diff --git a/docs/src/js/globals.md b/docs/src/js/globals.md
index a82d9e334..18fa8ed37 100644
--- a/docs/src/js/globals.md
+++ b/docs/src/js/globals.md
@@ -157,9 +157,10 @@
 
 - [AnalyzePlanDistributedMetrics](type-aliases/AnalyzePlanDistributedMetrics.md)
 - [BaseTokenizer](type-aliases/BaseTokenizer.md)
+- [BlobData](type-aliases/BlobData.md)
+- [BlobInput](type-aliases/BlobInput.md)
 - [BlobOptions](type-aliases/BlobOptions.md)
-- [BlobRange](type-aliases/BlobRange.md)
-- [BlobReadOptions](type-aliases/BlobReadOptions.md)
+- [BlobUri](type-aliases/BlobUri.md)
 - [Data](type-aliases/Data.md)
 - [DataLike](type-aliases/DataLike.md)
 - [FieldLike](type-aliases/FieldLike.md)
diff --git a/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobData.md b/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobData.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2af0a3659
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobData.md
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+[**@lancedb/lancedb**](../README.md) • **Docs**
+
+***
+
+[@lancedb/lancedb](../globals.md) / BlobData
+
+# Type Alias: BlobData
+
+```ts
+type BlobData: Buffer | Uint8Array | ArrayBuffer | Blob;
+```
+
+Bytes accepted for a blob value. `ArrayBuffer` is wrapped without copying.
+`Blob` and `File` are read with `arrayBuffer()`, which only the async write
+paths ([Connection.createTable](../classes/Connection.md#createtable), [Table.add](../classes/Table.md#add),
+[Table.mergeInsert](../classes/Table.md#mergeinsert)) can do.
diff --git a/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobInput.md b/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobInput.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d1738a760
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobInput.md
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+[**@lancedb/lancedb**](../README.md) • **Docs**
+
+***
+
+[@lancedb/lancedb](../globals.md) / BlobInput
+
+# Type Alias: BlobInput
+
+```ts
+type BlobInput:
+  | BlobData
+  | BlobUri
+  | object
+  | object
+  | null
+  | undefined;
+```
+
+A value accepted for a `lance.blob.v2` column (see [blob](../functions/blob.md)).
+
+Either inline bytes, a URI pointing at external bytes, or a struct that sets
+exactly one of `data` or `uri`. `null` and `undefined` write a null blob.
+
+## Example
+
+```ts
+import { pathToFileURL } from "node:url";
+import type { BlobInput } from "@lancedb/lancedb";
+
+const rows: { id: bigint; image: BlobInput }[] = [
+  { id: 1n, image: await (await fetch(url)).arrayBuffer() },
+  { id: 2n, image: pathToFileURL("/data/cat.png") },
+  { id: 3n, image: { data: new Blob(["hello"]) } },
+];
+await table.add(rows);
+```
diff --git a/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobUri.md b/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobUri.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a90b395fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/src/js/type-aliases/BlobUri.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+[**@lancedb/lancedb**](../README.md) • **Docs**
+
+***
+
+[@lancedb/lancedb](../globals.md) / BlobUri
+
+# Type Alias: BlobUri
+
+```ts
+type BlobUri: string | URL;
+```
+
+A URI accepted for a blob value. A `URL` is stored as its `href`.
diff --git a/nodejs/__test__/blob.test.ts b/nodejs/__test__/blob.test.ts
index 920edfd99..ce7de494c 100644
--- a/nodejs/__test__/blob.test.ts
+++ b/nodejs/__test__/blob.test.ts
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ describe("makeArrowTable blob columns", () => {
     ["ArrayBuffer", new Uint8Array([104, 105]).buffer, "hi", null],
     [
       "data struct with ArrayBuffer",
-      { data: Buffer.from("hi").buffer },
+      { data: new Uint8Array([104, 105]).buffer },
       "hi",
       null,
     ],
diff --git a/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts b/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
index d102a6964..93e87324d 100644
--- a/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
+++ b/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
@@ -2503,6 +2503,8 @@ describe("when dealing with blob columns", () => {
   it.each([
     ["URI string", (uri: string) => uri],
     ["URI struct", (uri: string) => ({ uri })],
+    ["URL", (uri: string) => new URL(uri)],
+    ["URL struct", (uri: string) => ({ uri: new URL(uri) })],
   ])(
     "round-trips an external blob from a %s after reopening",
     async (_label, blobValue) => {
@@ -2596,39 +2598,32 @@ describe("when dealing with blob columns", () => {
     expect(bytes[0]).toEqual(payload);
   });
 
-  it("accepts ArrayBuffer, Blob, File, and URL in createTable and add", async () => {
+  it("accepts ArrayBuffer, Blob, and File in createTable and add", async () => {
     const db = await connect(tmpDir.name);
     const schema = new Schema([
       new Field("id", new Int64(), true),
       blob("image"),
     ]);
     const rows: { id: bigint; image: BlobInput }[] = [
-      { id: 1n, image: Buffer.from("array-buffer").buffer },
+      { id: 1n, image: new TextEncoder().encode("array-buffer").buffer },
       { id: 2n, image: new Blob(["blob"]) },
       { id: 3n, image: { data: new File(["file"], "f.txt") } },
-      { id: 4n, image: new URL("https://example.com/remote.png") },
-      { id: 5n, image: { uri: new URL("file:///tmp/local.png") } },
     ];
-    const table = await db.createTable("widened", rows.slice(0, 3), {
+    const table = await db.createTable("widened", rows.slice(0, 2), {
       schema,
     });
-    await table.add(rows.slice(3));
-    await table.add([{ id: 6n, image: new Blob(["added"]) }]);
+    await table.add(rows.slice(2));
 
     const results = await table.query().select(["id"]).withRowId().toArray();
     results.sort((a, b) => Number(a.id - b.id));
-    const rowIds = results.map((row) => row._rowid as bigint);
-    const inline = await table.fetchBlobs("image", [
-      rowIds[0],
-      rowIds[1],
-      rowIds[2],
-      rowIds[5],
-    ]);
-    expect(inline.map((b) => b?.toString())).toEqual([
+    const bytes = await table.fetchBlobs(
+      "image",
+      results.map((row) => row._rowid as bigint),
+    );
+    expect(bytes.map((b) => b?.toString())).toEqual([
       "array-buffer",
       "blob",
       "file",
-      "added",
     ]);
   });
 
diff --git a/nodejs/lancedb/arrow.ts b/nodejs/lancedb/arrow.ts
index 580c89c50..f009a089a 100644
--- a/nodejs/lancedb/arrow.ts
+++ b/nodejs/lancedb/arrow.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ import {
   coerceBlobValue,
   isBlobField,
   needsBlobResolution,
-  normalizeBlobInput,
   resolveBlobInput,
 } from "./blob";
 import { type EmbeddingFunction } from "./embedding/embedding_function";
@@ -447,9 +446,15 @@ export function makeArrowTable(
   }
 
   if (schema !== undefined) {
+    // Validate blob values up front and give every one the full
+    // `{ data, uri }` shape, so inference sees the same struct whether a row
+    // passed bytes, a URI, or a partial struct.
     data = mapBlobInputs(data, schema, (value, field, row) => {
+      if (value === undefined) {
+        return value;
+      }
       try {
-        return normalizeBlobInput(value);
+        return coerceBlobValue(value);
       } catch (e) {
         throw new Error(
           `Invalid value for blob field ${field} at row ${row}: ${(e as Error).message}`,