diff --git a/lib/KOReaderSync/ChapterXPathIndexer.cpp b/lib/KOReaderSync/ChapterXPathIndexer.cpp
index 2ba774d4..4a6dbc35 100644
--- a/lib/KOReaderSync/ChapterXPathIndexer.cpp
+++ b/lib/KOReaderSync/ChapterXPathIndexer.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #include "ChapterXPathIndexer.h"
 
+#include <HalStorage.h>
 #include <Logging.h>
-#include <Print.h>
 #include <expat.h>
 
 #include <algorithm>
@@ -388,10 +388,34 @@ static std::optional<ParserState> parseSpineItem(const std::shared_ptr<Epub>& ep
     return std::nullopt;
   }
 
+  // Phase 1: decompress EPUB entry to a temp file on SD.
+  // This keeps the ~1.3 KB uzlib_uncomp struct off the stack before Expat runs.
+  const std::string tmpPath = epub->getCachePath() + "/.tmp_kox.html";
+  {
+    if (Storage.exists(tmpPath.c_str())) {
+      Storage.remove(tmpPath.c_str());
+    }
+    FsFile tmpFile;
+    if (!Storage.openFileForWrite("KOX", tmpPath, tmpFile)) {
+      LOG_ERR("KOX", "Failed to create temp file for spine=%d", spineIndex);
+      return std::nullopt;
+    }
+    constexpr size_t kChunkSize = 1024;
+    const bool ok = epub->readItemContentsToStream(spineItem.href, tmpFile, kChunkSize);
+    tmpFile.close();
+    if (!ok) {
+      Storage.remove(tmpPath.c_str());
+      LOG_ERR("KOX", "Failed to decompress spine=%d to temp file", spineIndex);
+      return std::nullopt;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Phase 2: parse the temp file with Expat in chunks.
   ParserState state(spineIndex);
 
   XML_Parser parser = XML_ParserCreate(nullptr);
   if (!parser) {
+    Storage.remove(tmpPath.c_str());
     LOG_ERR("KOX", "Failed to allocate XML parser for spine=%d", spineIndex);
     return std::nullopt;
   }
@@ -401,30 +425,29 @@ static std::optional<ParserState> parseSpineItem(const std::shared_ptr<Epub>& ep
   XML_SetCharacterDataHandler(parser, onCharacterData);
   XML_SetDefaultHandlerExpand(parser, onDefaultHandlerExpand);
 
-  // Feed decompressed data to Expat incrementally to avoid a large contiguous allocation.
-  class ExpatPrint : public Print {
-   public:
-    XML_Parser parser;
-    bool ok = true;
-    size_t write(uint8_t b) override { return write(&b, 1); }
-    size_t write(const uint8_t* buf, size_t size) override {
-      if (!ok) return 0;
-      if (XML_Parse(parser, reinterpret_cast<const char*>(buf), static_cast<int>(size), XML_FALSE) ==
-          XML_STATUS_ERROR) {
-        ok = false;
-        return 0;
+  FsFile tmpFile;
+  bool parseOk = Storage.openFileForRead("KOX", tmpPath, tmpFile);
+
+  if (parseOk) {
+    constexpr size_t kParseBufSize = 1024;
+    int done;
+    do {
+      void* const buf = XML_GetBuffer(parser, kParseBufSize);
+      if (!buf) {
+        parseOk = false;
+        break;
       }
-      return size;
-    }
-  };
+      const size_t len = tmpFile.read(buf, kParseBufSize);
+      done = tmpFile.available() == 0;
+      if (XML_ParseBuffer(parser, static_cast<int>(len), done) == XML_STATUS_ERROR) {
+        parseOk = false;
+        break;
+      }
+    } while (!done);
+    tmpFile.close();
+  }
 
-  ExpatPrint ep;
-  ep.parser = parser;
-  constexpr size_t kChunkSize = 512;
-  epub->readItemContentsToStream(spineItem.href, ep, kChunkSize);
-
-  // Finalise the parse regardless of streaming result
-  const bool parseOk = ep.ok && XML_Parse(parser, "", 0, XML_TRUE) != XML_STATUS_ERROR;
+  Storage.remove(tmpPath.c_str());
 
   if (!parseOk) {
     LOG_ERR("KOX", "XPath parse failed for spine=%d at line %lu: %s", spineIndex, XML_GetCurrentLineNumber(parser),