diff --git a/backend/python/common/libbackend.sh b/backend/python/common/libbackend.sh
index 14172decf..8dc52e4ff 100644
--- a/backend/python/common/libbackend.sh
+++ b/backend/python/common/libbackend.sh
@@ -563,6 +563,18 @@ function startBackend() {
         echo "Added ${EDIR}/lib to LD_LIBRARY_PATH for GPU libraries"
     fi
 
+    # XPU wheels carry a matching SYCL/Unified Runtime set. Prefer it over
+    # packaged oneAPI or host libraries, which may expose an older loader ABI.
+    if [ "$(uname -s)" = "Linux" ]; then
+        local sycl_runtime
+        for sycl_runtime in "${EDIR}/venv/lib"/libsycl.so*; do
+            if [ -f "${sycl_runtime}" ]; then
+                export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${EDIR}/venv/lib${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}}"
+                break
+            fi
+        done
+    fi
+
     if [ ! -z "${BACKEND_FILE:-}" ]; then
         exec "${EDIR}/venv/bin/python" "${BACKEND_FILE}" "$@"
     elif [ -e "${MY_DIR}/server.py" ]; then
diff --git a/docs/content/getting-started/troubleshooting.md b/docs/content/getting-started/troubleshooting.md
index 3e925125b..3527ac9d9 100644
--- a/docs/content/getting-started/troubleshooting.md
+++ b/docs/content/getting-started/troubleshooting.md
@@ -178,6 +178,31 @@ Use container images with `gpu-intel` in the tag. **Known issue:** SYCL hangs wh
 mmap: false
 ```
 
+If the Intel diffusers backend exits while importing PyTorch with
+`libsycl.so.9: undefined symbol: urDeviceWaitExp, version LIBUR_LOADER_0.12`,
+the SYCL library has loaded an incompatible Unified Runtime loader. This happens
+before the gRPC server starts; later connection-refused errors are a consequence
+of that import failure.
+
+Update the separately installed Intel **diffusers backend** as well as the
+`gpu-intel` container image. Updating the parent image alone does not replace a
+backend retained in your backends directory. On Linux, the Python backend launcher
+prefers `venv/lib` when it contains `libsycl.so*`, ahead of the backend's packaged
+`lib` directory and inherited `LD_LIBRARY_PATH`. The venv still needs a compatible
+SYCL library, Unified Runtime loader and adapters; changing search order cannot
+repair an incomplete runtime installation.
+
+If the failure persists, include the container image digest, installed backend
+name and OCI digest, full import traceback, launch command, and any library mounts
+in your issue. From inside the affected container, record the inherited
+`LD_LIBRARY_PATH`, the installed backend path, and the `libsycl.so*`,
+`libur_loader.so*` and `libur_adapter_*` files in both `venv/lib` and `lib`.
+Use `readelf --dyn-syms --wide` and `readelf --version-info` on the SYCL library and
+loaders to compare their symbols and versions. Running the installed backend's
+`run.sh` with `LD_DEBUG=libs,versions` captures which loader is actually selected
+under its startup environment. An `import torch` check using the venv Python and
+the same library search path can isolate this failure without generating an image.
+
 **Overriding backend auto-detection:**
 
 If LocalAI picks the wrong GPU backend, override it:
diff --git a/scripts/build/python-backend-intel-runtime_test.sh b/scripts/build/python-backend-intel-runtime_test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..43d7be89e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build/python-backend-intel-runtime_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,205 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Exercise the real diffusers launcher with versioned ELF libraries, no torch,
+# downloads, venv creation or GPU required.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if [ "$(uname -s)" != "Linux" ]; then
+    echo "SKIP: Intel Python runtime regression requires Linux ELF loading"
+    exit 0
+fi
+for tool in gcc ldd python3; do
+    if ! command -v "$tool" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "SKIP: $tool not available"
+        exit 0
+    fi
+done
+if ! ldd --version 2>&1 | grep -qi 'glibc\|GNU libc'; then
+    echo "SKIP: versioned ELF regression requires glibc"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+REPO_ROOT=$(dirname "$(dirname "$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")")")
+WORK=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$WORK"' EXIT
+export TEST_SYSTEM_PYTHON
+TEST_SYSTEM_PYTHON=$(command -v python3)
+unset ENV_DIR BACKEND_FILE VIRTUAL_ENV PYTHONHOME LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+export PORTABLE_PYTHON=false BUILD_TYPE=cpu
+
+# Fail immediately if startup attempts to provision anything.
+mkdir -p "$WORK/bin" "$WORK/good" "$WORK/bad" "$WORK/host" "$WORK/cwd"
+for tool in uv pip pip3 curl wget; do
+    printf '#!/bin/bash\necho "Unexpected provisioning command" >&2\nexit 99\n' > "$WORK/bin/$tool"
+    chmod +x "$WORK/bin/$tool"
+done
+export PATH="$WORK/bin:$PATH"
+
+cat > "$WORK/loader.c" <<'C'
+int urFixtureOrigin(void) { return ORIGIN; }
+#ifdef MATCHING
+int urDeviceWaitExp(void) { return 42; }
+#else
+int urOldFunction(void) { return 0; }
+#endif
+C
+cat > "$WORK/loader.map" <<'MAP'
+LIBUR_LOADER_0.12 { global: ur*; local: *; };
+MAP
+cat > "$WORK/sycl.c" <<'C'
+int urDeviceWaitExp(void);
+int syclFixture(void) { return urDeviceWaitExp(); }
+C
+echo 'int adapterFixture(void) { return ORIGIN; }' > "$WORK/adapter.c"
+
+# All loaders have the same SONAME and version namespace, but only the venv
+# copy exports the required versioned symbol (the reported failure class).
+for kind in good bad host; do
+    flags=()
+    case "$kind" in
+        good) flags=(-DMATCHING -DORIGIN=1) ;;
+        bad) flags=(-DORIGIN=2) ;;
+        host) flags=(-DORIGIN=3) ;;
+    esac
+    gcc -shared -fPIC "${flags[@]}" "$WORK/loader.c" \
+        -Wl,-soname,libur_loader.so.0 -Wl,--version-script,"$WORK/loader.map" \
+        -o "$WORK/$kind/libur_loader.so.0"
+    gcc -shared -fPIC "${flags[@]}" "$WORK/adapter.c" \
+        -o "$WORK/$kind/libur_adapter_level_zero.so.0"
+done
+# The ELF loader expands $ORIGIN relative to the loaded library.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2016
+gcc -shared -fPIC "$WORK/sycl.c" -L"$WORK/good" -l:libur_loader.so.0 \
+    -Wl,-soname,libsycl.so.9 -Wl,-rpath,'$ORIGIN' \
+    -o "$WORK/good/libsycl.so.9"
+
+cat > "$WORK/backend.py" <<'PY'
+import ctypes
+import os
+import sys
+
+assert sys.argv[1:] == ["--fixture"], sys.argv
+assert os.environ.get("LD_LIBRARY_PATH") == os.environ.get("EXPECTED_PATH"), (
+    os.environ.get("LD_LIBRARY_PATH"), os.environ.get("EXPECTED_PATH")
+)
+if os.environ.get("LOAD_SYCL") == "1":
+    sycl = ctypes.CDLL(os.path.join(os.environ["VIRTUAL_ENV"], "lib", "libsycl.so.9"))
+    assert sycl.syclFixture() == 42
+if "EXPECTED_ORIGIN" in os.environ:
+    expected = int(os.environ["EXPECTED_ORIGIN"])
+    loader = ctypes.CDLL("libur_loader.so.0")
+    assert loader.urFixtureOrigin() == expected
+    adapter = ctypes.CDLL("libur_adapter_level_zero.so.0")
+    assert adapter.adapterFixture() == expected
+print("fixture passed")
+PY
+
+make_backend() {
+    local dir="$1" env_dir="${2:-$1}"
+    mkdir -p "$dir/common" "$env_dir/venv/bin" "$env_dir/venv/lib" "$env_dir/lib"
+    cp "$REPO_ROOT/backend/python/diffusers/run.sh" "$dir/run.sh"
+    cp "$REPO_ROOT/backend/python/common/libbackend.sh" "$dir/common/libbackend.sh"
+    cp "$WORK/backend.py" "$dir/backend.py"
+    cat > "$env_dir/venv/bin/python" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/bash
+exec "$TEST_SYSTEM_PYTHON" "$@"
+SH
+    chmod +x "$env_dir/venv/bin/python"
+    cp "$WORK/good/"* "$env_dir/venv/lib/"
+    cp "$WORK/bad/"* "$env_dir/lib/"
+}
+
+launch() {
+    (cd "$WORK/cwd"; bash "$1/run.sh" --fixture)
+}
+
+expect_failure() {
+    if "$@" > "$WORK/failure.log" 2>&1; then
+        echo "FAIL: incompatible loader unexpectedly succeeded"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    # A path assertion or launcher error must not count as the expected failure.
+    if ! grep -q 'undefined symbol: urDeviceWaitExp, version LIBUR_LOADER_0.12' "$WORK/failure.log"; then
+        cat "$WORK/failure.log"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+backend="$WORK/built/diffusers"
+make_backend "$backend"
+mv "$WORK/built" "$WORK/relocated"
+backend="$WORK/relocated/diffusers"
+export LOAD_SYCL=1 EXPECTED_ORIGIN=1
+
+# Reproduce the old ordering using the same venv Python shim and backend file.
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$backend/lib:$WORK/host"
+export EXPECTED_PATH="$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" VIRTUAL_ENV="$backend/venv"
+expect_failure "$backend/venv/bin/python" "$backend/backend.py" --fixture
+unset VIRTUAL_ENV
+
+# Both inherited and packaged conflicts lose to the venv runtime.
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$WORK/host" EXPECTED_PATH="$backend/venv/lib:$backend/lib:$WORK/host"
+launch "$backend"
+
+# Every startBackend exec branch must receive the same search path.
+export BACKEND_FILE="$backend/backend.py"
+launch "$backend"
+unset BACKEND_FILE
+mv "$backend/backend.py" "$backend/server.py"
+launch "$backend"
+# BACKEND_NAME currently derives from the caller's working directory.
+mv "$backend/server.py" "$backend/cwd.py"
+launch "$backend"
+mv "$backend/cwd.py" "$backend/backend.py"
+
+unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+export EXPECTED_PATH="$backend/venv/lib:$backend/lib:"
+launch "$backend"
+
+# No packaged directory: the venv still takes precedence, with no empty entry
+# introduced when the inherited path is unset.
+mv "$backend/lib" "$backend/packaged"
+export EXPECTED_PATH="$backend/venv/lib"
+launch "$backend"
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$WORK/host" EXPECTED_PATH="$backend/venv/lib:$WORK/host"
+launch "$backend"
+mv "$backend/packaged" "$backend/lib"
+
+# The launcher accepts a relative path when its parent directory has spaces;
+# its existing unquoted $0 handling does not accept absolute paths with spaces.
+spaced="$WORK/relocated with spaces"
+make_backend "$spaced/diffusers"
+mkdir -p "$spaced/cwd"
+export EXPECTED_PATH="$spaced/diffusers/venv/lib:$spaced/diffusers/lib:$WORK/host"
+(cd "$spaced/cwd"; bash ../diffusers/run.sh --fixture)
+
+separate="$WORK/separate environment"
+make_backend "$WORK/external" "$separate"
+export ENV_DIR="$separate" EXPECTED_PATH="$separate/venv/lib:$separate/lib:$WORK/host"
+launch "$WORK/external"
+unset ENV_DIR
+
+# Missing and incompatible venv loaders must still fail, even though the venv
+# directory and SYCL library exist. Presence is not an ABI compatibility check.
+export EXPECTED_PATH="$backend/venv/lib:$backend/lib:$WORK/host"
+rm "$backend/venv/lib/libur_loader.so.0"
+expect_failure launch "$backend"
+cp "$WORK/bad/libur_loader.so.0" "$backend/venv/lib/"
+expect_failure launch "$backend"
+
+# Without a SYCL library, unrelated CPU/CUDA files (or even a directory named
+# libsycl.so) must not change the existing library search order.
+rm "$backend/venv/lib/libsycl.so.9"
+mkdir "$backend/venv/lib/libsycl.so"
+touch "$backend/venv/lib/libcublas.so.12" "$backend/venv/lib/libcpu.so"
+export LOAD_SYCL=0 EXPECTED_ORIGIN=2 EXPECTED_PATH="$backend/lib:$WORK/host"
+launch "$backend"
+unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+export EXPECTED_PATH="$backend/lib:"
+launch "$backend"
+rm -rf "${backend:?}/lib"
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$WORK/host" EXPECTED_PATH="$WORK/host" EXPECTED_ORIGIN=3
+launch "$backend"
+unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH EXPECTED_PATH EXPECTED_ORIGIN
+launch "$backend"
+
+echo "PASS: Intel Python runtime precedence, relocation, fallback and import errors"