diff --git a/backend/onyx/file_processing/extract_file_text.py b/backend/onyx/file_processing/extract_file_text.py
index fbc4fdc52..efdeeb546 100644
--- a/backend/onyx/file_processing/extract_file_text.py
+++ b/backend/onyx/file_processing/extract_file_text.py
@@ -358,7 +358,13 @@ def extract_file_text(
 
     try:
         if get_unstructured_api_key():
-            return unstructured_to_text(file, file_name)
+            try:
+                return unstructured_to_text(file, file_name)
+            except Exception as unstructured_error:
+                logger.error(
+                    f"Failed to process with Unstructured: {str(unstructured_error)}. Falling back to normal processing."
+                )
+                # Fall through to normal processing
 
         if file_name or extension:
             if extension is not None:
diff --git a/backend/onyx/file_processing/unstructured.py b/backend/onyx/file_processing/unstructured.py
index 4faa14a1a..3827c6891 100644
--- a/backend/onyx/file_processing/unstructured.py
+++ b/backend/onyx/file_processing/unstructured.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def _sdk_partition_request(
 
 def unstructured_to_text(file: IO[Any], file_name: str) -> str:
     logger.debug(f"Starting to read file: {file_name}")
-    req = _sdk_partition_request(file, file_name, strategy="auto")
+    req = _sdk_partition_request(file, file_name, strategy="fast")
 
     unstructured_client = UnstructuredClient(api_key_auth=get_unstructured_api_key())
 
diff --git a/backend/onyx/server/query_and_chat/chat_backend.py b/backend/onyx/server/query_and_chat/chat_backend.py
index 32c278dcd..f671ccfed 100644
--- a/backend/onyx/server/query_and_chat/chat_backend.py
+++ b/backend/onyx/server/query_and_chat/chat_backend.py
@@ -672,23 +672,25 @@ def upload_files_for_chat(
             else ChatFileType.PLAIN_TEXT
         )
 
+        file_content = file.file.read()  # Read the file content
+
         if file_type == ChatFileType.IMAGE:
-            file_content = file.file
+            file_content_io = file.file
             # NOTE: Image conversion to JPEG used to be enforced here.
             # This was removed to:
             # 1. Preserve original file content for downloads
             # 2. Maintain transparency in formats like PNG
             # 3. Ameliorate issue with file conversion
         else:
-            file_content = io.BytesIO(file.file.read())
+            file_content_io = io.BytesIO(file_content)
 
         new_content_type = file.content_type
 
-        # store the file (now JPEG for images)
+        # Store the file normally
         file_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
         file_store.save_file(
             file_name=file_id,
-            content=file_content,
+            content=file_content_io,
             display_name=file.filename,
             file_origin=FileOrigin.CHAT_UPLOAD,
             file_type=new_content_type or file_type.value,
@@ -698,7 +700,7 @@ def upload_files_for_chat(
         # to re-extract it every time we send a message
         if file_type == ChatFileType.DOC:
             extracted_text = extract_file_text(
-                file=file.file,
+                file=io.BytesIO(file_content),  # use the bytes we already read
                 file_name=file.filename or "",
             )
             text_file_id = str(uuid.uuid4())