diff --git a/PR_DESCRIPTION_SEMANTIC_EXTRACT.md b/PR_DESCRIPTION_SEMANTIC_EXTRACT.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..26964ccd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PR_DESCRIPTION_SEMANTIC_EXTRACT.md
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# PR Title
+Harden spaCy NER Fallback in Semantic Extract
+
+## Summary
+This PR fixes a runtime failure in Semantic Extract when spaCy is installed but not actually usable at runtime, such as Python 3.12 / Pydantic v2 environments where `spacy.load("en_core_web_sm")` fails during config validation.
+
+Instead of crashing during `NERExtractor(method="ml")` initialization or ML entity extraction, Semantica now logs the failure and falls back cleanly to non-ML extraction behavior.
+
+## What Changed
+
+### spaCy Initialization Hardening
+Updated `semantica/semantic_extract/ner_extractor.py` so `NERExtractor` no longer crashes if:
+
+- spaCy is importable
+- the configured model exists
+- but `spacy.load(...)` fails at runtime for reasons other than missing files
+
+This now degrades gracefully by leaving `self.nlp = None` and allowing fallback behavior.
+
+### ML Extraction Fallback Hardening
+Updated `semantica/semantic_extract/methods.py` so `extract_entities_ml()` now catches:
+
+- missing spaCy model errors
+- generic spaCy runtime initialization failures
+
+If spaCy cannot initialize, extraction falls back to pattern-based extraction instead of raising.
+
+### Regression Test
+Added a regression test in `tests/test_ner_configurations.py` covering the case where:
+
+- spaCy is available
+- `spacy.load(...)` raises a runtime exception
+- `NERExtractor(method="ml")` still initializes safely
+
+### Changelog
+Added an `Unreleased` changelog entry documenting the spaCy runtime fallback fix.
+
+## Why This Matters
+This fixes benchmark and CI instability caused by spaCy runtime incompatibilities outside Semantica’s control.
+
+It ensures Semantic Extract remains resilient when spaCy is present in the environment but broken due to dependency mismatches.
+
+## Validation
+Tested with:
+
+```bash
+pytest tests/test_ner_configurations.py -q -k "spacy_runtime_is_broken"
+```
+
+Result:
+
+```bash
+1 passed
+```
+
+Note:
+The benchmark failure path was fixed directly, but the local `semantic-extract` branch did not contain the benchmark file path used in CI, so only the targeted regression path was verified locally.
+
+## Files Changed
+
+- `semantica/semantic_extract/ner_extractor.py`
+- `semantica/semantic_extract/methods.py`
+- `tests/test_ner_configurations.py`
+- `CHANGELOG.md`
diff --git a/semantica/semantic_extract/methods.py b/semantica/semantic_extract/methods.py
index c2177977..2f638bce 100644
--- a/semantica/semantic_extract/methods.py
+++ b/semantica/semantic_extract/methods.py
@@ -685,12 +685,15 @@ def extract_entities_ml(
             return extract_entities_pattern(text, **kwargs)
         except Exception as exc:
             logger.warning(
-                f"spaCy model failed to initialize ({exc}), falling back to pattern extraction"
+                "spaCy fallback triggered because the default model failed to initialize. Falling back to pattern extraction.",
+                exc_info=True,
             )
             return extract_entities_pattern(text, **kwargs)
     except Exception as exc:
         logger.warning(
-            f"spaCy model {model} failed to initialize ({exc}), falling back to pattern extraction"
+            "spaCy model %s failed to initialize, falling back to pattern extraction.",
+            model,
+            exc_info=True,
         )
         return extract_entities_pattern(text, **kwargs)
 
diff --git a/semantica/semantic_extract/ner_extractor.py b/semantica/semantic_extract/ner_extractor.py
index ac6fea43..11e399a7 100644
--- a/semantica/semantic_extract/ner_extractor.py
+++ b/semantica/semantic_extract/ner_extractor.py
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ class NERExtractor:
 
         # Initialize spaCy model if ML method is used
         self.nlp = None
+        self._ml_runtime_usable = True
         if "ml" in self.method and SPACY_AVAILABLE:
             try:
                 self.nlp = spacy.load(self.model_name)
@@ -155,8 +156,11 @@ class NERExtractor:
                     f"spaCy model {self.model_name} not found. ML method will fallback."
                 )
             except Exception as exc:
+                self._ml_runtime_usable = False
                 self.logger.warning(
-                    f"spaCy model {self.model_name} failed to initialize ({exc}). ML method will fallback."
+                    "spaCy model %s failed to initialize and will be disabled for this extractor instance. ML method will fallback.",
+                    self.model_name,
+                    exc_info=True,
                 )
 
     def extract(self, text: Union[str, List[Dict[str, Any]], List[str]], pipeline_id: Optional[str] = None, **kwargs) -> Union[List[Entity], List[List[Entity]]]:
@@ -346,6 +350,7 @@ class NERExtractor:
             methods = options.get("method", self.method)
             if isinstance(methods, str):
                 methods = [methods]
+            methods = self._filter_unusable_methods(methods)
 
             min_confidence = options.get("min_confidence", self.min_confidence)
             entity_types = options.get("entity_types", self.entity_types)
@@ -461,6 +466,24 @@ class NERExtractor:
             )
             raise
 
+    def _filter_unusable_methods(self, methods: List[str]) -> List[str]:
+        """Skip ML dispatch after a known spaCy runtime initialization failure."""
+        filtered = []
+        skipped_ml = False
+
+        for method_name in methods:
+            if method_name in {"ml", "spacy"} and not self._ml_runtime_usable:
+                skipped_ml = True
+                continue
+            filtered.append(method_name)
+
+        if skipped_ml:
+            self.logger.debug(
+                "Skipping ML entity extraction because spaCy runtime initialization previously failed for this extractor."
+            )
+
+        return filtered
+
     def _vote_entities(
         self, results: List[List[Entity]], threshold: float = 0.5
     ) -> List[Entity]:
diff --git a/tests/test_ner_configurations.py b/tests/test_ner_configurations.py
index 58d6b62f..2fead463 100644
--- a/tests/test_ner_configurations.py
+++ b/tests/test_ner_configurations.py
@@ -110,6 +110,32 @@ class TestNERConfigurations(unittest.TestCase):
             extractor = NERExtractor(method="ml", model="en_core_web_sm")
 
         self.assertIsNone(extractor.nlp)
+        self.assertFalse(extractor._ml_runtime_usable)
+
+    @patch('semantica.semantic_extract.ner_extractor.spacy')
+    @patch('semantica.semantic_extract.methods.get_entity_method')
+    @patch('semantica.semantic_extract.methods.spacy')
+    def test_ner_ml_runtime_failure_disables_repeated_ml_load_attempts(
+        self,
+        mock_methods_spacy,
+        mock_get_method,
+        mock_init_spacy,
+    ):
+        """Test degraded ML mode skips repeated spaCy load attempts after init failure."""
+        mock_init_spacy.load.side_effect = RuntimeError("ConfigSchemaNlp is not fully defined")
+        mock_ml_method = MagicMock(return_value=[])
+        mock_get_method.side_effect = lambda name: mock_ml_method if name == "ml" else (lambda *_args, **_kwargs: [])
+
+        with patch('semantica.semantic_extract.ner_extractor.SPACY_AVAILABLE', True):
+            extractor = NERExtractor(method=["ml", "pattern"], model="en_core_web_sm")
+
+        entities = extractor.extract_entities(self.text)
+
+        self.assertFalse(extractor._ml_runtime_usable)
+        self.assertEqual(mock_init_spacy.load.call_count, 1)
+        self.assertEqual(mock_methods_spacy.load.call_count, 0)
+        self.assertEqual(mock_ml_method.call_count, 0)
+        self.assertIsInstance(entities, list)
 
     def test_ner_regex_config(self):
         """Test NER with Regex configuration"""