diff --git a/src/providers/firecrawl.ts b/src/providers/firecrawl.ts
index 4876fc1..216ef92 100644
--- a/src/providers/firecrawl.ts
+++ b/src/providers/firecrawl.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ export function validateFirecrawlSearchRequest(providerName: string, request: No
 }
 
 export function validateFirecrawlFetchRequest(providerName: string, request: NormalizedFetchRequest) {
+  // Keep this defensive check here even though runtime validation also rejects it,
+  // so direct provider callers still get the same provider-specific error.
   if (request.highlights) {
     throw createProviderValidationError(providerName, 'does not support generic fetch option "highlights".');
   }
diff --git a/src/runtime.test.ts b/src/runtime.test.ts
index e8656a8..91be336 100644
--- a/src/runtime.test.ts
+++ b/src/runtime.test.ts
@@ -398,3 +398,67 @@ test("search starts with the explicitly requested provider and still follows its
   assert.equal(result.execution.requestedProviderName, "firecrawl-main");
   assert.equal(result.execution.actualProviderName, "exa-fallback");
 });
+
+test("search records provider factory failures and follows fallbacks", async () => {
+  const calls: string[] = [];
+
+  const runtime = createWebSearchRuntime({
+    loadConfig: async () => ({
+      path: "test.json",
+      defaultProviderName: "firecrawl-main",
+      defaultProvider: {
+        name: "firecrawl-main",
+        type: "firecrawl",
+        apiKey: "fc",
+        fallbackProviders: ["exa-fallback"],
+      },
+      providers: [
+        {
+          name: "firecrawl-main",
+          type: "firecrawl",
+          apiKey: "fc",
+          fallbackProviders: ["exa-fallback"],
+        },
+        { name: "exa-fallback", type: "exa", apiKey: "exa" },
+      ],
+      providersByName: new Map([
+        [
+          "firecrawl-main",
+          { name: "firecrawl-main", type: "firecrawl", apiKey: "fc", fallbackProviders: ["exa-fallback"] },
+        ],
+        ["exa-fallback", { name: "exa-fallback", type: "exa", apiKey: "exa" }],
+      ]),
+    }),
+    createProvider(providerConfig) {
+      if (providerConfig.name === "firecrawl-main") {
+        throw new Error("factory boom:firecrawl-main");
+      }
+
+      return createProvider(providerConfig.name, providerConfig.type, {
+        search: async () => {
+          calls.push(providerConfig.name);
+          return {
+            providerName: providerConfig.name,
+            results: [{ title: "Exa hit", url: "https://exa.ai" }],
+          };
+        },
+      });
+    },
+  });
+
+  const result = await runtime.search({ query: "pi docs", provider: "firecrawl-main" });
+
+  assert.deepEqual(calls, ["exa-fallback"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(result.execution.attempts, [
+    {
+      providerName: "firecrawl-main",
+      status: "failed",
+      reason: "factory boom:firecrawl-main",
+    },
+    {
+      providerName: "exa-fallback",
+      status: "succeeded",
+    },
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(result.execution.actualProviderName, "exa-fallback");
+});
diff --git a/src/runtime.ts b/src/runtime.ts
index 52003b2..85ea565 100644
--- a/src/runtime.ts
+++ b/src/runtime.ts
@@ -118,7 +118,24 @@ export function createWebSearchRuntime(
         validateFetchRequestForProvider(providerName, providerConfig, request as NormalizedFetchRequest);
       }
 
-      const provider = createProvider(providerConfig);
+      let provider: WebProvider;
+      try {
+        provider = createProvider(providerConfig);
+      } catch (error) {
+        attempts.push({
+          providerName,
+          status: "failed",
+          reason: (error as Error).message,
+        });
+        lastError = error;
+
+        for (const fallbackProviderName of providerConfig.fallbackProviders ?? []) {
+          if (!visited.has(fallbackProviderName)) {
+            pendingProviderNames.push(fallbackProviderName);
+          }
+        }
+        continue;
+      }
 
       try {
         const response = await provider[operation]({