diff --git a/src/canonical/handler.js b/src/canonical/handler.js
index 6d68d423d2..0d2cb46bde 100644
--- a/src/canonical/handler.js
+++ b/src/canonical/handler.js
@@ -364,6 +364,58 @@ export function isSelfReferencing(url1, url2) {
   return normalizePath(url1) === normalizePath(url2);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Validates the structure and types of canonical metadata returned by the scraper.
+ * Returns false (and logs a warning) for any of these conditions:
+ *  - metadata is missing or not a plain object
+ *  - any of exists / count / inHead keys are absent
+ *  - exists or inHead are not booleans
+ *  - count is not a number
+ *  - href key is absent when exists is true
+ *
+ * @param {*} metadata - The canonical metadata object from the scrape result.
+ * @param {object} log - Logger.
+ * @param {string} key - S3 key (used in log messages).
+ * @returns {boolean} True if the metadata is structurally valid, false otherwise.
+ */
+export function isValidCanonicalMetadata(metadata, log, key) {
+  if (!metadata || typeof metadata !== 'object') {
+    log.warn(`[canonical] No canonical metadata in S3 object: ${key}, skipping page`);
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const requiredFields = ['exists', 'count', 'inHead'];
+  for (const field of requiredFields) {
+    if (!(field in metadata)) {
+      log.warn(`[canonical] Canonical metadata missing required field '${field}' in ${key}, skipping page`);
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (typeof metadata.exists !== 'boolean') {
+    log.warn(`[canonical] Canonical metadata 'exists' is not a boolean in ${key}, skipping page`);
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  if (typeof metadata.count !== 'number') {
+    log.warn(`[canonical] Canonical metadata 'count' is not a number in ${key}, skipping page`);
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  if (typeof metadata.inHead !== 'boolean') {
+    log.warn(`[canonical] Canonical metadata 'inHead' is not a boolean in ${key}, skipping page`);
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  // href is only required when exists is true; a page with no canonical tag won't have one
+  if (metadata.exists && !('href' in metadata)) {
+    log.warn(`[canonical] Canonical metadata 'href' is absent when exists=true in ${key}, skipping page`);
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return true;
+}
+
 /**
  * Generates a suggestion for fixing a canonical issue based on the check type.
  *
@@ -447,16 +499,9 @@ export async function processScrapedContent(context) {
         return null;
       }
 
-      if (!scrapedObject?.scrapeResult?.canonical) {
-        log.warn(`[canonical] No canonical metadata in S3 object: ${key}`);
-        return {
-          url: finalUrl,
-          checks: [{
-            check: CANONICAL_CHECKS.CANONICAL_TAG_MISSING.check,
-            success: false,
-            explanation: CANONICAL_CHECKS.CANONICAL_TAG_MISSING.explanation,
-          }],
-        };
+      const canonicalMetadata = scrapedObject?.scrapeResult?.canonical;
+      if (!isValidCanonicalMetadata(canonicalMetadata, log, key)) {
+        return null;
       }
 
       // Filter out scraped pages that redirected to auth/login pages or PDFs
@@ -475,9 +520,6 @@ export async function processScrapedContent(context) {
         log.info(`[canonical] Skipping ${finalUrl} - disallowed by robots.txt`);
         return null;
       }
-
-      // Use canonical metadata already extracted by the scraper (Puppeteer)
-      const canonicalMetadata = scrapedObject.scrapeResult.canonical;
       const canonicalUrl = canonicalMetadata.href || null;
       const canonicalTagChecks = [];
 
diff --git a/test/audits/canonical.test.js b/test/audits/canonical.test.js
index a7c95eaf58..d8fa78a89c 100755
--- a/test/audits/canonical.test.js
+++ b/test/audits/canonical.test.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import canonicalAudit, {
   processScrapedContent,
   getPreviewAuthOptions,
   isSelfReferencing,
+  isValidCanonicalMetadata,
 } from '../../src/canonical/handler.js';
 import { getTopPagesForSiteId } from '../../src/utils/data-access.js';
 import { CANONICAL_CHECKS } from '../../src/canonical/constants.js';
@@ -1439,6 +1440,76 @@ describe('Canonical URL Tests', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('isValidCanonicalMetadata', () => {
+    const log = { warn: sinon.stub() };
+    const key = 'scrapes/test/page/scrape.json';
+    const validMetadata = {
+      exists: true, count: 1, href: 'https://example.com/', inHead: true,
+    };
+
+    beforeEach(() => log.warn.resetHistory());
+
+    it('should return false for null metadata', () => {
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata(null, log, key)).to.be.false;
+      expect(log.warn).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(/No canonical metadata/);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false for non-object metadata', () => {
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata('string', log, key)).to.be.false;
+    });
+
+    it('should return false when exists key is absent', () => {
+      const { exists: _, ...meta } = validMetadata;
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata(meta, log, key)).to.be.false;
+      expect(log.warn).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(/missing required field 'exists'/);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false when count key is absent', () => {
+      const { count: _, ...meta } = validMetadata;
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata(meta, log, key)).to.be.false;
+      expect(log.warn).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(/missing required field 'count'/);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false when inHead key is absent', () => {
+      const { inHead: _, ...meta } = validMetadata;
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata(meta, log, key)).to.be.false;
+      expect(log.warn).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(/missing required field 'inHead'/);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false when exists is not a boolean', () => {
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata({ ...validMetadata, exists: '' }, log, key)).to.be.false;
+      expect(log.warn).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(/'exists' is not a boolean/);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false when count is not a number', () => {
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata({ ...validMetadata, count: '' }, log, key)).to.be.false;
+      expect(log.warn).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(/'count' is not a number/);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false when inHead is not a boolean', () => {
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata({ ...validMetadata, inHead: '' }, log, key)).to.be.false;
+      expect(log.warn).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(/'inHead' is not a boolean/);
+    });
+
+    it('should return false when exists is true but href key is absent', () => {
+      const { href: _, ...meta } = validMetadata;
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata(meta, log, key)).to.be.false;
+      expect(log.warn).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(/'href' is absent when exists=true/);
+    });
+
+    it('should return true for valid metadata with exists=true', () => {
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata(validMetadata, log, key)).to.be.true;
+      expect(log.warn).to.not.have.been.called;
+    });
+
+    it('should return true for valid metadata with exists=false and no href', () => {
+      expect(isValidCanonicalMetadata({
+        exists: false, count: 0, inHead: false,
+      }, log, key)).to.be.true;
+      expect(log.warn).to.not.have.been.called;
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('createOpportunityData', () => {
     it('should return canonical opportunity data with correct structure', () => {
       const result = createOpportunityData();