diff --git a/install/omarchy-base.packages b/install/omarchy-base.packages
index 76e74110..b38c68b8 100644
--- a/install/omarchy-base.packages
+++ b/install/omarchy-base.packages
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ python-poetry-core
 ttfx
 qemu-user-static-binfmt
 qrencode
+# TODO: add owe-wallpaper-engine here once it is packaged. The shell yields
+# video backgrounds to it while its daemon runs.
 qt6-imageformats
 qt6-multimedia
 qt6-multimedia-ffmpeg
diff --git a/manual/39-backgrounds.md b/manual/39-backgrounds.md
index f2cd51eb..f0291653 100644
--- a/manual/39-backgrounds.md
+++ b/manual/39-backgrounds.md
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@ Every theme ships with its own set of backgrounds, and you can add extras of you
 
 You can do this most easily by going to _Install > Style > Background_ in the Omarchy Menu. That'll bring up the folder where the backgrounds for that theme is stored. Hit `Super + Shift + F` to start another file manager, find your background, copy it over.  Now it'll be included in the choices of backgrounds you can select between using `Super + Ctrl + Space`.
 
-Backgrounds can be videos as well as stills. Drop an `mp4`, `m4v`, `mov`, `webm`, `mkv`, or `avi` file in the same folder and it appears alongside the images, playing on a loop. Only your first monitor's wallpaper plays a video's sound track, through the default audio output at the system volume, and the lock screen stays silent. Playback stops on its own whenever nothing can see it — while a fullscreen window covers that monitor, while the screensaver is up, and once a locked screen has gone dark — but a video wallpaper still costs far more power than a still one, and each monitor decodes its own copy.
+Backgrounds can be videos as well as stills. Drop an `mp4`, `m4v`, `mov`, `webm`, `mkv`, or `avi` file in the same folder and it appears alongside the images, playing on a loop. Only your first monitor's wallpaper plays a video's sound track, through the default audio output at the system volume, and the lock screen stays silent. Playback stops on its own whenever nothing can see it — while a fullscreen window covers that monitor, while the screensaver is up, and once a locked screen has gone dark — but a video wallpaper still costs far more power than a still one, and each monitor decodes its own copy. When the OWE wallpaper engine is running, it takes over video backgrounds and the shell keeps only stills.
 
 You can find a huge collection of cool curated backgrounds on https://github.com/dharmx/walls.
diff --git a/shell/Ui/BackgroundMedia.qml b/shell/Ui/BackgroundMedia.qml
index b281ae22..f3ab7743 100644
--- a/shell/Ui/BackgroundMedia.qml
+++ b/shell/Ui/BackgroundMedia.qml
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ Item {
   property int version: 0
   property bool playbackEnabled: true
   property bool audioEnabled: false
+  // The desktop yields video playback to OWE while it runs, so two engines
+  // never decode the same file. The lock screen leaves this off and keeps its
+  // own playback.
+  property bool deferVideo: false
   // Bumped when the file behind an unchanged path may have been replaced.
   // Images cache-bust through version; a video is rebuilt, since FFmpeg
   // would read a query as part of the filename.
@@ -37,7 +41,7 @@ Item {
   Loader {
     id: videoLoader
     anchors.fill: parent
-    active: root.path !== "" && root.video && !root.reloading
+    active: root.path !== "" && root.video && !root.reloading && !root.deferVideo
     source: "BackgroundVideo.qml"
   }
 
diff --git a/shell/plugins/background/Background.qml b/shell/plugins/background/Background.qml
index dea93a4c..f8929fa9 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/background/Background.qml
+++ b/shell/plugins/background/Background.qml
@@ -32,6 +32,25 @@ Item {
   // services so playback can stop whenever nothing can see the wallpaper.
   property var shell: null
 
+  // When the OWE wallpaper engine is running, it owns video backgrounds. This
+  // plugin keeps stills, which OWE hands back to it, and the lock screen keeps
+  // its own playback.
+  property bool oweActive: false
+
+  Process {
+    id: oweStatusProc
+    command: ["bash", "-c", "test -S \"${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-/run/user/$(id -u)}/owe/owed.sock\""]
+    onExited: root.oweActive = (exitCode === 0)
+  }
+
+  Timer {
+    id: oweStatusTimer
+    interval: 5000
+    repeat: true
+    running: true
+    onTriggered: if (!oweStatusProc.running) oweStatusProc.running = true
+  }
+
   // Stop a video wallpaper's decoding whenever it is covered. Qt's FFmpeg
   // engine drives its own clock, so an unseen player keeps decoding until it
   // is told not to — a locked laptop would otherwise decode until it died.
@@ -204,7 +223,10 @@ Item {
     }
   }
 
-  Component.onCompleted: refreshBackground()
+  Component.onCompleted: {
+    oweStatusProc.running = true
+    refreshBackground()
+  }
 
   Variants {
     model: Quickshell.screens
@@ -264,6 +286,7 @@ Item {
         anchors.fill: parent
         path: root.displayedBackground
         reloads: root.displayedReloads
+        deferVideo: root.oweActive
         playbackEnabled: !root.sessionObscured && !root.powerSaverActive && !panel.fullscreenHere
         audioEnabled: panel.firstScreen
         onReadyChanged: {
diff --git a/test/shell.d/video-background-test.sh b/test/shell.d/video-background-test.sh
index 7ebad86b..d3591b4f 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/video-background-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/video-background-test.sh
@@ -87,6 +87,15 @@ assert(
   'video switches bypass the image-only reveal stack and use the durable background path'
 )
 assert(backgroundQml.includes('BackgroundMedia {') && lockQml.includes('BackgroundMedia {'), 'desktop and lock screen share video-capable media rendering')
+assert(
+  backgroundQml.includes('property bool oweActive: false') &&
+    backgroundQml.includes('/owe/owed.sock') &&
+    /deferVideo: root\.oweActive/.test(backgroundQml) &&
+    /property bool deferVideo: false/.test(mediaQml) &&
+    /active: root\.path !== "" && root\.video && !root\.reloading && !root\.deferVideo/.test(mediaQml) &&
+    !lockQml.includes('deferVideo'),
+  'the desktop yields video backgrounds to OWE while it is running, and the lock keeps its own playback'
+)
 assert(
   lockQml.includes('source: wallpaper.video ? null : wallpaper') &&
     lockQml.includes('visible: !wallpaper.video') &&