diff --git a/system/Debug/Toolbar.php b/system/Debug/Toolbar.php
index 982e0db41b59..cf7418acfc20 100644
--- a/system/Debug/Toolbar.php
+++ b/system/Debug/Toolbar.php
@@ -372,6 +372,10 @@ public function prepare(?RequestInterface $request = null, ?ResponseInterface $r
          * @var IncomingRequest|null $request
          */
         if (CI_DEBUG && ! is_cli()) {
+            if ($this->hasNativeHeaderConflict()) {
+                return;
+            }
+
             $app = service('codeigniter');
 
             $request ??= service('request');
@@ -544,6 +548,32 @@ protected function format(string $data, string $format = 'html'): string
         return $output;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Checks if the native PHP headers indicate a non-HTML response
+     * or if headers are already sent.
+     */
+    protected function hasNativeHeaderConflict(): bool
+    {
+        // If headers are sent, we can't inject HTML.
+        if (headers_sent()) {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        // Native Header Inspection
+        foreach (headers_list() as $header) {
+            // Content-Type is set but is NOT text/html
+            if (str_starts_with(strtolower($header), strtolower('Content-Type:')) && ! str_contains(strtolower($header), strtolower('text/html'))) {
+                return true;
+            }
+            // File is being downloaded (Attachment)
+            if (str_starts_with(strtolower($header), strtolower('Content-Disposition:')) && str_contains(strtolower($header), strtolower('attachment'))) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Determine if the toolbar should be disabled based on the request headers.
      *
diff --git a/tests/_support/Debug/MockNativeHeaders.php b/tests/_support/Debug/MockNativeHeaders.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2bf72ea922d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/_support/Debug/MockNativeHeaders.php
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+/**
+ * This file is part of CodeIgniter 4 framework.
+ *
+ * (c) CodeIgniter Foundation <admin@codeigniter.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view
+ * the LICENSE file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace CodeIgniter\Debug;
+
+/**
+ * Class MockNativeHeaders
+ *
+ * This class serves as a container to hold the state of HTTP headers
+ * during unit testing. It allows the framework to simulate sending headers
+ * without actually outputting them to the CLI or browser.
+ */
+class MockNativeHeaders
+{
+    /**
+     * Simulates the state of whether headers have been sent.
+     */
+    public static bool $headersSent = false;
+
+    /**
+     * Stores the list of headers that have been sent.
+     */
+    public static array $headers = [];
+
+    /**
+     * Resets the class state to defaults.
+     * Useful for cleaning up between individual tests.
+     */
+    public static function reset(): void
+    {
+        self::$headersSent = false;
+        self::$headers     = [];
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Mock implementation of the native PHP headers_sent() function.
+ *
+ * Instead of checking the actual PHP output buffer, this function
+ * checks the static property in MockNativeHeaders.
+ *
+ * @return bool True if headers are considered sent, false otherwise.
+ */
+function headers_sent(): bool
+{
+    return MockNativeHeaders::$headersSent;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Mock implementation of the native PHP headers_list() function.
+ *
+ * Retrieves the array of headers stored in the MockNativeHeaders class
+ * rather than the actual headers sent by the server.
+ *
+ * @return array The list of simulated headers.
+ */
+function headers_list(): array
+{
+    return MockNativeHeaders::$headers;
+}
diff --git a/tests/system/Debug/ToolbarTest.php b/tests/system/Debug/ToolbarTest.php
index 16dceb943536..e0387abfd9eb 100644
--- a/tests/system/Debug/ToolbarTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/Debug/ToolbarTest.php
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\BackupGlobals;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Group;
 
+require_once SUPPORTPATH . 'Debug/MockNativeHeaders.php';
+
 /**
  * @internal
  */
@@ -37,6 +39,9 @@ final class ToolbarTest extends CIUnitTestCase
     protected function setUp(): void
     {
         parent::setUp();
+
+        MockNativeHeaders::reset();
+
         Services::reset();
 
         is_cli(false);
@@ -99,4 +104,76 @@ public function testPrepareInjectsNormallyWithoutIgnoredHeader(): void
         // Assertions
         $this->assertStringContainsString('id="debugbar_loader"', (string) $this->response->getBody());
     }
+
+    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // Native Header Conflicts
+    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    public function testPrepareAbortsIfHeadersAlreadySent(): void
+    {
+        // Headers explicitly sent (e.g., echo before execution)
+        MockNativeHeaders::$headersSent = true;
+
+        $this->request  = service('incomingrequest', null, false);
+        $this->response = service('response', null, false);
+        $this->response->setBody('<html><body>Content</body></html>');
+
+        $toolbar = new Toolbar($this->config);
+        $toolbar->prepare($this->request, $this->response);
+
+        // Must NOT inject because we can't modify the body safely
+        $this->assertStringNotContainsString('id="debugbar_loader"', (string) $this->response->getBody());
+    }
+
+    public function testPrepareAbortsIfNativeContentTypeIsNotHtml(): void
+    {
+        // A library (like Dompdf) set a PDF header directly
+        MockNativeHeaders::$headers = ['Content-Type: application/pdf'];
+
+        $this->request  = service('incomingrequest', null, false);
+        $this->response = service('response', null, false);
+        // Even if the body looks like HTML (before rendering), the header says PDF
+        $this->response->setBody('<html><body>Raw PDF Data</body></html>');
+
+        $toolbar = new Toolbar($this->config);
+        $toolbar->prepare($this->request, $this->response);
+
+        // Must NOT inject into non-HTML content
+        $this->assertStringNotContainsString('id="debugbar_loader"', (string) $this->response->getBody());
+    }
+
+    public function testPrepareAbortsIfNativeContentDispositionIsAttachment(): void
+    {
+        // A file download (even if it is HTML)
+        MockNativeHeaders::$headers = [
+            'Content-Type: text/html',
+            'Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="report.html"',
+        ];
+
+        $this->request  = service('incomingrequest', null, false);
+        $this->response = service('response', null, false);
+        $this->response->setBody('<html><body>Downloadable Report</body></html>');
+
+        $toolbar = new Toolbar($this->config);
+        $toolbar->prepare($this->request, $this->response);
+
+        // Must NOT inject into downloads
+        $this->assertStringNotContainsString('id="debugbar_loader"', (string) $this->response->getBody());
+    }
+
+    public function testPrepareWorksWithNativeHtmlHeader(): void
+    {
+        // Standard scenario where PHP header is text/html
+        MockNativeHeaders::$headers = ['Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8'];
+
+        $this->request  = service('incomingrequest', null, false);
+        $this->response = service('response', null, false);
+        $this->response->setBody('<html><body>Valid Page</body></html>');
+
+        $toolbar = new Toolbar($this->config);
+        $toolbar->prepare($this->request, $this->response);
+
+        // Should inject normally
+        $this->assertStringContainsString('id="debugbar_loader"', (string) $this->response->getBody());
+    }
 }