diff --git a/apps/api/src/media.ts b/apps/api/src/media.ts
index 5fd7157..4f28d4d 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/media.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/media.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ router.post('/audio', upload.single('audio'), async (
   res: express.Response
 ) => {
   try {
+    const { S3_ENDPOINT, S3_ACCESS_KEY, S3_SECRET_KEY } = process.env;
+    if (!S3_ENDPOINT || !S3_ACCESS_KEY || !S3_SECRET_KEY) {
+      console.error('Upload failed: missing S3 config (S3_ENDPOINT/S3_ACCESS_KEY/S3_SECRET_KEY)');
+      return res.status(500).json({ error: 'Object storage not configured' });
+    }
+
     if (!req.file) return res.status(400).json({ error: 'No audio file' });
 
     const bucket = process.env.S3_BUCKET || 'voxblog';