diff --git a/src/host/audio.rs b/src/host/audio.rs
index 8eaa342..b62229e 100644
--- a/src/host/audio.rs
+++ b/src/host/audio.rs
@@ -365,6 +365,9 @@ fn load_module(args: &[&str]) -> Result<u32> {
         .context("pactl returned non-UTF-8")?
         .trim()
         .to_string();
+    // Genuinely 32-bit, unlike `object.serial`: this is a PulseAudio module
+    // index (`pa_module.index`, `uint32_t`), which `pactl unload-module` takes
+    // back verbatim. Do not widen it.
     id_str
         .parse::<u32>()
         .with_context(|| format!("pactl returned unexpected module ID: {id_str:?}"))
@@ -532,13 +535,21 @@ fn run_router(
                         return;
                     };
                     if props.get("node.name") == Some(sink_name_owned.as_str()) {
-                        if let Some(serial) = props
-                            .get("object.serial")
-                            .and_then(|s| s.parse::<u32>().ok())
-                        {
-                            state_for_reg.borrow_mut().sink_serial = Some(serial);
-                            tracing::info!(serial, "audio routing: pixelpass sink registered");
-                            try_flush(&state_for_reg, &event_tx_for_reg);
+                        match props.get("object.serial").and_then(parse_object_serial) {
+                            Some(serial) => {
+                                state_for_reg.borrow_mut().sink_serial = Some(serial);
+                                tracing::info!(serial, "audio routing: pixelpass sink registered");
+                                try_flush(&state_for_reg, &event_tx_for_reg);
+                            }
+                            // Never silently: without a serial `try_flush` can
+                            // never route anything, so the whole app-filter mode
+                            // is dead and the only symptom is missing audio.
+                            None => tracing::warn!(
+                                node_id = obj.id,
+                                serial = props.get("object.serial").unwrap_or("<absent>"),
+                                "audio routing: pixelpass sink has no usable object.serial; \
+                                 stream rerouting disabled"
+                            ),
                         }
                         return;
                     }
@@ -591,8 +602,29 @@ fn run_router(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Parse a PipeWire `object.serial` property value.
+///
+/// `object.serial` is a **64-bit** monotonically-increasing counter
+/// (`pw_global`'s serial is `uint64_t`); it is *not* a `pw` object id
+/// (those are `u32` and get recycled — the serial exists precisely so
+/// that recycled ids can be disambiguated). Parsing it as `u32` silently
+/// yields `None` past `u32::MAX`, which on a long-lived daemon means the
+/// sink is never registered and no stream is ever routed.
+///
+/// Strict on purpose: PipeWire emits a bare decimal, so anything else
+/// (empty, signed, padded, non-numeric) is a property we do not
+/// understand and must not guess at.
+fn parse_object_serial(raw: &str) -> Option<u64> {
+    if raw.is_empty() || !raw.bytes().all(|b| b.is_ascii_digit()) {
+        return None;
+    }
+    raw.parse::<u64>().ok()
+}
+
 struct RouterState {
-    sink_serial: Option<u32>,
+    /// See [`parse_object_serial`] — 64-bit, and not interchangeable with
+    /// the `u32` node ids in `routed_node_ids` / `pending`.
+    sink_serial: Option<u64>,
     default_metadata: Option<pipewire::metadata::Metadata>,
     routed_node_ids: Vec<u32>,
     pending: Vec<u32>,
@@ -654,3 +686,62 @@ fn try_flush(
         let _ = event_tx.send(Event::FirstRoutedStream);
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn object_serial_parses_past_u32() {
+        // The regression this fix exists for: a serial one past `u32::MAX`
+        // used to parse as `None` and silently disable rerouting.
+        let beyond = u64::from(u32::MAX) + 1;
+        assert_eq!(parse_object_serial(&beyond.to_string()), Some(beyond));
+        assert_eq!(
+            parse_object_serial(&u64::MAX.to_string()),
+            Some(u64::MAX),
+            "the full 64-bit range must round-trip"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn object_serial_boundary_values() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_object_serial("0"), Some(0));
+        assert_eq!(parse_object_serial("1"), Some(1));
+        let max32 = u64::from(u32::MAX);
+        assert_eq!(parse_object_serial(&max32.to_string()), Some(max32));
+        assert_eq!(
+            parse_object_serial(&(max32 - 1).to_string()),
+            Some(max32 - 1)
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn object_serial_round_trips_through_the_metadata_string() {
+        // `try_flush` writes the serial back out as a decimal string for
+        // `target.object`; widening must not introduce a formatting change.
+        for raw in ["0", "4294967296", "18446744073709551615"] {
+            let parsed = parse_object_serial(raw).expect("valid serial");
+            assert_eq!(parsed.to_string(), raw);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn object_serial_rejects_malformed() {
+        for raw in [
+            "",
+            " 12",
+            "12 ",
+            "+12",
+            "-1",
+            "1.0",
+            "0x10",
+            "12a",
+            "abc",
+            // u64::MAX + 1 — overflow must be rejected, not wrapped.
+            "18446744073709551616",
+        ] {
+            assert_eq!(parse_object_serial(raw), None, "should reject {raw:?}");
+        }
+    }
+}