diff --git a/motion/compositions/release-announcement/square.html b/motion/compositions/release-announcement/square.html
index 875d44f7..a5f113c8 100644
--- a/motion/compositions/release-announcement/square.html
+++ b/motion/compositions/release-announcement/square.html
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
           <li class="highlights__item"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text">Fable-mode adopted fleet-wide</span></li>
           <li class="highlights__item"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text">FE/UX-UI design bar shipped</span></li>
           <li class="highlights__item"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text">Feature spotlight goes live on X</span></li>
-          <li class="highlights__item"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text"></span></li>
+          <li class="highlights__item" style="display:none"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text"></span></li>
         </ul>
       </div>
 
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
           if (!textEl) continue;
           if (i < highlights.length && highlights[i]) {
             textEl.textContent = String(highlights[i]);
+            items[i].style.display = "";
           } else {
             items[i].style.display = "none";
           }
diff --git a/motion/compositions/release-announcement/vertical.html b/motion/compositions/release-announcement/vertical.html
index 294dc099..5a0c4ba5 100644
--- a/motion/compositions/release-announcement/vertical.html
+++ b/motion/compositions/release-announcement/vertical.html
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
           <li class="highlights__item"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text">Fable-mode adopted fleet-wide</span></li>
           <li class="highlights__item"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text">FE/UX-UI design bar shipped</span></li>
           <li class="highlights__item"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text">Feature spotlight goes live on X</span></li>
-          <li class="highlights__item"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text"></span></li>
+          <li class="highlights__item" style="display:none"><span class="highlights__tick"></span><span class="highlights__text"></span></li>
         </ul>
       </div>
 
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@
           if (!textEl) continue;
           if (i < highlights.length && highlights[i]) {
             textEl.textContent = String(highlights[i]);
+            items[i].style.display = "";
           } else {
             items[i].style.display = "none";
           }
diff --git a/video-renderer/render.js b/video-renderer/render.js
index 6cbd2df8..6e36fc9c 100644
--- a/video-renderer/render.js
+++ b/video-renderer/render.js
@@ -127,9 +127,14 @@ export async function renderComposition({
         ]),
     };
   } catch (err) {
-    // On any pre-render failure the out dir was never created — only the
-    // extract dir needs reclaiming. Re-throw so server.js maps it to 4xx/5xx.
+    // Reclaim whatever temp dirs exist. outDir is created at the mkdtemp
+    // above, so a sync throw from createRenderJob (post-mkdtemp, not
+    // awaited) leaves an empty outDir behind — reclaim it too. Re-throw
+    // so server.js maps the failure to 4xx/5xx.
     await rm(extractDir, { recursive: true, force: true }).catch(() => {});
+    if (outDir) {
+      await rm(outDir, { recursive: true, force: true }).catch(() => {});
+    }
     throw err;
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file