diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 61160a0..94b7130 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,8 +42,9 @@ The CI workflow is configured to build with the repository root as the Docker bu
 
   ## Logging & debugging
 
-  - PHP-FPM is configured to stream its master/process worker logs and PHP error log to stderr, so `docker compose logs php-fpm` (or your platform equivalent) will always contain fatal errors.
-  - When you need full stack traces in the browser, set `FORCE_DEBUG_ERRORS=1` on the `php-fpm` service. The shipped `force-debug.php` bootstrap will notice the flag, turn on verbose error reporting, and emit a single log line indicating that debug mode is active.
+  - PHP-FPM streams master/worker logs plus PHP fatals to stderr, so `docker compose logs php-fpm` (or your platform equivalent) will always contain the messages you need for incident response.
+  - The auto-prepend bootstrap additionally installs shutdown/exception hooks that write uncaught throwables and fatal errors to stderr even if WordPress or a plugin tampers with `ini_set()`.
+  - When you need full stack traces in the browser, set `FORCE_DEBUG_ERRORS=1` on the `php-fpm` service. The bootstrap enables verbose output and logs a single notice so you remember to remove it later.
   - Remove or unset `FORCE_DEBUG_ERRORS` after troubleshooting so production responses stay clean.
 
 ## Local Testing & Development
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 46f5122..fd97498 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ services:
   php-fpm:
     build:
       context: .
-      dockerfile: docker/7.4/Dockerfile
+      dockerfile: php-fpm/7.4/Dockerfile
     image: local/auvem-php:7.4
     restart: unless-stopped
     volumes:
diff --git a/shared/php-fpm/force-debug.php b/shared/php-fpm/force-debug.php
index 46c8621..973e715 100644
--- a/shared/php-fpm/force-debug.php
+++ b/shared/php-fpm/force-debug.php
@@ -1,23 +1,80 @@
 <?php
 // force-debug.php
-// Optional debug bootstrap that can be toggled with FORCE_DEBUG_ERRORS=1.
+// Automatically prepended; guarantees fatals reach container logs and optionally surfaces verbose output.
 
-$forceDebug = getenv('FORCE_DEBUG_ERRORS');
-if ($forceDebug === false) {
-	return;
+$forceDebugRaw = getenv('FORCE_DEBUG_ERRORS');
+$forceDebugEnabled = false;
+if ($forceDebugRaw !== false) {
+	$normalized = strtolower(trim($forceDebugRaw));
+	$forceDebugEnabled = in_array($normalized, ['1', 'true', 'yes', 'on'], true);
 }
 
-$normalized = strtolower(trim($forceDebug));
-$enabled = in_array($normalized, ['1', 'true', 'yes', 'on'], true);
-
-if (!$enabled) {
-	return;
-}
-
-error_reporting(E_ALL);
-ini_set('display_errors', '1');
-ini_set('display_startup_errors', '1');
+// Ensure PHP always logs to stderr even if application code tampers with settings.
 ini_set('log_errors', '1');
 ini_set('error_log', '/proc/self/fd/2');
 
-error_log('[force-debug] Verbose error reporting enabled via FORCE_DEBUG_ERRORS');
+// Helper to safely write to container stderr without relying on php.ini.
+$forceDebugLog = static function (string $message): void {
+	static $stderr = null;
+	if ($stderr === null) {
+		$stderr = @fopen('php://stderr', 'ab');
+	}
+	if ($stderr) {
+		@fwrite($stderr, $message . PHP_EOL);
+	} else {
+		// Fallback to PHP's error_log if stderr is unavailable for any reason.
+		error_log($message);
+	}
+};
+
+// Capture uncaught exceptions so they can never disappear silently.
+set_exception_handler(static function (Throwable $throwable) use ($forceDebugLog, $forceDebugEnabled): void {
+	$message = sprintf(
+		'[force-debug] Uncaught %s: %s in %s:%d',
+		get_class($throwable),
+		$throwable->getMessage(),
+		$throwable->getFile(),
+		$throwable->getLine()
+	);
+	$forceDebugLog($message);
+	$forceDebugLog($throwable->getTraceAsString());
+
+	if ($forceDebugEnabled) {
+		http_response_code(500);
+		echo '<pre>' . htmlspecialchars($message . "\n" . $throwable->getTraceAsString(), ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') . '</pre>';
+	}
+});
+
+// Capture fatal shutdown errors (E_ERROR, E_PARSE, etc.) and surface them to stderr.
+register_shutdown_function(static function () use ($forceDebugLog, $forceDebugEnabled): void {
+	$error = error_get_last();
+	if ($error === null) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	$fatalTypes = [E_ERROR, E_PARSE, E_CORE_ERROR, E_COMPILE_ERROR, E_USER_ERROR, E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR];
+	if (!in_array($error['type'], $fatalTypes, true)) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	$message = sprintf(
+		'[force-debug] Fatal error (%s): %s in %s:%d',
+		$error['type'],
+		$error['message'],
+		$error['file'],
+		$error['line']
+	);
+	$forceDebugLog($message);
+
+	if ($forceDebugEnabled) {
+		http_response_code(500);
+		echo '<pre>' . htmlspecialchars($message, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') . '</pre>';
+	}
+});
+
+if ($forceDebugEnabled) {
+	error_reporting(E_ALL);
+	ini_set('display_errors', '1');
+	ini_set('display_startup_errors', '1');
+	$forceDebugLog('[force-debug] Verbose error reporting enabled via FORCE_DEBUG_ERRORS');
+}