diff --git a/internal/handler/npm.go b/internal/handler/npm.go
index ee9b59c..78aa5e4 100644
--- a/internal/handler/npm.go
+++ b/internal/handler/npm.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	npmUpstream      = "https://registry.npmjs.org"
-	npmAbbreviatedCT = "application/vnd.npm.install-v1+json"
+	npmAcceptDefault = "application/vnd.npm.install-v1+json;q=1.0, application/json;q=0.8"
 	scopedParts      = 2 // scope + name in scoped packages
 )
 
@@ -71,9 +71,12 @@ func (h *NPMHandler) handlePackageMetadata(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reques
 
 	upstreamURL := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", h.upstreamURL, url.PathEscape(packageName))
 
-	// Use abbreviated metadata when cooldown is disabled — it's much smaller
-	// (e.g. drizzle-orm: 4MB vs 92MB) but lacks the time map needed for cooldown.
-	accept := npmAbbreviatedCT
+	// Prefer the smaller abbreviated packument format but include application/json
+	// as a fallback so upstreams that reject the abbreviated type (e.g. JFrog
+	// Artifactory, which returns 406) can still respond with full metadata.
+	// When cooldown is enabled we must use full metadata exclusively because the
+	// abbreviated format omits the "time" map required for version age filtering.
+	accept := npmAcceptDefault
 	if h.proxy.Cooldown != nil && h.proxy.Cooldown.Enabled() {
 		accept = contentTypeJSON
 	}
diff --git a/internal/handler/npm_test.go b/internal/handler/npm_test.go
index e0257dd..fd6f080 100644
--- a/internal/handler/npm_test.go
+++ b/internal/handler/npm_test.go
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ func TestNPMHandlerUsesAbbreviatedMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 	}))
 	defer upstream.Close()
 
-	t.Run("no cooldown uses abbreviated metadata", func(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("no cooldown uses combined accept header", func(t *testing.T) {
 		h := &NPMHandler{
 			proxy:       testProxy(),
 			upstreamURL: upstream.URL,
@@ -407,12 +407,12 @@ func TestNPMHandlerUsesAbbreviatedMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 		w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 		h.handlePackageMetadata(w, req)
 
-		if gotAccept != npmAbbreviatedCT {
-			t.Errorf("Accept = %q, want abbreviated metadata header", gotAccept)
+		if gotAccept != npmAcceptDefault {
+			t.Errorf("Accept = %q, want %q", gotAccept, npmAcceptDefault)
 		}
 	})
 
-	t.Run("cooldown enabled uses full metadata", func(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("cooldown enabled uses full metadata only", func(t *testing.T) {
 		proxy := testProxy()
 		proxy.Cooldown = &cooldown.Config{Default: "3d"}
 
@@ -426,8 +426,8 @@ func TestNPMHandlerUsesAbbreviatedMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 		w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 		h.handlePackageMetadata(w, req)
 
-		if gotAccept == npmAbbreviatedCT {
-			t.Error("cooldown enabled should use full metadata, not abbreviated")
+		if gotAccept != contentTypeJSON {
+			t.Errorf("Accept = %q, want %q (cooldown requires full metadata)", gotAccept, contentTypeJSON)
 		}
 	})
 }