diff --git a/swift/template/vision_utils.py b/swift/template/vision_utils.py
index 9b828f6765..20ae927847 100644
--- a/swift/template/vision_utils.py
+++ b/swift/template/vision_utils.py
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ def rescale_image(img: Image.Image, max_pixels: int) -> Image.Image:
 
 def _check_path(path: str) -> Union[str, None]:
     """If it is a path, return the string; if it is base64, return None."""
+    if not isinstance(path, str):
+        # bytes audio/image data is not a path; let the caller fall back to it
+        # instead of crashing on the str-only checks below (e.g. startswith).
+        return None
     MAX_PATH_HEURISTIC = 2000
     if len(path) > MAX_PATH_HEURISTIC:
         return
@@ -302,7 +306,7 @@ def load_audio(audio: Union[str, bytes], sampling_rate: int, return_sr: bool = F
         audio_io = load_file(audio)
         res = librosa.load(audio_io, sr=sampling_rate)
     except Exception:
-        if audio.startswith(('http://', 'https://')):
+        if isinstance(audio, str) and audio.startswith(('http://', 'https://')):
             import audioread
             audio_io = audioread.ffdec.FFmpegAudioFile(audio)
         else:
diff --git a/tests/general/test_template.py b/tests/general/test_template.py
index da6270ae69..5d472e24e6 100644
--- a/tests/general/test_template.py
+++ b/tests/general/test_template.py
@@ -77,3 +77,40 @@ def test_mllm_dataset_map():
     test_mllm()
     test_llm_dataset_map()
     test_mllm_dataset_map()
+
+
+def test_load_audio_bytes_input_does_not_crash_on_fallback(monkeypatch):
+    import sys
+    import types
+
+    from swift.template import vision_utils
+
+    calls = []
+
+    fake_librosa = types.ModuleType('librosa')
+
+    def fake_load(audio_io, sr):
+        calls.append(audio_io)
+        if len(calls) == 1:
+            # First attempt fails (e.g. a format soundfile can't read), forcing
+            # the except branch that used to call bytes.startswith and crash.
+            raise RuntimeError('first load fails')
+        return ([0.1, 0.2], sr)
+
+    fake_librosa.load = fake_load
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, 'librosa', fake_librosa)
+
+    # bytes audio (allowed by the Union[str, bytes] signature) must not raise a
+    # TypeError from `audio.startswith(...)` or from `_check_path(bytes)` when
+    # the first decode fails and the except branch runs.
+    result = vision_utils.load_audio(b'\x00\x01raw-audio-bytes', sampling_rate=16000)
+
+    assert result == [0.1, 0.2]
+
+
+def test_check_path_with_bytes_returns_none():
+    from swift.template.vision_utils import _check_path
+
+    # bytes input is not a path; it must return None instead of raising a
+    # TypeError from the str-only checks (len/os.path/startswith) below.
+    assert _check_path(b'\x00\x01raw-bytes') is None