diff --git a/ingestion/internal/mcp/tools_notes.go b/ingestion/internal/mcp/tools_notes.go
index 043a217..5be4b4f 100644
--- a/ingestion/internal/mcp/tools_notes.go
+++ b/ingestion/internal/mcp/tools_notes.go
@@ -313,9 +313,14 @@ func frontmatterBlock(doc string) (block string, ok bool) {
 	// Round 4 found a note with CRLF fence lines ("---\r\n") silently
 	// defeats HasPrefix(doc, "---\n") on the precondition read — not an
 	// adversarial old_str/new_str, just an encoding difference — which
-	// makes checkClaimEnvelope no-op entirely. Normalize once, here, so
+	// makes checkClaimEnvelope no-op entirely. Round 5 found the same
+	// mechanism one layer earlier: a leading UTF-8 BOM (a live, plausible
+	// byte sequence — Notepad's default "UTF-8" save and PowerShell's
+	// pre-v6 Out-File/Set-Content both emit one) defeats the same prefix
+	// check before CRLF normalization even applies. Strip both, here, so
 	// every caller (hadFence/hasFence detection and frontmatterScalars)
-	// agrees regardless of line ending.
+	// agrees regardless of encoding.
+	doc = strings.TrimPrefix(doc, "\xef\xbb\xbf")
 	doc = strings.ReplaceAll(doc, "\r\n", "\n")
 	if !strings.HasPrefix(doc, "---\n") {
 		return "", false
diff --git a/ingestion/internal/mcp/tools_notes_test.go b/ingestion/internal/mcp/tools_notes_test.go
index d991bf2..01b18a1 100644
--- a/ingestion/internal/mcp/tools_notes_test.go
+++ b/ingestion/internal/mcp/tools_notes_test.go
@@ -223,6 +223,32 @@ func TestBrainEdit_RejectsAnInvalidEnvelopeOnACRLFFencedNote(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, string(got), "claim_provenance: asserted", "rejected edit must leave the note byte-identical")
 }
 
+func TestBrainEdit_RejectsAnInvalidEnvelopeOnABOMPrefixedNote(t *testing.T) {
+	// Found in round-5 review: the same "encoding property empties
+	// frontmatterScalars's map" mechanism as the CRLF bypass, one layer
+	// earlier — a leading UTF-8 BOM (EF BB BF) defeats
+	// strings.HasPrefix(doc, "---\n") exactly like CRLF did, before that
+	// prefix is even reached. Notepad's default "UTF-8" save and
+	// PowerShell's pre-v6 Out-File/Set-Content both emit a BOM, so this is
+	// a live, plausible authoring path, not an exotic one — same severity
+	// and same one-line cost as the CRLF fix, fixed the same way rather
+	// than deferred to hyperguild#138.
+	dir := newBrainRepo(t)
+	note := filepath.Join(dir, "wiki/homelab/facts/n.md")
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(note,
+		[]byte("\xef\xbb\xbf---\ntitle: 'n'\nhalf_life: durable\napplies: universal\nclaim_provenance: asserted\n---\n\nbody\n"), 0o644))
+	srv := mcp.NewServer(dir, nil, nil, nil)
+
+	resp := call(t, srv, "brain_edit", map[string]any{
+		"path": "wiki/homelab/facts/n.md", "old_str": "asserted", "new_str": "guessed",
+	})
+	require.Contains(t, resp, "error", "%v", resp)
+
+	got, err := os.ReadFile(note)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Contains(t, string(got), "claim_provenance: asserted", "rejected edit must leave the note byte-identical")
+}
+
 func TestBrainEdit_AllowsAValidClaimEnvelopeEdit(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := newBrainRepo(t)
 	note := filepath.Join(dir, "wiki/homelab/facts/n.md")