diff --git a/examples/foundational/05-sync-speech-and-image.py b/examples/foundational/05-sync-speech-and-image.py
index b896261ae..646235e7c 100644
--- a/examples/foundational/05-sync-speech-and-image.py
+++ b/examples/foundational/05-sync-speech-and-image.py
@@ -12,12 +12,17 @@ from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from loguru import logger
 
 from pipecat.frames.frames import (
+    AggregatedTextFrame,
     DataFrame,
     Frame,
     LLMContextFrame,
     LLMFullResponseStartFrame,
     OutputImageRawFrame,
     TextFrame,
+    TTSAudioRawFrame,
+    TTSStartedFrame,
+    TTSStoppedFrame,
+    TTSTextFrame,
 )
 from pipecat.pipeline.pipeline import Pipeline
 from pipecat.pipeline.runner import PipelineRunner
@@ -46,7 +51,7 @@ class MonthFrame(DataFrame):
         return f"{self.name}(month: {self.month})"
 
 
-class ImageAudioSync(FrameProcessor):
+class MarkImageForPlaybackSync(FrameProcessor):
     """Marks output image frames to be synchronized with audio playback."""
 
     async def process_frame(self, frame: Frame, direction: FrameDirection):
@@ -58,6 +63,61 @@ class ImageAudioSync(FrameProcessor):
         await self.push_frame(frame, direction)
 
 
+class ImageBeforeAudioReorderer(FrameProcessor):
+    """Ensures each image frame precedes its corresponding TTS audio frames.
+
+    SyncParallelPipeline guarantees that each image is in the same synchronized
+    batch as its audio, but doesn't guarantee which branch's output comes first.
+    This processor detects when TTS frames arrive before their image and holds
+    them until the image arrives.
+
+    All frames pass through immediately unless we detect an ordering problem:
+    TTS frames arrived without a preceding image for the current batch (identified
+    by context_id). In that case, the TTS frames are held until the next image
+    frame, which is pushed first.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__()
+        self._held_tts_frames = []
+        self._seen_image = False
+        self._current_context_id = None
+
+    async def process_frame(self, frame: Frame, direction: FrameDirection):
+        await super().process_frame(frame, direction)
+
+        if isinstance(frame, OutputImageRawFrame):
+            self._seen_image = True
+            if self._held_tts_frames:
+                # Image arrived after TTS frames — push image first, then release held frames.
+                logger.debug("ImageBeforeAudioReorderer: reordered — moved image before audio")
+                await self.push_frame(frame, direction)
+                for f in self._held_tts_frames:
+                    await self.push_frame(f, direction)
+                self._held_tts_frames = []
+            else:
+                logger.debug(
+                    "ImageBeforeAudioReorderer: no reorder needed — image was already first"
+                )
+                await self.push_frame(frame, direction)
+        elif isinstance(
+            frame,
+            (AggregatedTextFrame, TTSStartedFrame, TTSAudioRawFrame, TTSStoppedFrame, TTSTextFrame),
+        ):
+            # A new context_id means a new batch — reset image tracking.
+            context_id = frame.context_id
+            if context_id and context_id != self._current_context_id:
+                self._current_context_id = context_id
+                self._seen_image = False
+
+            if self._seen_image:
+                await self.push_frame(frame, direction)
+            else:
+                self._held_tts_frames.append(frame)
+        else:
+            await self.push_frame(frame, direction)
+
+
 class MonthPrepender(FrameProcessor):
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
@@ -149,9 +209,10 @@ async def run_bot(transport: BaseTransport, runner_args: RunnerArguments):
                     [month_prepender, tts],  # Create "Month: sentence" and output audio
                     [
                         imagegen,  # Generate image
-                        ImageAudioSync(),  # Mark image as needing sync output w/audio
+                        MarkImageForPlaybackSync(),  # Mark image as needing sync w/audio during playback
                     ],
                 ),
+                ImageBeforeAudioReorderer(),  # Ensure each image precedes its audio (important for playback)
                 transport.output(),  # Transport output
             ]
         )