diff --git a/chrome/player/players/hls/HLSPlayer.mjs b/chrome/player/players/hls/HLSPlayer.mjs
index a76fd1bb..208881db 100644
--- a/chrome/player/players/hls/HLSPlayer.mjs
+++ b/chrome/player/players/hls/HLSPlayer.mjs
@@ -109,6 +109,14 @@ export default class HLSPlayer extends EventEmitter {
       enableWebVTT: false,
       enableIMSC1: false,
       enableCEA708Captions: false,
+      // Interstitials (EXT-X-DATERANGE CLASS="com.apple.hls.interstitial", ad breaks): hls.js
+      // plays each in a player of its own made from this config, FastStream's loader and level
+      // control included, and FastStream drives none of it. Measured (hls-interstitials.e2e.mjs):
+      // a break that replaces part of the stream made the video skip the stream's first seconds
+      // and end inside the break; one inserted before it played no ad, though hls.js fetched the
+      // ad's playlist. Off, hls.js plays the stream itself, in order, as the HLS spec has a
+      // player without interstitials do.
+      enableInterstitialPlayback: false,
       stretchShortVideoTrack: false,
       maxAudioFramesDrift: 1,
       forceKeyFrameOnDiscontinuity: true,
diff --git a/tests/e2e/specs/hls-interstitials.e2e.mjs b/tests/e2e/specs/hls-interstitials.e2e.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..be6aa870
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/specs/hls-interstitials.e2e.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+// An HLS stream with an interstitial: an EXT-X-DATERANGE of CLASS "com.apple.hls.interstitial"
+// whose X-ASSET-URI is another stream, the ad, played at that point of the timeline.
+//
+// hls.js plays one in a player of its own, built from the same config, so it loaded through
+// FastStream's loader and level control, which drive none of it. Measured before
+// enableInterstitialPlayback went off (HLSPlayer), on the hls-ts fixture's 9 s with a 9 s ad:
+// a break that replaces part of the stream (no X-RESUME-OFFSET, as live ad insertion has it)
+// made the video skip from 0 to 9.9 s within a second and end at 13; plain hls.js played the
+// stream to 4 s, then the ad. A break inserted before the stream (X-RESUME-OFFSET=0, CUE="PRE")
+// played no ad in FastStream, though hls.js fetched the ad's playlist. One inserted into the
+// stream already played the stream itself (hls.js's schedule never moved); its test keeps it
+// that way. Now hls.js plays the stream itself, in order, as the HLS spec has a player without
+// interstitials do, and never asks for the ad.
+
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import http from 'node:http';
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+import {browser, expect} from '@wdio/globals';
+
+const PORT = 41898;
+const ORIGIN = `http://127.0.0.1:${PORT}`;
+const SEGMENTS = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, '../fixtures/hls-ts');
+// The hls-ts fixture's segments (fixtures/hls-ts/index.m3u8): 9 s.
+const DURATIONS = [2, 2, 2, 2, 1];
+const START = '2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z';
+
+let server;
+let requests = [];
+
+/**
+ * A VOD playlist of the hls-ts fixture's segments, under a path of its own.
+ * @param {string} prefix - main or ad.
+ * @param {string[]} [tags] - Lines after EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME.
+ * @return {string}
+ */
+function playlist(prefix, tags = []) {
+  const lines = ['#EXTM3U', '#EXT-X-VERSION:3', '#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:2', '#EXT-X-PLAYLIST-TYPE:VOD',
+    '#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:0', `#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME:${START}`, ...tags];
+  DURATIONS.forEach((d, i) => lines.push(`#EXTINF:${d.toFixed(6)},`, `${ORIGIN}/${prefix}/seg-${String(i).padStart(3, '0')}.ts`));
+  lines.push('#EXT-X-ENDLIST');
+  return lines.join('\n') + '\n';
+}
+
+/**
+ * The interstitial: the ad stream, 9 s, at a time of the stream.
+ * @param {string} start - Its START-DATE.
+ * @param {string} [attributes] - More attributes.
+ * @return {string}
+ */
+const adBreak = (start, attributes = '') => '#EXT-X-DATERANGE:ID="ad",CLASS="com.apple.hls.interstitial",' +
+  `START-DATE="${start}",DURATION=9,X-ASSET-URI="${ORIGIN}/ad.m3u8"${attributes}`;
+
+const PLAYLISTS = {
+  '/preroll.m3u8': () => playlist('main', [adBreak(START, ',X-RESUME-OFFSET=0,CUE="PRE"')]),
+  '/midroll.m3u8': () => playlist('main', [adBreak('2026-01-01T00:00:04.000Z', ',X-RESUME-OFFSET=0')]),
+  '/midroll-replacing.m3u8': () => playlist('main', [adBreak('2026-01-01T00:00:04.000Z')]),
+  '/ad.m3u8': () => playlist('ad'),
+};
+
+/**
+ * Plays a stream to its end, noting about every second where the video is and when the page
+ * saw it there.
+ * @param {string} name - Its path.
+ * @return {Promise<{samples: Array<{time: number, at: number}>, ended: boolean, duration: number,
+ *   error: ?string}>} at: the page's clock, in seconds.
+ */
+async function playThrough(name) {
+  requests = [];
+  await browser.url(`/player/index.html?t=${Date.now()}#${ORIGIN}${name}`);
+  const samples = [];
+  let last = null;
+  const end = Date.now() + 45000;
+  while (Date.now() < end) {
+    last = await browser.execute(() => {
+      const client = window.fastStream;
+      const video = client?.player?.getVideo();
+      if (!video) return null;
+      if (video.paused && !video.ended) video.play().catch(() => {});
+      return {
+        time: video.currentTime, at: performance.now() / 1000, ended: video.ended, duration: video.duration,
+        error: client.interfaceController?.statusManager?.statusMessages?.get('error')?.message || null,
+      };
+    });
+    if (last) samples.push({time: last.time, at: last.at});
+    if (last?.ended || last?.error) break;
+    await browser.pause(1000);
+  }
+  return {samples, ended: !!last?.ended, duration: last?.duration ?? NaN, error: last?.error ?? null};
+}
+
+describe('An HLS stream with an interstitial (an ad break)', function() {
+  before(async function() {
+    server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
+      const url = new URL(req.url, ORIGIN);
+      requests.push(url.pathname);
+      const headers = {'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*', 'Cross-Origin-Resource-Policy': 'cross-origin'};
+      if (PLAYLISTS[url.pathname]) {
+        res.writeHead(200, {...headers, 'Content-Type': 'application/vnd.apple.mpegurl'});
+        res.end(PLAYLISTS[url.pathname]());
+        return;
+      }
+      const m = /^\/(main|ad)\/(seg-\d+\.ts)$/.exec(url.pathname);
+      const file = m && path.join(SEGMENTS, m[2]);
+      if (!file || !fs.existsSync(file)) {
+        res.writeHead(404, headers);
+        res.end();
+        return;
+      }
+      res.writeHead(200, {...headers, 'Content-Type': 'video/mp2t'});
+      res.end(fs.readFileSync(file));
+    });
+    await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+      server.on('error', reject);
+      server.listen(PORT, '127.0.0.1', resolve);
+    });
+  });
+
+  after(async function() {
+    await new Promise((resolve) => server.close(resolve));
+  });
+
+  for (const [name, what] of [
+    ['/preroll.m3u8', 'inserted before the stream'],
+    ['/midroll.m3u8', 'inserted into the stream'],
+    ['/midroll-replacing.m3u8', 'replacing part of the stream'],
+  ]) {
+    it(`plays the stream itself, in order, past a break ${what}, and never asks for the ad`, async function() {
+      const {samples, ended, duration, error} = await playThrough(name);
+      expect(error).toBe(null);
+      expect(ended).toBe(true);
+      // The stream's 9 s, not a timeline with the ad's 9 in it.
+      expect(duration).toBeCloseTo(9, 0);
+      // Never back, and never further on than the page's clock went (a jump), with a second
+      // to spare for a frame that lands between two samples.
+      const jumps = samples.slice(1).map((s, i) => ({
+        from: samples[i].time, to: s.time, ahead: (s.time - samples[i].time) - (s.at - samples[i].at),
+      })).filter((step) => step.to < step.from - 0.05 || step.ahead > 1);
+      expect(jumps).toEqual([]);
+      expect(requests.filter((p) => p.startsWith('/ad'))).toEqual([]);
+    });
+  }
+});