diff --git a/src/artifacts/apple/MachoLoadCommandReader.test.ts b/src/artifacts/apple/MachoLoadCommandReader.test.ts
index 97bceb672a..3dc6334d7a 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/apple/MachoLoadCommandReader.test.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/apple/MachoLoadCommandReader.test.ts
@@ -229,6 +229,27 @@ it("selects matching arm64e subtype slices when tracing a mixed FAT image", asyn
 });
 
 describe("Mach-O load command reader: decodes thin-image load commands", () => {
+  it("preserves leading U+FEFF in load-command strings", async () => {
+    const image = machoImage({
+      commands: [
+        dylibCommand(LC.ID_DYLIB, "\uFEFF@rpath/libself.dylib"),
+        dylibCommand(LC.LOAD_DYLIB, "\uFEFF@rpath/libother.dylib"),
+        rpathCommand("\uFEFF@loader_path/Frameworks"),
+        dyldEnvironmentCommand("\uFEFFDYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/example"),
+      ],
+    });
+    expect(await read(image)).toMatchObject({
+      status: "parsed",
+      slices: [
+        {
+          install_name: "\uFEFF@rpath/libself.dylib",
+          dependencies: [{ install_name: "\uFEFF@rpath/libother.dylib" }],
+          rpaths: ["\uFEFF@loader_path/Frameworks"],
+          dyld_environment: ["\uFEFFDYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/example"],
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+  });
   it("decodes dylib loading commands of a thin image", async () => {
     const image = machoImage({
       fileType: FILE_TYPE.dylib,
diff --git a/src/artifacts/apple/MachoLoadCommandReader.ts b/src/artifacts/apple/MachoLoadCommandReader.ts
index 27f7ec283b..55b134cf5e 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/apple/MachoLoadCommandReader.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/apple/MachoLoadCommandReader.ts
@@ -456,7 +456,8 @@ const commandString = (
       `load command ${index} has an unterminated string`,
     );
   try {
-    return new TextDecoder("utf-8", { fatal: true }).decode(
+    // lc_str contains name/path data, so a leading U+FEFF is part of its identity.
+    return new TextDecoder("utf-8", { fatal: true, ignoreBOM: true }).decode(
       body.subarray(offset, end),
     );
   } catch {
diff --git a/tests/boundary/cli/dylibResolutionCli.test.ts b/tests/boundary/cli/dylibResolutionCli.test.ts
index 21ea99a9c6..6d72e4de61 100644
--- a/tests/boundary/cli/dylibResolutionCli.test.ts
+++ b/tests/boundary/cli/dylibResolutionCli.test.ts
@@ -106,6 +106,57 @@ const withBrokenHelper = async (app: string): Promise<void> => {
   await writeFiles(app, { "Contents/Helpers/broken": broken });
 };
 
+cliTest(
+  "does not turn U+FEFF-prefixed strings into dyld path tokens",
+  async ({ cli }) => {
+    const app = await fixtureApp();
+    await writeFiles(app, {
+      "Contents/MacOS/App": machoImage({
+        commands: [
+          buildVersionCommand(1),
+          rpathCommand("@executable_path/../Frameworks"),
+          dylibCommand(LC.LOAD_DYLIB, "@rpath/libcore.dylib"),
+          dylibCommand(LC.LOAD_DYLIB, "\uFEFF@rpath/libcore.dylib"),
+        ],
+      }),
+      "Contents/Helpers/tool": machoImage({
+        commands: [
+          buildVersionCommand(1),
+          rpathCommand("\uFEFF@loader_path/../Frameworks"),
+          dylibCommand(LC.LOAD_DYLIB, "@rpath/libcore.dylib"),
+        ],
+      }),
+    });
+    const output = await cli.run({
+      arguments: ["trace-dylib-resolution", app, "--json"],
+      environment: ENVIRONMENT,
+    });
+    expect(output.exitCode, output.stderr).toBe(0);
+    const trace = dylibResolutionResultSchema.parse(
+      parseEvidence(output.json).normalized_result,
+    );
+    const ordinary = trace.edges.find(
+      ({ loader, install_name }) =>
+        loader === "Contents/MacOS/App" &&
+        install_name === "@rpath/libcore.dylib",
+    );
+    expect(ordinary?.resolution).toMatchObject({
+      status: "resolved",
+      image: "Contents/Frameworks/libcore.dylib",
+    });
+    const marked = trace.edges.find(
+      ({ install_name }) => install_name === "\uFEFF@rpath/libcore.dylib",
+    );
+    expect(marked).toBeDefined();
+    expect(marked?.resolution.image).toBeNull();
+    const helper = trace.edges.find(
+      ({ loader }) => loader === "Contents/Helpers/tool",
+    );
+    expect(helper).toBeDefined();
+    expect(helper?.resolution.image).toBeNull();
+  },
+);
+
 describe("trace-dylib-resolution CLI", () => {
   cliTest("traces every executable root of an app bundle", async ({ cli }) => {
     const app = await fixtureApp();