diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/41835 b/changelog/unreleased/41835
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d60f03a150fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/41835
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+Bugfix: Release the file handle when a bitmap preview cannot be decoded
+
+Bitmap previews closed the file they had opened only when decoding succeeded, so
+every file that could not be decoded leaked a file handle for the lifetime of
+the process. Generating previews for a directory of files that ImageMagick has
+no decoder for could therefore exhaust the available file handles.
+
+Bitmap previews for a file that cannot be opened at all now report no preview
+instead of failing the whole request.
+
+https://github.com/owncloud/core/pull/41835
diff --git a/lib/private/Preview/Bitmap.php b/lib/private/Preview/Bitmap.php
index b7f783c5cb38..ac7b3ea08f11 100644
--- a/lib/private/Preview/Bitmap.php
+++ b/lib/private/Preview/Bitmap.php
@@ -45,6 +45,12 @@ public function getThumbnail(File $file, $maxX, $maxY, $scalingUp) {
 			return false;
 		}
 		$stream = $file->fopen('r');
+		if ($stream === false) {
+			// stream_get_contents() below would raise a TypeError, which is an \Error and
+			// so would escape the handler underneath rather than degrade to no preview
+			Util::writeLog('core', 'Could not open ' . $file->getPath() . ' for a preview', Util::ERROR);
+			return false;
+		}
 
 		// Creates \Imagick object from bitmap or vector file
 		try {
@@ -52,10 +58,12 @@ public function getThumbnail(File $file, $maxX, $maxY, $scalingUp) {
 		} catch (\Exception $e) {
 			Util::writeLog('core', 'ImageMagick says: ' . $e->getmessage(), Util::ERROR);
 			return false;
+		} finally {
+			// also on the failure path: any content ImageMagick has no coder for lands
+			// here, so leaking the handle would be routine rather than exceptional
+			\fclose($stream);
 		}
 
-		\fclose($stream);
-
 		//new bitmap image object
 		$image = new \OC_Image();
 		$image->loadFromData((string)$bp);
diff --git a/tests/lib/Preview/BitmapStreamTest.php b/tests/lib/Preview/BitmapStreamTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1ed03f9b176c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/lib/Preview/BitmapStreamTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @author Thomas Müller <thomas.mueller@tmit.eu>
+ *
+ * @copyright Copyright (c) 2026, ownCloud GmbH
+ * @license AGPL-3.0
+ *
+ * This code is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3,
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3,
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>
+ *
+ */
+
+namespace Test\Preview;
+
+use OC\Preview\Photoshop;
+use OCP\Files\File;
+use Test\TestCase;
+
+/**
+ * @requires extension imagick
+ */
+class BitmapStreamTest extends TestCase {
+	/**
+	 * @return array{0: File, 1: resource}
+	 */
+	private function makeFile(string $content): array {
+		$stream = \fopen('php://memory', 'rb+');
+		\fwrite($stream, $content);
+		\rewind($stream);
+		$file = $this->createMock(File::class);
+		$file->method('fopen')->willReturn($stream);
+		$file->method('getSize')->willReturn(\strlen($content));
+		$file->method('getPath')->willReturn('/test/bitmap-stream');
+		return [$file, $stream];
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * getResizedPreview() throwing is a routine outcome rather than an exceptional one -
+	 * any content ImageMagick has no coder for reaches it - so the handle has to be
+	 * released on that path too. Otherwise a preview pre-generation run, or a cron
+	 * preview job, over a directory of undecodable files exhausts the process's
+	 * descriptors one file at a time.
+	 */
+	public function testClosesTheStreamWhenDecodingThrows(): void {
+		list($file, $stream) = $this->makeFile('<?xml version="1.0"?><notanimage>x</notanimage>');
+
+		$result = (new Photoshop())->getThumbnail($file, 32, 32, false);
+
+		$this->assertFalse($result, 'undecodable content must not produce a preview');
+		$this->assertFalse(\is_resource($stream), 'the stream must be closed on the failure path');
+	}
+
+	public function testClosesTheStreamOnSuccess(): void {
+		$png = \file_get_contents(\OC::$SERVERROOT . '/tests/data/testimage.png');
+		list($file, $stream) = $this->makeFile($png);
+
+		$result = (new Photoshop())->getThumbnail($file, 32, 32, false);
+
+		$this->assertNotFalse($result, 'a PNG should still decode');
+		$this->assertFalse(\is_resource($stream), 'the stream must be closed on the success path');
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * A storage that cannot open the file returns false rather than throwing, and
+	 * stream_get_contents(false) raises a TypeError - an \Error, so it would escape the
+	 * \Exception handler in getThumbnail() and surface as a 500 instead of a missing
+	 * preview.
+	 */
+	public function testReturnsFalseWhenTheFileCannotBeOpened(): void {
+		$file = $this->createMock(File::class);
+		$file->method('fopen')->willReturn(false);
+		$file->method('getSize')->willReturn(1024);
+		$file->method('getPath')->willReturn('/test/unopenable');
+
+		$this->assertFalse((new Photoshop())->getThumbnail($file, 32, 32, false));
+	}
+}