diff --git a/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_loop/main_loop.rs b/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_loop/main_loop.rs
index d0271657c4..f99d376c74 100644
--- a/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_loop/main_loop.rs
+++ b/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_loop/main_loop.rs
@@ -135,6 +135,8 @@ async fn process_job_batch(job_dependencies: &JobDependencies, jobs: Vec<Availab
                 (true, false, format!("InvalidJob: {:?}", err), Some("invalid job")),
               ProcessSingleJobError::NotYetImplemented =>
                 (true, false, "not yet implemented".to_string(), Some("not yet implemented")),
+              ProcessSingleJobError::FaceDetectionFailure =>
+                (true, false, "face not detected".to_string(), Some("face not detected")),
 
               // Non-permanent failures
               ProcessSingleJobError::FilesystemFull =>
@@ -177,6 +179,7 @@ async fn process_job_batch(job_dependencies: &JobDependencies, jobs: Vec<Availab
           ProcessSingleJobError::InvalidJob(_) => {}
           ProcessSingleJobError::KeepAliveElapsed => {}
           ProcessSingleJobError::NotYetImplemented => {}
+          ProcessSingleJobError::FaceDetectionFailure => {}
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_loop/process_single_job_error.rs b/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_loop/process_single_job_error.rs
index 5cc24ad7a7..c6509c1dde 100644
--- a/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_loop/process_single_job_error.rs
+++ b/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_loop/process_single_job_error.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@ use anyhow::anyhow;
 /// Error from processing a single job
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub enum ProcessSingleJobError {
+  /// For inference jobs that are required to find faces, fail the job
+  /// immediately if no face is found. We can also surface the error to
+  /// the user in a friendly way.
+  /// Example job types: SadTalker, Wav2Lip.
+  FaceDetectionFailure,
   /// The filesystem is out of space and we need to free it up.
   FilesystemFull,
   /// The job is invalid (bad state, etc.)
diff --git a/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_types/lipsync/sad_talker/process_job.rs b/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_types/lipsync/sad_talker/process_job.rs
index 4c112ef3a9..c88a8b2279 100644
--- a/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_types/lipsync/sad_talker/process_job.rs
+++ b/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_types/lipsync/sad_talker/process_job.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
+use std::fs::read_to_string;
 use std::time::Instant;
 
 use anyhow::anyhow;
-use log::{error, info};
+use log::{error, info, warn};
 
 use buckets::public::media_files::original_file::MediaFileBucketPath;
 use container_common::filesystem::check_file_exists::check_file_exists;
@@ -132,6 +133,8 @@ pub async fn process_job(args: SadTalkerProcessJobArgs<'_>) -> Result<JobSuccess
 
   let workdir = work_temp_dir.path().to_path_buf();
 
+  let stderr_output_file = work_temp_dir.path().join("stderr.txt");
+
   let inference_start_time = Instant::now();
 
   let command_exit_status = args.job_dependencies
@@ -143,6 +146,7 @@ pub async fn process_job(args: SadTalkerProcessJobArgs<'_>) -> Result<JobSuccess
         input_image: &image_path.filesystem_path,
         work_dir: &workdir,
         output_file: &output_video_fs_path,
+        stderr_output_file: &stderr_output_file,
       });
 
   let inference_duration = Instant::now().duration_since(inference_start_time);
@@ -151,11 +155,23 @@ pub async fn process_job(args: SadTalkerProcessJobArgs<'_>) -> Result<JobSuccess
 
   if !command_exit_status.is_success() {
     error!("Inference failed: {:?}", command_exit_status);
+
+    let mut error = ProcessSingleJobError::Other(anyhow!("CommandExitStatus: {:?}", command_exit_status));
+
+    if let Ok(contents) = read_to_string(&stderr_output_file) {
+      if contents.contains("can not detect the landmark from source image") {
+        warn!("Face not detected in source image");
+        error = ProcessSingleJobError::FaceDetectionFailure;
+      }
+    }
+
     safe_delete_temp_file(&audio_path.filesystem_path);
     safe_delete_temp_file(&image_path.filesystem_path);
     safe_delete_temp_file(&output_video_fs_path);
+    safe_delete_temp_file(&stderr_output_file);
     safe_delete_temp_directory(&work_temp_dir);
-    return Err(ProcessSingleJobError::Other(anyhow!("CommandExitStatus: {:?}", command_exit_status)));
+
+    return Err(error);
   }
 
   // ==================== CHECK NON-WATERMARKED RESULT ==================== //
diff --git a/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_types/lipsync/sad_talker/sad_talker_inference_command.rs b/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_types/lipsync/sad_talker/sad_talker_inference_command.rs
index 2e4868e323..d8101c9394 100644
--- a/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_types/lipsync/sad_talker/sad_talker_inference_command.rs
+++ b/crates/service/job/inference_job/src/job/job_types/lipsync/sad_talker/sad_talker_inference_command.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 use std::collections::HashSet;
 use std::env;
 use std::ffi::OsString;
+use std::fs::{File, read_to_string};
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use anyhow::anyhow;
-use log::info;
+use log::{error, info};
 use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
-use subprocess::{Popen, PopenConfig};
+use subprocess::{Exec, Popen, PopenConfig, Redirection};
 
 use container_common::anyhow_result::AnyhowResult;
 use filesys::path_to_string::path_to_string;
@@ -79,6 +80,8 @@ pub struct InferenceArgs<P: AsRef<Path>> {
   /// --result_file: path to final file output
   pub output_file: P,
 
+  pub stderr_output_file: P,
+
   // TODO: Other SadTalker args
 }
 
@@ -243,6 +246,11 @@ impl SadTalkerInferenceCommand {
 
     let mut config = PopenConfig::default();
 
+    info!("stderr will be written to file: {:?}", args.stderr_output_file.as_ref());
+
+    let stderr_file = File::create(&args.stderr_output_file)?;
+    config.stderr = Redirection::File(stderr_file);
+
     if !env_vars.is_empty() {
       config.env = Some(env_vars);
     }