diff --git a/packages/native/src/native.ts b/packages/native/src/native.ts
index 944c50c69..a8f81b2f9 100644
--- a/packages/native/src/native.ts
+++ b/packages/native/src/native.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ const platformPackageMap: Record<string, string> = {
   "win32-x64": "win32-x64-msvc",
 };
 
+let _loadedSuccessfully = false;
+
 function loadNative(): Record<string, unknown> {
   const errors: string[] = [];
 
@@ -34,7 +36,7 @@ function loadNative(): Record<string, unknown> {
   const packageSuffix = platformPackageMap[platformTag];
   if (packageSuffix) {
     try {
-      return require(`@gsd-build/engine-${packageSuffix}`) as Record<string, unknown>;
+      _loadedSuccessfully = true; return require(`@gsd-build/engine-${packageSuffix}`) as Record<string, unknown>;
     } catch (err) {
       const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
       errors.push(`@gsd-build/engine-${packageSuffix}: ${message}`);
@@ -44,7 +46,7 @@ function loadNative(): Record<string, unknown> {
   // 2. Try local release build (native/addon/gsd_engine.{platform}.node)
   const releasePath = path.join(addonDir, `gsd_engine.${platformTag}.node`);
   try {
-    return require(releasePath) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    _loadedSuccessfully = true; return require(releasePath) as Record<string, unknown>;
   } catch (err) {
     const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
     errors.push(`${releasePath}: ${message}`);
@@ -53,7 +55,7 @@ function loadNative(): Record<string, unknown> {
   // 3. Try local dev build (native/addon/gsd_engine.dev.node)
   const devPath = path.join(addonDir, "gsd_engine.dev.node");
   try {
-    return require(devPath) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    _loadedSuccessfully = true; return require(devPath) as Record<string, unknown>;
   } catch (err) {
     const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
     errors.push(`${devPath}: ${message}`);
@@ -61,13 +63,22 @@ function loadNative(): Record<string, unknown> {
 
   const details = errors.map((e) => `  - ${e}`).join("\n");
   const supportedPlatforms = Object.keys(platformPackageMap);
-  throw new Error(
-    `Failed to load gsd_engine native addon for ${platformTag}.\n\n` +
-      `Tried:\n${details}\n\n` +
-      `Supported platforms: ${supportedPlatforms.join(", ")}\n` +
-      `If your platform is listed, try reinstalling: npm i -g gsd-pi\n` +
-      `Otherwise, please open an issue: https://github.com/gsd-build/gsd-2/issues`,
+
+  // Graceful fallback: on unsupported platforms (e.g., win32-arm64), return a
+  // proxy that throws on individual function calls rather than crashing the
+  // entire import chain at startup (#1223). Consumers with JS fallbacks
+  // (parseRoadmap, parsePlan, fuzzyFind, etc.) catch these and degrade gracefully.
+  process.stderr.write(
+    `[gsd] Native addon not available for ${platformTag}. Falling back to JS implementations (slower).\n` +
+      `  Supported native platforms: ${supportedPlatforms.join(", ")}\n`,
   );
+  return new Proxy({} as Record<string, unknown>, {
+    get(_target, prop) {
+      return (..._args: unknown[]) => {
+        throw new Error(`Native function '${String(prop)}' is not available on ${platformTag}`);
+      };
+    },
+  });
 }
 
 export const native = loadNative() as {
@@ -140,3 +151,6 @@ export const native = loadNative() as {
   parseStreamingJson: (text: string) => unknown;
   xxHash32: (input: string, seed: number) => number;
 };
+
+/** True when the native addon loaded successfully. False on unsupported platforms. */
+export const nativeAvailable = _loadedSuccessfully;