# EPUBCheck OPF-041: fallback-style not found, how to fix it

Source: https://epubcc.com/epubcheck/opf-041/ (updated 2026-11-04)

EPUBCheck OPF-041 is an error message: “Fallback-style item with id "…" could not be found.” An EPUB 2 manifest item's fallback-style attribute names an id that no manifest item has. In EPUB 2, fallback-style points to a stylesheet to use with a non-standard document, so a missing target breaks it.

- Official message (EPUBCheck 5.4.0): Fallback-style item with id "%1$s" could not be found.
- Default severity: Error

## Typical causes

- The stylesheet item was removed or its id renamed.
- A typo in the fallback-style attribute.
- An attribute copied from another book.

## How to fix it

1. Read the id EPUBCheck names.
2. Point fallback-style at an existing CSS item, or add the missing stylesheet to the manifest.
3. Remove the attribute if the document does not need a fallback style.

## When it's not this

If it is the plain fallback attribute that points nowhere, that is OPF-040.

## Sources

- EPUBCheck 5.4.0 message texts (MessageBundle.properties, w3c/epubcheck on GitHub): https://github.com/w3c/epubcheck/blob/v5.4.0/src/main/resources/com/adobe/epubcheck/messages/MessageBundle.properties (read 2026-11-04)

Message text and severity: EPUBCheck (W3C, BSD-3-Clause). Explanation: EpubCC.