: BaseScreenshot, mock_user: MagicMock
+    ) -> None:
+        """Empty bytes from get_screenshot must set ERROR, not leave COMPUTING."""
+        mocker.patch(DISTRIBUTED_LOCK_PATH)
+        mocker.patch(BASE_SCREENSHOT_PATH + ".get_from_cache_key", return_value=None)
+        mocker.patch(
+            BASE_SCREENSHOT_PATH + ".get_screenshot",
+            return_value=b"",
+        )
+        BaseScreenshot.cache = MockCache()
+
+        screenshot_obj.compute_and_cache(user=mock_user, force=True)
+
+        cache_key = screenshot_obj.get_cache_key()
+        cached_value = BaseScreenshot.cache.get(cache_key)
+        assert cached_value is not None
+        assert cached_value["status"] == "Error"
+        assert cached_value.get("image") is None
+
     def test_computing_status_written_to_cache_early(
         self,
         mocker: MockerFixture,
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/utils/webdriver_test.py b/tests/unit_tests/utils/webdriver_test.py
index 35403f510a7..52ce3f706ac 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/utils/webdriver_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/utils/webdriver_test.py
@@ -1139,6 +1139,40 @@ class TestWebDriverPlaywrightAnimationWaitOrder:
             animation_waits == []
         ), "No global 2s animation wait_for_timeout should fire on the tiled path"
 
+    @patch("superset.utils.webdriver.PLAYWRIGHT_AVAILABLE", True)
+    @patch("superset.utils.webdriver.sync_playwright")
+    @patch("superset.utils.webdriver.take_tiled_screenshot")
+    @patch("superset.utils.webdriver.app")
+    def test_tiled_fallback_triggered_on_empty_bytes(
+        self, mock_app, mock_take_tiled, mock_sync_playwright
+    ):
+        """Tiled fallback fires when take_tiled_screenshot returns b"" (not None)."""
+        mock_user = MagicMock()
+        mock_user.username = "test_user"
+        mock_app.config = {
+            **self._base_config,
+            "SCREENSHOT_TILED_ENABLED": True,
+            "SCREENSHOT_TILED_CHART_THRESHOLD": 20,
+            "SCREENSHOT_TILED_HEIGHT_THRESHOLD": 5000,
+            "SCREENSHOT_TILED_VIEWPORT_HEIGHT": 600,
+        }
+
+        mock_context, mock_page = self._make_pw_mocks(mock_sync_playwright)
+        mock_page.evaluate.side_effect = [25, 6000]
+        # Empty bytes — falsy but not None; was silently passed through before the fix
+        mock_take_tiled.return_value = b""
+
+        with patch.object(WebDriverPlaywright, "auth", return_value=mock_context):
+            with patch.object(
+                WebDriverPlaywright, "_get_screenshot", return_value=b"fallback"
+            ) as mock_fallback:
+                result = WebDriverPlaywright("chrome").get_screenshot(
+                    "http://example.com", "standalone", mock_user
+                )
+
+        assert result == b"fallback"
+        mock_fallback.assert_called_once()
+
     @patch("superset.utils.webdriver.PLAYWRIGHT_AVAILABLE", True)
     @patch("superset.utils.webdriver.sync_playwright")
     @patch("superset.utils.webdriver.app")