diff --git a/ocr/app/engines/paddle_engine.py b/ocr/app/engines/paddle_engine.py
index 4965ebf..81db632 100644
--- a/ocr/app/engines/paddle_engine.py
+++ b/ocr/app/engines/paddle_engine.py
@@ -56,8 +56,9 @@ class PaddleOcrEngine(OcrEngine):
         """Run PaddleOCR on image bytes.
 
         PaddleOCR v3.x ``predict()`` returns an iterator of result objects.
-        Each result has a ``res`` dict with ``dt_polys``, ``rec_texts``,
-        and ``rec_scores``.
+        Each result's ``.json`` property returns a dict.  The OCR fields
+        (``dt_polys``, ``rec_texts``, ``rec_scores``) may be at the top
+        level or nested under a ``"res"`` key depending on the version.
         """
         ocr = self._get_ocr()
 
@@ -78,7 +79,13 @@ class PaddleOcrEngine(OcrEngine):
                     engine_name=self.name,
                 )
 
-            res = results[0].json
+            raw = results[0].json
+            # Unwrap nested "res" key if present (save_to_json format)
+            res = raw.get("res", raw) if isinstance(raw, dict) else raw
+            logger.debug(
+                "PaddleOCR result keys: %s",
+                list(res.keys()) if isinstance(res, dict) else type(res).__name__,
+            )
             dt_polys = res.get("dt_polys", [])
             rec_texts = res.get("rec_texts", [])
             rec_scores = res.get("rec_scores", [])
diff --git a/ocr/tests/test_engine_abstraction.py b/ocr/tests/test_engine_abstraction.py
index 446fcbd..9328aad 100644
--- a/ocr/tests/test_engine_abstraction.py
+++ b/ocr/tests/test_engine_abstraction.py
@@ -44,12 +44,17 @@ def _make_result(
 def _mock_paddle_result(
     dt_polys: list, rec_texts: list[str], rec_scores: list[float]
 ) -> MagicMock:
-    """Create a mock PaddleOCR v3.x predict() result object."""
+    """Create a mock PaddleOCR v3.x predict() result object.
+
+    Wraps data under ``"res"`` key to match save_to_json format.
+    """
     result = MagicMock()
     result.json = {
-        "dt_polys": dt_polys,
-        "rec_texts": rec_texts,
-        "rec_scores": rec_scores,
+        "res": {
+            "dt_polys": dt_polys,
+            "rec_texts": rec_texts,
+            "rec_scores": rec_scores,
+        }
     }
     return result