diff --git a/scripts/serve-frank-medium.sh b/scripts/serve-frank-medium.sh
index 0b1dbe3..339f600 100755
--- a/scripts/serve-frank-medium.sh
+++ b/scripts/serve-frank-medium.sh
@@ -161,8 +161,13 @@ TEMPLATE_ARGS+=(--chat-template-kwargs "$CHAT_TEMPLATE_KWARGS")
 PLACEMENT_ARGS=(--device "$DEVICES" --split-mode "$SPLIT_MODE" --tensor-split "$TENSOR_SPLIT")
 
 MMPROJ_ARGS=()
-[[ "$NO_MMPROJ" == "1" ]] && MMPROJ_ARGS=(--no-mmproj)
-
+if [[ "$NO_MMPROJ" == "1" ]]; then
+    MMPROJ_ARGS=(--no-mmproj)
+else
+    # No autoload in this build: a server without the flag starts text-only
+    # and answers image requests with a 500, so name the projector.
+    MMPROJ_ARGS=(--mmproj "$MM_PROJ")
+fi
 exec "$LLAMA_BIN" \
     --model "$MODEL" \
     --alias "$ALIAS" \
diff --git a/tests/frank_medium_unit.bats b/tests/frank_medium_unit.bats
index a9e042a..3dd02e7 100755
--- a/tests/frank_medium_unit.bats
+++ b/tests/frank_medium_unit.bats
@@ -230,7 +230,8 @@ print('draft-model wiring ok')
     grep -q '^NO_MMPROJ=0$' "$ENV_FILE"
     grep -q '^MM_PROJ_FILE=mmproj-BF16.gguf$' "$ENV_FILE"
     # The serve script refuses to start without the projector when vision is
-    # on, so a missing file is a deploy error, not a silent text-only server.
+    # Explicit flag, not autoload: this build starts text-only without it.
+    grep -q -- '--mmproj "$MM_PROJ"' "$SERVE"
     grep -q 'vision is enabled but the projector is missing' "$SERVE"
     # And the download script fetches and byte-verifies it.
     grep -q '^MM_PROJ_SIZE=931145888$' "$FETCH"