diff --git a/DiscordChatExporter.Core/Discord/Data/Embeds/YouTubeVideoEmbedProjection.cs b/DiscordChatExporter.Core/Discord/Data/Embeds/YouTubeVideoEmbedProjection.cs
index ec39bbb2..01abaf58 100644
--- a/DiscordChatExporter.Core/Discord/Data/Embeds/YouTubeVideoEmbedProjection.cs
+++ b/DiscordChatExporter.Core/Discord/Data/Embeds/YouTubeVideoEmbedProjection.cs
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@ public partial record YouTubeVideoEmbedProjection(string VideoId)
 {
     public string Url { get; } = $"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={VideoId}";
 
-    public string ThumbnailUrl { get; } = $"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/{VideoId}/maxresdefault.jpg";
+    // Using hqdefault.jpg which is guaranteed to exist for all YouTube videos
+    public string ThumbnailUrl { get; } = $"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/{VideoId}/hqdefault.jpg";
+
+    public string GetThumbnailUrl(Embed embed) =>
+        embed.Thumbnail?.ProxyUrl ?? embed.Thumbnail?.Url ?? ThumbnailUrl;
 }
 
 public partial record YouTubeVideoEmbedProjection
diff --git a/DiscordChatExporter.Core/Exporting/MessageGroupTemplate.cshtml b/DiscordChatExporter.Core/Exporting/MessageGroupTemplate.cshtml
index 5e5741b4..4387a678 100644
--- a/DiscordChatExporter.Core/Exporting/MessageGroupTemplate.cshtml
+++ b/DiscordChatExporter.Core/Exporting/MessageGroupTemplate.cshtml
@@ -427,10 +427,7 @@
                                             @* Video thumbnail *@
                                             <div class="chatlog__embed-youtube-container">
                                                 <a href="@youTubeVideoEmbed.Url">
-                                                    @{
-                                                        var thumbnailUrl = embed.Thumbnail?.ProxyUrl ?? embed.Thumbnail?.Url ?? youTubeVideoEmbed.ThumbnailUrl;
-                                                    }
-                                                    <img class="chatlog__embed-youtube-thumbnail" src="@await ResolveAssetUrlAsync(thumbnailUrl)" alt="YouTube video thumbnail" loading="lazy" onerror="this.style.visibility='hidden'" data-canonical-url="@thumbnailUrl">
+                                                    <img class="chatlog__embed-youtube-thumbnail" src="@await ResolveAssetUrlAsync(youTubeVideoEmbed.GetThumbnailUrl(embed))" alt="YouTube video thumbnail" loading="lazy" onerror="this.style.visibility='hidden'" data-canonical-url="@youTubeVideoEmbed.GetThumbnailUrl(embed)">
                                                 </a>
                                             </div>
                                         </div>