diff --git a/studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion_families.py b/studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion_families.py
index 4212ea13cd..b0d7c8658e 100644
--- a/studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion_families.py
+++ b/studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion_families.py
@@ -641,6 +641,25 @@ def assert_pipeline_class_available(pipeline_class: str, family_name: str) -> No
     )
 
 
+def family_pipeline_available(fam: Optional[DiffusionFamily]) -> bool:
+    """True when the installed diffusers actually has this family's pipeline class.
+
+    The boolean twin of ``assert_pipeline_class_available``, for the listing routes: the newer
+    families exist only from diffusers 0.39, and the packaging leaves an older diffusers
+    installable on Python 3.9 (diffusers dropped 3.9 in 0.38, so the 0.39 floor has to be
+    conditional or the extra becomes unresolvable). Advertising Z-Image or Krea 2 in the picker
+    on such an environment offers a pick that can only fail, and no `pip install -U diffusers`
+    can fix it without also upgrading Python. Fails OPEN (True) when diffusers cannot be
+    imported at all, so a listing never hides a model over an unrelated import problem."""
+    if fam is None:
+        return False
+    try:
+        import diffusers
+    except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 -- no diffusers here: the load path reports it properly
+        return True
+    return hasattr(diffusers, fam.pipeline_class)
+
+
 def family_gguf_loadable(fam: DiffusionFamily) -> bool:
     """True when a GGUF transformer can be assembled for this family.
 
diff --git a/studio/backend/routes/models.py b/studio/backend/routes/models.py
index 0f1f2634fe..54f0437e98 100644
--- a/studio/backend/routes/models.py
+++ b/studio/backend/routes/models.py
@@ -3672,11 +3672,18 @@ def _cached_repo_task(repo_info) -> Optional[str]:
     # the image families this backend can assemble, so an unsloth-hosted pipeline of an unsupported
     # class cleared the trust gate, was advertised as text-to-image, and then deterministically
     # failed validate_load_request, which detects the family the same way.
+    # The third gate is the installed diffusers: the newer families exist only from 0.39, which
+    # cannot be installed on Python 3.9 at all (diffusers dropped 3.9 in 0.38), so on such an
+    # environment a Z-Image / Krea 2 / FLUX.2 row is a pick that can only fail, and the suggested
+    # `pip install -U diffusers` cannot fix it. validate_load_request refuses the same way.
     try:
         from core.inference.diffusion import _is_trusted_diffusion_repo
-        from core.inference.diffusion_families import detect_family
+        from core.inference.diffusion_families import detect_family, family_pipeline_available
 
-        if not _is_trusted_diffusion_repo(repo_id) or detect_family(repo_id) is None:
+        fam = detect_family(repo_id)
+        if not _is_trusted_diffusion_repo(repo_id) or fam is None:
+            return None
+        if not family_pipeline_available(fam):
             return None
         return "text-to-image"
     except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 -- an import failure must not hide a usable repo
diff --git a/studio/backend/tests/test_cached_gguf_routes.py b/studio/backend/tests/test_cached_gguf_routes.py
index 43939054a7..a190e0d2f5 100644
--- a/studio/backend/tests/test_cached_gguf_routes.py
+++ b/studio/backend/tests/test_cached_gguf_routes.py
@@ -1854,3 +1854,44 @@ def test_cached_repo_task_agrees_with_the_image_loader(monkeypatch):
         assert (
             task == "text-to-image"
         ) == loader_accepts, f"{repo_id}: picker task={task} but loader accepts={loader_accepts}"
+
+
+def test_cached_picker_hides_a_family_this_diffusers_cannot_build(monkeypatch):
+    # The newer families exist only from diffusers 0.39, which cannot be installed on Python 3.9 at
+    # all (diffusers dropped 3.9 in 0.38). Advertising one there is a pick that can only fail, and
+    # `pip install -U diffusers` cannot fix it without a Python upgrade -- so the picker applies the
+    # same availability check validate_load_request does.
+    import types
+
+    import routes.models as models_module
+    from core.inference.diffusion_families import detect_family, family_pipeline_available
+
+    fam = detect_family("unsloth/Z-Image-Turbo")
+    assert fam is not None
+    # Present in this environment's diffusers, so the row is offered.
+    assert family_pipeline_available(fam) is True
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(models_module, "_repo_is_diffusers", lambda info: True)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "core.inference.diffusion._is_trusted_diffusion_repo", lambda repo_id: True
+    )
+    info = types.SimpleNamespace(repo_id = "unsloth/Z-Image-Turbo")
+    assert models_module._cached_repo_task(info) == "text-to-image"
+
+    # An older diffusers without the pipeline class hides the row instead.
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "core.inference.diffusion_families.family_pipeline_available", lambda f: False
+    )
+    assert models_module._cached_repo_task(info) is None
+
+
+def test_family_pipeline_available_fails_open_without_diffusers(monkeypatch):
+    # No diffusers at all is a different problem; the load path reports it properly, and a listing
+    # must not silently hide every image model over it.
+    import sys
+
+    from core.inference.diffusion_families import detect_family, family_pipeline_available
+
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "diffusers", None)
+    assert family_pipeline_available(detect_family("unsloth/Z-Image-Turbo")) is True
+    assert family_pipeline_available(None) is False