diff --git a/pipeline/ffmpeg.go b/pipeline/ffmpeg.go
index b8cb9fc7..0153588a 100644
--- a/pipeline/ffmpeg.go
+++ b/pipeline/ffmpeg.go
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ func (f *ffmpeg) handleStartUploadJob(job *JobInfo, reencodeSegmentation bool) (
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	log.Log(job.RequestID, "Finished probing source segments")
 
 	outputs, transcodedSegments, err := transcode.RunTranscodeProcess(transcodeRequest, job.StreamName, inputInfo, f.Broadcaster)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -308,25 +309,60 @@ func (f *ffmpeg) probeSourceSegments(job *JobInfo, sourceSegments []*m3u8.MediaS
 	if job.InputFileInfo.Format == "hls" {
 		return nil
 	}
+	const (
+		keyframeCheckSegments = 12
+		fullProbeSegments     = 4
+	)
+
+	// First, ensure the first frame of more segments is a keyframe.
+	if err := f.probeSegmentsWith(job, sourceSegments, keyframeCheckSegments, f.checkFirstFrame); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Then, run the heavier probing logic on a smaller subset.
+	if err := f.probeSegmentsWith(job, sourceSegments, fullProbeSegments, f.probeSourceSegment); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (f *ffmpeg) probeSegmentsWith(
+	job *JobInfo,
+	sourceSegments []*m3u8.MediaSegment,
+	n int,
+	probeFn func(requestID string, seg *m3u8.MediaSegment, sourceManifestURL string) error,
+) error {
 	segCount := len(sourceSegments)
-	if segCount < 6 {
-		for _, segment := range sourceSegments {
-			if err := f.probeSourceSegment(job.RequestID, segment, job.SegmentingTargetURL); err != nil {
+	if segCount == 0 || n <= 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// For short streams, just probe every segment.
+	if segCount <= n {
+		for i := 0; i < segCount; i++ {
+			if err := probeFn(job.RequestID, sourceSegments[i], job.SegmentingTargetURL); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 		}
 		return nil
 	}
-	segmentsToCheck := []int{0, 1, 2, 3, segCount - 2, segCount - 1}
-	for _, i := range segmentsToCheck {
-		if err := f.probeSourceSegment(job.RequestID, sourceSegments[i], job.SegmentingTargetURL); err != nil {
+
+	// For longer streams, probe the first (n-2) and the last two segments.
+	for i := 0; i < n-2; i++ {
+		if err := probeFn(job.RequestID, sourceSegments[i], job.SegmentingTargetURL); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	for i := segCount - 2; i < segCount; i++ {
+		if err := probeFn(job.RequestID, sourceSegments[i], job.SegmentingTargetURL); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (f *ffmpeg) probeSourceSegment(requestID string, seg *m3u8.MediaSegment, sourceManifestURL string) error {
+func (f *ffmpeg) checkFirstFrame(requestID string, seg *m3u8.MediaSegment, sourceManifestURL string) error {
 	u, err := clients.ManifestURLToSegmentURL(sourceManifestURL, seg.URI)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error checking source segments: %w", err)
@@ -344,13 +380,26 @@ func (f *ffmpeg) probeSourceSegment(requestID string, seg *m3u8.MediaSegment, so
 		}
 		// ffprobe should print I for i-frame
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(output, "I") || strings.Contains(output, "non-existing PPS") {
-			return fmt.Errorf("segment does not start with keyframe: %w", ErrKeyframe)
+			return backoff.Permanent(fmt.Errorf("segment does not start with keyframe: %w", ErrKeyframe))
 		}
 		return nil
 	}, retries(6)); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (f *ffmpeg) probeSourceSegment(requestID string, seg *m3u8.MediaSegment, sourceManifestURL string) error {
+	u, err := clients.ManifestURLToSegmentURL(sourceManifestURL, seg.URI)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error checking source segments: %w", err)
+	}
+	probeURL, err := clients.SignURL(u)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create signed url for %s: %w", u.Redacted(), err)
+	}
+
 	if err := backoff.Retry(func() error {
 		_, err = f.probe.ProbeFile(requestID, probeURL)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/pipeline/ffmpeg_test.go b/pipeline/ffmpeg_test.go
index e31790a8..c6ff0d43 100644
--- a/pipeline/ffmpeg_test.go
+++ b/pipeline/ffmpeg_test.go
@@ -261,6 +261,6 @@ func Test_probeSegments(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, []string{"/0.ts", "/0.ts", "/1.ts", "/1.ts", "/2.ts", "/2.ts", "/3.ts", "/3.ts"}, probe.probedUrls)
 
 	probe.probedUrls = []string{}
-	_ = f.probeSourceSegments(job, []*m3u8.MediaSegment{{URI: "0.ts"}, {URI: "1.ts"}, {URI: "2.ts"}, {URI: "3.ts"}, {URI: "4.ts"}, {URI: "5.ts"}, {URI: "6.ts"}})
-	require.Equal(t, []string{"/0.ts", "/0.ts", "/1.ts", "/1.ts", "/2.ts", "/2.ts", "/3.ts", "/3.ts", "/5.ts", "/5.ts", "/6.ts", "/6.ts"}, probe.probedUrls)
+	_ = f.probeSourceSegments(job, []*m3u8.MediaSegment{{URI: "0.ts"}, {URI: "1.ts"}, {URI: "2.ts"}, {URI: "3.ts"}, {URI: "4.ts"}, {URI: "5.ts"}})
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"/0.ts", "/0.ts", "/1.ts", "/1.ts", "/4.ts", "/4.ts", "/5.ts", "/5.ts"}, probe.probedUrls)
 }