diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d52b81f..dcaa977 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ cache/
 # Test files
 test_*.wav
 test_*.py
-*_test.cpp
 
 # Large archives
 *.zip
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c300125..2fa7eb8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ For Apple platforms (macOS/iOS), use [FluidAudio](https://github.com/FluidInfere
 
 **Model Cards:**
 - [Parakeet V2 (English)](https://huggingface.co/FluidInference/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2-ov)
-- [Parakeet V3 (Multilingual)](https://huggingface.co/FluidInference/parakeet-tdt-1.1b-v3-ov)
+- [Parakeet V3 (Multilingual)](https://huggingface.co/FluidInference/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v3-ov)
 - [Whisper large-v3-turbo](https://huggingface.co/FluidInference/whisper-large-v3-turbo-fp16-ov-npu)
 
 ## Building
diff --git a/include/eddy/core/model_configs.hpp b/include/eddy/core/model_configs.hpp
index d98dd01..62c493d 100644
--- a/include/eddy/core/model_configs.hpp
+++ b/include/eddy/core/model_configs.hpp
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ namespace model_configs {
     };
 
     inline const ModelConfig PARAKEET_V3 = {
-        .repo_id = "FluidInference/parakeet-tdt-1.1b-v3-ov",
+        .repo_id = "FluidInference/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v3-ov",
         .required_files = PARAKEET_STANDARD_FILES,
         .cache_subdir = "parakeet-v3"
     };
diff --git a/src/utils/openvino_utils.cpp b/src/utils/openvino_utils.cpp
index e01e98b..f1cf9cf 100644
--- a/src/utils/openvino_utils.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/openvino_utils.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 // OpenVINO utility functions for model compilation and configuration
 
 #include "eddy/utils/openvino_utils.hpp"
+#include "openvino_utils_detail.hpp"
+
+#include <openvino/op/log_softmax.hpp>
 
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cctype>
@@ -73,6 +76,36 @@ std::string to_upper(const std::string& s) {
 
 }  // anonymous namespace
 
+namespace detail {
+
+bool normalize_negative_log_softmax_axes(ov::Model& model) {
+  bool changed = false;
+
+  for (const auto& node : model.get_ordered_ops()) {
+    const auto log_softmax = ov::as_type_ptr<ov::op::v5::LogSoftmax>(node);
+    if (!log_softmax || log_softmax->get_axis() >= 0) continue;
+
+    const auto rank = log_softmax->get_input_partial_shape(0).rank();
+    if (rank.is_dynamic()) continue;
+
+    const int64_t original_axis = log_softmax->get_axis();
+    const int64_t normalized_axis = original_axis + rank.get_length();
+    if (normalized_axis < 0) continue;
+
+    log_softmax->set_axis(normalized_axis);
+    changed = true;
+    if (is_debug_enabled()) {
+      std::cerr << "[DEBUG] Normalized NPU LogSoftmax axis " << original_axis << " to "
+                << normalized_axis << " for " << log_softmax->get_friendly_name() << "\n";
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (changed) model.validate_nodes_and_infer_types();
+  return changed;
+}
+
+}  // namespace detail
+
 ov::CompiledModel compile_component(ov::Core& core, const ModelFile& file, const std::string& device) {
   if (file.path.empty()) {
     throw std::invalid_argument("Parakeet component path is empty");
@@ -92,6 +125,16 @@ ov::CompiledModel compile_component(ov::Core& core, const ModelFile& file, const
     return core.import_model(blob_stream, device);
   }
 
+  // Intel's NPU compiler rejects valid negative LogSoftmax axes in its
+  // AlignDimensionsForDPU pass. Canonicalize static-rank axes in memory; the
+  // model files on disk and every non-NPU path remain unchanged.
+  if (to_upper(device) == "NPU") {
+    auto model = core.read_model(file.path);
+    detail::normalize_negative_log_softmax_axes(*model);
+    if (!cfg.empty()) return core.compile_model(model, device, cfg);
+    return core.compile_model(model, device);
+  }
+
   if (!cfg.empty()) return core.compile_model(file.path, device, cfg);
   return core.compile_model(file.path, device);
 }
diff --git a/src/utils/openvino_utils_detail.hpp b/src/utils/openvino_utils_detail.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2bb3a3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/openvino_utils_detail.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <openvino/core/model.hpp>
+
+namespace eddy::parakeet::detail {
+
+// Canonicalize valid negative opset5 LogSoftmax axes when the input rank is
+// static. Returns true when at least one node changed.
+bool normalize_negative_log_softmax_axes(ov::Model& model);
+
+}  // namespace eddy::parakeet::detail
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aacd752
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+add_executable(openvino_utils_test openvino_utils_test.cpp)
+target_include_directories(openvino_utils_test PRIVATE "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src")
+target_link_libraries(openvino_utils_test PRIVATE eddy)
+
+add_test(NAME openvino_utils_test COMMAND openvino_utils_test)
diff --git a/tests/openvino_utils_test.cpp b/tests/openvino_utils_test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27b268a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/openvino_utils_test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+#include "utils/openvino_utils_detail.hpp"
+
+#include <openvino/openvino.hpp>
+#include <openvino/op/log_softmax.hpp>
+#include <openvino/op/parameter.hpp>
+#include <openvino/op/relu.hpp>
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <cmath>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <memory>
+#include <string_view>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace {
+
+bool expect(bool condition, std::string_view message) {
+  if (condition) return true;
+  std::cerr << "FAILED: " << message << "\n";
+  return false;
+}
+
+std::shared_ptr<ov::Model> make_log_softmax_model(const ov::PartialShape& shape,
+                                                  int64_t axis,
+                                                  std::shared_ptr<ov::op::v5::LogSoftmax>& op) {
+  auto input = std::make_shared<ov::op::v0::Parameter>(ov::element::f32, shape);
+  op = std::make_shared<ov::op::v5::LogSoftmax>(input, axis);
+  return std::make_shared<ov::Model>(ov::OutputVector{op}, ov::ParameterVector{input});
+}
+
+std::vector<float> infer_cpu(const std::shared_ptr<ov::Model>& model,
+                             const ov::Shape& shape,
+                             const std::vector<float>& values) {
+  ov::Core core;
+  auto compiled = core.compile_model(model, "CPU");
+  auto request = compiled.create_infer_request();
+  ov::Tensor input(ov::element::f32, shape);
+  std::copy(values.begin(), values.end(), input.data<float>());
+  request.set_input_tensor(input);
+  request.infer();
+
+  const auto output = request.get_output_tensor();
+  return {output.data<const float>(), output.data<const float>() + output.get_size()};
+}
+
+bool test_last_axis_normalization_preserves_output() {
+  const ov::Shape shape{1, 2, 2, 3};
+  std::shared_ptr<ov::op::v5::LogSoftmax> op;
+  auto model = make_log_softmax_model(shape, -1, op);
+
+  const std::vector<float> values{
+      -1.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f, 2.0f, -2.0f, 0.5f,
+      4.0f, 3.0f, 2.0f, -3.0f, 1.0f, 5.0f,
+  };
+  const auto before = infer_cpu(model, shape, values);
+
+  const bool changed = eddy::parakeet::detail::normalize_negative_log_softmax_axes(*model);
+  const auto after = infer_cpu(model, shape, values);
+
+  bool ok = expect(changed, "axis -1 reports a change");
+  ok &= expect(op->get_axis() == 3, "rank-4 axis -1 normalizes to 3");
+  ok &= expect(before.size() == after.size(), "output sizes match");
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < before.size() && i < after.size(); ++i) {
+    ok &= expect(std::abs(before[i] - after[i]) < 1e-6f,
+                 "normalization preserves LogSoftmax output");
+  }
+  return ok;
+}
+
+bool test_first_axis_normalization() {
+  std::shared_ptr<ov::op::v5::LogSoftmax> op;
+  auto model = make_log_softmax_model(ov::Shape{1, 2, 3, 4}, -4, op);
+  const bool changed = eddy::parakeet::detail::normalize_negative_log_softmax_axes(*model);
+  return expect(changed, "axis -4 reports a change") &&
+         expect(op->get_axis() == 0, "rank-4 axis -4 normalizes to 0");
+}
+
+bool test_positive_axis_is_unchanged() {
+  std::shared_ptr<ov::op::v5::LogSoftmax> op;
+  auto model = make_log_softmax_model(ov::Shape{1, 2, 3, 4}, 2, op);
+  const bool changed = eddy::parakeet::detail::normalize_negative_log_softmax_axes(*model);
+  return expect(!changed, "positive axis reports no change") &&
+         expect(op->get_axis() == 2, "positive axis remains unchanged");
+}
+
+bool test_dynamic_rank_is_unchanged() {
+  std::shared_ptr<ov::op::v5::LogSoftmax> op;
+  auto model = make_log_softmax_model(ov::PartialShape::dynamic(), -1, op);
+  const bool changed = eddy::parakeet::detail::normalize_negative_log_softmax_axes(*model);
+  return expect(!changed, "dynamic-rank axis reports no change") &&
+         expect(op->get_axis() == -1, "dynamic-rank axis remains negative");
+}
+
+bool test_non_log_softmax_is_untouched() {
+  auto input = std::make_shared<ov::op::v0::Parameter>(ov::element::f32, ov::Shape{1, 4});
+  auto relu = std::make_shared<ov::op::v0::Relu>(input);
+  ov::Model model(ov::OutputVector{relu}, ov::ParameterVector{input});
+  return expect(!eddy::parakeet::detail::normalize_negative_log_softmax_axes(model),
+                "model without LogSoftmax reports no change");
+}
+
+}  // namespace
+
+int main() {
+  bool ok = true;
+  ok &= test_last_axis_normalization_preserves_output();
+  ok &= test_first_axis_normalization();
+  ok &= test_positive_axis_is_unchanged();
+  ok &= test_dynamic_rank_is_unchanged();
+  ok &= test_non_log_softmax_is_untouched();
+  return ok ? 0 : 1;
+}