diff --git a/projekt-matching/projektmatch/ingest.py b/projekt-matching/projektmatch/ingest.py
index 961194d..cb579a0 100644
--- a/projekt-matching/projektmatch/ingest.py
+++ b/projekt-matching/projektmatch/ingest.py
@@ -106,6 +106,11 @@ def run_ingest(cfg, mailbox=None, dispatch=None, espo=None, resolve=None):
                         result.update(send(result))
                 except Exception as exc:          # noqa: BLE001
                     result.update(status="failed", error=str(exc))
+                if result.get("status") not in SUMMARY_KEYS:
+                    result.update(
+                        status="failed",
+                        error=result.get("error")
+                        or f"unbekannter Status: {result.get('status')!r}")
                 results.append(result)
                 summary[result["status"]] += 1
             failed = [r for r in results if r["status"] == "failed"]
@@ -114,12 +119,15 @@ def run_ingest(cfg, mailbox=None, dispatch=None, espo=None, resolve=None):
                     f"- {f.get('title', '?')}\n"
                     f"  {f.get('canonical', f.get('url', '?'))}\n"
                     f"  Fehler: {f.get('error', '?')}" for f in failed)
-                mailer.send_mail(
-                    cfg.imap_user, cfg.imap_password, cfg.alert_to,
-                    f"[Projekt-Match-Fehler] Freelancermap — "
-                    f"{len(failed)} Projekt(e)",
-                    "Folgende Projekte konnten nicht verarbeitet "
-                    "werden:\n\n" + lines + "\n")
+                try:
+                    mailer.send_mail(
+                        cfg.imap_user, cfg.imap_password, cfg.alert_to,
+                        f"[Projekt-Match-Fehler] Freelancermap — "
+                        f"{len(failed)} Projekt(e)",
+                        "Folgende Projekte konnten nicht verarbeitet "
+                        "werden:\n\n" + lines + "\n")
+                except Exception:          # noqa: BLE001
+                    summary["alertFailed"] = summary.get("alertFailed", 0) + 1
             box.move_to_trash(uid)
         box.close()
         return summary
diff --git a/projekt-matching/tests/test_ingest.py b/projekt-matching/tests/test_ingest.py
index 94c14ef..5ad20aa 100644
--- a/projekt-matching/tests/test_ingest.py
+++ b/projekt-matching/tests/test_ingest.py
@@ -90,6 +90,34 @@ def test_lock_prevents_second_run(tmp_path):
     ingest.release_lock(lock)
 
 
+def test_unknown_dispatch_status_normalized_to_failed(tmp_path):
+    mails = {"1": mail("Mail", PROJECT_HTML)}
+    summary, box, sent = run(tmp_path, mails,
+                             dispatch_result={"weird": True})
+    assert summary["failed"] == 1
+    box.move_to_trash.assert_called_once()
+
+
+def test_alert_send_failure_still_trashes(tmp_path):
+    mails = {"1": mail("Mail", PROJECT_HTML)}
+    box = mock.Mock()
+    box.unchecked_uids.return_value = list(mails)
+    box.fetch.side_effect = lambda uid: mails[uid]
+    espo = mock.Mock()
+    espo.find_opportunity_by_link.return_value = None
+    def boom_send(*a):
+        raise OSError("smtp down")
+    with mock.patch("projektmatch.ingest.mailparse.bodies",
+                    side_effect=lambda m: (m["html"], "")), \
+         mock.patch("projektmatch.ingest.mailer.send_mail", boom_send):
+        summary = ingest.run_ingest(
+            cfg(tmp_path), mailbox=box, espo=espo,
+            resolve=lambda url: "https://www.freelancermap.de/projekt/eins",
+            dispatch=lambda item: {"status": "failed", "error": "x"})
+    assert summary["alertFailed"] == 1
+    box.move_to_trash.assert_called_once_with("1")
+
+
 def test_parse_run_result_finds_status_json():
     inner = json.dumps({"status": "created", "mustMatch": 90})
     payload = {"outputs": [{"outputs": [{"results": {"text": {