diff --git a/backend/app/api/v1/routes_glossaries.py b/backend/app/api/v1/routes_glossaries.py
index 5eaf993..2f53979 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/v1/routes_glossaries.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/v1/routes_glossaries.py
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ async def list_terms(
 
     terms, total = await svc.get_terms_page(vid, search=search, page=page, page_size=page_size)
     return {
-        "terms": [{"source_term": t.source_term, "translations": t.translations} for t in terms],
+        "terms": [{"source_term": t["source_term"], "translations": t["translations"]} for t in terms],
         "total": total,
         "page": page,
         "page_size": page_size,
diff --git a/backend/app/services/glossary_service.py b/backend/app/services/glossary_service.py
index 5c96742..18d7b39 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/glossary_service.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/glossary_service.py
@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ async def get_terms_page(
     search: str | None = None,
     page: int = 1,
     page_size: int = 50,
-) -> tuple[list[GlossaryTerm], int]:
+) -> tuple[list[dict], int]:
     """Returns (terms, total_count) for paginated UI preview."""
     db = await get_database()
     query: dict = {"version_id": version_id}
@@ -732,5 +732,7 @@ async def get_terms_page(
     terms = []
     for d in docs:
         d["_id"] = str(d["_id"])
-        terms.append(GlossaryTerm.model_validate(d))
+        # Only source_term + translations are projected — build a minimal dict
+        # rather than validating against GlossaryTerm (which requires more fields)
+        terms.append({"_id": d["_id"], "source_term": d.get("source_term", ""), "translations": d.get("translations", {})})
     return terms, total