diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 8f8f8e5ac..8077a159a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ journal-host = [
     "mistune",
     "python-frontmatter",
     "packaging",
-    "Pillow",
+    "Pillow>=11.0.0",
     "numpy",
     "av",
     "openai>=1.2.0",
diff --git a/solstone/observe/describe.py b/solstone/observe/describe.py
index 633a93121..1a7d64a5e 100644
--- a/solstone/observe/describe.py
+++ b/solstone/observe/describe.py
@@ -106,6 +106,13 @@ def _winnow_decision(
     return (True, False, "kept")
 
 
+def _flattened_image_data(img: Image.Image):
+    get_flattened_data = getattr(img, "get_flattened_data", None)
+    if get_flattened_data is not None:
+        return get_flattened_data()
+    return img.getdata()
+
+
 class RequestType(Enum):
     """Type of vision analysis request."""
 
@@ -614,7 +621,7 @@ class VideoProcessor:
     def _dhash(self, img: Image.Image) -> int:
         """Compute 64-bit dHash (difference hash) for perceptual comparison."""
         small = img.resize(self.DHASH_SIZE, Image.BILINEAR).convert("L")
-        pixels = list(small.getdata())
+        pixels = list(_flattened_image_data(small))
         hash_val = 0
         for row in range(8):
             for col in range(8):
diff --git a/tests/test_describe_scene_cut.py b/tests/test_describe_scene_cut.py
index 51a0f97b1..2d6732a44 100644
--- a/tests/test_describe_scene_cut.py
+++ b/tests/test_describe_scene_cut.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
 # Copyright (c) 2026 sol pbc
 
+import warnings
+
 from PIL import Image
 
 from solstone.observe import describe as describe_module
@@ -44,6 +46,34 @@ def test_dhash_identical_images_have_zero_distance():
     assert bin(processor._dhash(image) ^ processor._dhash(image.copy())).count("1") == 0
 
 
+def test_dhash_uses_current_pillow_accessor_without_deprecation_warning():
+    processor = describe_module.VideoProcessor.__new__(describe_module.VideoProcessor)
+    image = Image.new("RGB", (9, 8))
+
+    with warnings.catch_warnings():
+        warnings.simplefilter("error", DeprecationWarning)
+        processor._dhash(image)
+
+
+def test_flattened_image_data_prefers_replacement_accessor():
+    class FakeImage:
+        def get_flattened_data(self):
+            return (1, 2)
+
+        def getdata(self):
+            raise AssertionError("deprecated accessor should not be called")
+
+    assert describe_module._flattened_image_data(FakeImage()) == (1, 2)
+
+
+def test_flattened_image_data_falls_back_for_legacy_pillow():
+    class FakeLegacyImage:
+        def getdata(self):
+            return (3, 4)
+
+    assert describe_module._flattened_image_data(FakeLegacyImage()) == (3, 4)
+
+
 def test_dhash_reversed_horizontal_ramps_have_full_distance():
     processor = describe_module.VideoProcessor.__new__(describe_module.VideoProcessor)
     ramp = [col * 28 for col in range(9)]
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 36eb24ef8..e261a7867 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -4435,7 +4435,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "opentelemetry-semantic-conventions", marker = "extra == 'journal-host'", specifier = "==0.60b1" },
     { name = "packaging", marker = "extra == 'journal-host'" },
     { name = "pdf2image", marker = "extra == 'pdf'", specifier = ">=1.16.0" },
-    { name = "pillow", marker = "extra == 'journal-host'" },
+    { name = "pillow", marker = "extra == 'journal-host'", specifier = ">=11.0.0" },
     { name = "psutil" },
     { name = "pyopenssl", specifier = ">=24.0" },
     { name = "pypdf", marker = "extra == 'pdf'", specifier = ">=4.0.0" },