diff --git a/ingestion/internal/wiki/merge.go b/ingestion/internal/wiki/merge.go
index 64fd226..20ca53f 100644
--- a/ingestion/internal/wiki/merge.go
+++ b/ingestion/internal/wiki/merge.go
@@ -108,9 +108,18 @@ func parseFrontmatterBlock(block string) (lines []fmLine, ok bool) {
 		return nil, false
 	}
 	for _, line := range strings.Split(rest[:end], "\n") {
+		// An indented line is a continuation (a YAML block-list item, a
+		// wrapped value) never a top-level key, regardless of whether it
+		// happens to contain a colon — "  - 'Chapter 3: The Reckoning'"
+		// is not a key named "- 'Chapter 3". Checked before Cut so a
+		// colon inside one never reaches the key/value path at all.
+		if line != "" && (line[0] == ' ' || line[0] == '\t') {
+			lines = append(lines, fmLine{raw: line})
+			continue
+		}
 		key, val, found := strings.Cut(line, ":")
 		key = strings.TrimSpace(key)
-		if !found || key == "" {
+		if !found || key == "" || strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(line), "#") {
 			lines = append(lines, fmLine{raw: line})
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/ingestion/internal/wiki/merge_test.go b/ingestion/internal/wiki/merge_test.go
index 8f730cf..5bd962d 100644
--- a/ingestion/internal/wiki/merge_test.go
+++ b/ingestion/internal/wiki/merge_test.go
@@ -304,3 +304,31 @@ Rewritten by the model.
 	want := "---\ntitle: 'X'\nlast_updated: 2026-08-22\nsource_hash: bbbb\n---\n\n## Summary\n\nOriginal.\n"
 	assert.Equal(t, want, got)
 }
+
+func TestRefreshOwned_CommentLinesSurviveUnmangled(t *testing.T) {
+	// Third review round on PR #126: parseFrontmatterBlock dropped the
+	// sibling api package's comment guard (strings.HasPrefix(trimmed, "#")).
+	// Without it, a comment line containing a colon gets cut at the colon
+	// and re-rendered with collapsed whitespace instead of surviving
+	// verbatim.
+	a := "---\n#see also:   https://x/y\ntitle: 'X'\n---\n"
+	b := "---\nsource_hash: bbbb\n---\n"
+
+	got := refreshOwned(a, b)
+	assert.Equal(t, "---\n#see also:   https://x/y\ntitle: 'X'\nsource_hash: bbbb\n---\n", got)
+}
+
+func TestRefreshOwned_IndentedListItemsWithColonsAreNotMisparsedAsKeys(t *testing.T) {
+	// Same round: an indented YAML block-list item that happens to contain a
+	// colon (e.g. a title with a subtitle) is a continuation line, never a
+	// top-level key, regardless of what strings.Cut finds in it. Misparsing
+	// it as a key/value pair and re-rendering strips its indentation,
+	// de-indenting it out of the list it belongs to -- and refreshOwned
+	// re-renders this block on essentially every non-skipped ingest, so this
+	// is the normal path, not an edge case.
+	a := "---\naliases:\n  - 'Chapter 3: The Reckoning'\ntitle: 'X'\n---\n"
+	b := "---\nsource_hash: bbbb\n---\n"
+
+	got := refreshOwned(a, b)
+	assert.Equal(t, "---\naliases:\n  - 'Chapter 3: The Reckoning'\ntitle: 'X'\nsource_hash: bbbb\n---\n", got)
+}