diff --git a/server.py b/server.py
index 3addbb3..6046ef6 100644
--- a/server.py
+++ b/server.py
@@ -1819,7 +1819,7 @@ async def upload_photo(file: UploadFile = File(...), exif_data: str = Form(None)
     path = _save_upload_bytes(contents, file.filename, "photos", PHOTO_ALLOWED_EXTS, PHOTO_MAX_SIZE)
     # If client sent EXIF data, re-embed it into the saved file (defense against EXIF stripping)
     if exif_data:
-        _re_embed_exif(Path(UPLOADS_DIR / path.lstrip("/")), exif_data)
+        _re_embed_exif(UPLOADS_DIR / path.split("/", 2)[-1], exif_data)
     result = {"path": path}
     if exif_gps:
         result["exif_gps"] = exif_gps
@@ -1847,18 +1847,40 @@ async def ocr_sticker(file: UploadFile = File(...), exif_data: str = Form(None))
     # Extract EXIF GPS from raw bytes before any processing
     exif_gps = _extract_gps_from_bytes(contents) if contents else None
 
+    # If client sent EXIF data (gallery upload), also try to extract GPS from JSON
+    # (fallback for when transport strips EXIF from raw bytes)
+    if not exif_gps and exif_data:
+        try:
+            ed = _json.loads(exif_data)
+            lat = ed.get("GPSLatitude")
+            lng = ed.get("GPSLongitude")
+            lat_ref = ed.get("GPSLatitudeRef", "N")
+            lng_ref = ed.get("GPSLongitudeRef", "W")
+            if lat and lng and isinstance(lat, list) and isinstance(lng, list) and len(lat) == 3 and len(lng) == 3:
+                def _dms_to_dd(parts, ref):
+                    dd = parts[0] + parts[1] / 60.0 + parts[2] / 3600.0
+                    if ref in ("S", "W"):
+                        dd = -dd
+                    return dd
+                exif_gps = {
+                    "lat": _dms_to_dd(lat, lat_ref),
+                    "lng": _dms_to_dd(lng, lng_ref),
+                }
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
     # If client sent EXIF data (gallery upload), save permanently with EXIF round-trip
     saved_path: str | None = None
     if exif_data:
         try:
             saved_path = _save_upload_bytes(contents, file.filename, "photos", PHOTO_ALLOWED_EXTS, PHOTO_MAX_SIZE)
-            _re_embed_exif(Path(UPLOADS_DIR / saved_path.lstrip("/")), exif_data)
+            _re_embed_exif(UPLOADS_DIR / saved_path.split("/", 2)[-1], exif_data)
         except Exception:
             saved_path = None  # fall through to temp-file path below
 
     # Save file for OCR — use permanent path if available, otherwise temp
     if saved_path:
-        ocr_path = Path(UPLOADS_DIR / saved_path.lstrip("/"))
+        ocr_path = UPLOADS_DIR / saved_path.split("/", 2)[-1]
     else:
         ext = file.filename.rsplit(".", 1)[-1].lower() if "." in (file.filename or "") else "jpg"
         if ext not in {"png", "jpg", "jpeg", "webp", "bmp", "dng", "tiff", "tif"}: