diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index be6addb..ea639e1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- Discard malformed UTF-8 feature-statistics uploads instead of repairing and recording them, while preserving update responses.
 - Keep offline exports outside their executing source checkout, linked worktrees, and input archives, including differently cased paths on case-insensitive filesystems.
 - Remove the public statistics dashboard and `/api/stats` endpoint while preserving the privacy page, update checks, analytics recording, and data retention.
 - Add a bounded, manual Worker-health CLI with hourly adaptive request and error estimates, strict incomplete-data handling, and an operator runbook. No client collection or Worker runtime settings change.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 65b1787..b2817c0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ carries a small JSON body:
 Interactive setup defaults to **No thanks**; guided Quick Start skips that prompt. Scripted installs
 do not opt in automatically. The enabled setting, not a recorded prompt response, controls inclusion.
 The server limits bodies containing anonymous feature statistics to 16 KiB while reading
-the upload. Oversized or malformed bodies are discarded, and the request still receives its
-version answer.
+the upload. Oversized or malformed bodies, including invalid UTF-8, are discarded, and the request
+still receives its version answer.
 
 <a id="cloudflare-derived-request-geography"></a>
 
diff --git a/src/feature-stats.ts b/src/feature-stats.ts
index 03a960f..20a901b 100644
--- a/src/feature-stats.ts
+++ b/src/feature-stats.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ async function readCappedText(request: Request): Promise<string | undefined> {
 		bytes.set(chunk, offset);
 		offset += chunk.byteLength;
 	}
-	return new TextDecoder().decode(bytes);
+	try {
+		return new TextDecoder("utf-8", { fatal: true, ignoreBOM: false }).decode(bytes);
+	} catch {
+		return undefined;
+	}
 }
 
 export async function readFeatureStats(request: Request) {
diff --git a/test/feature-stats.test.ts b/test/feature-stats.test.ts
index 2c6ae00..02d61a6 100644
--- a/test/feature-stats.test.ts
+++ b/test/feature-stats.test.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,40 @@ describe("readFeatureStats", () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	it.each([
+		{ label: "invalid leading byte", invalid: [0xff] },
+		{ label: "overlong encoding", invalid: [0xc0, 0xaf] },
+		{ label: "incomplete sequence", invalid: [0xe2, 0x82] },
+		{ label: "encoded surrogate", invalid: [0xed, 0xa0, 0x80] },
+	])("discards malformed UTF-8 without repairing the payload: $label", async ({ invalid }) => {
+		const encoder = new TextEncoder();
+		const body = new Uint8Array([
+			...encoder.encode(FEATURE_BODY.slice(0, -1) + ',"ignored":"'),
+			...invalid,
+			...encoder.encode('"}'),
+		]);
+		const request = new Request("https://telemetry.example/api/latest-version", {
+			method: "POST",
+			body,
+		});
+		await expect(readFeatureStats(request)).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+	});
+
+	it("accepts valid UTF-8 split across upload chunks", async () => {
+		const bytes = new TextEncoder().encode(FEATURE_BODY.slice(0, -1) + ',"ignored":"東京�"}');
+		const body = new ReadableStream<Uint8Array>({
+			start(controller) {
+				for (const byte of bytes) controller.enqueue(new Uint8Array([byte]));
+				controller.close();
+			},
+		});
+		await expect(readFeatureStats(postStream(body))).resolves.toMatchObject({
+			channels: ["telegram"],
+			pluginsEnabled: 1,
+			sessionsLast24h: 2,
+		});
+	});
+
 	it("rejects a huge body with no Content-Length before reading the whole stream", async () => {
 		const chunkSize = 4_096;
 		const totalBytes = 1_048_576;
diff --git a/test/latest-version-runtime.test.mjs b/test/latest-version-runtime.test.mjs
index 18eb32b..4fa429a 100644
--- a/test/latest-version-runtime.test.mjs
+++ b/test/latest-version-runtime.test.mjs
@@ -117,4 +117,24 @@ describe("update checks over workerd HTTP", () => {
 		expect(update.status).toBe(200);
 		await expect(update.json()).resolves.toEqual({ version: "2026.8.2" });
 	}, 30_000);
+
+	it("drops malformed UTF-8 feature bodies while serving updates over HTTP", async () => {
+		await start(recordingScript);
+		const origin = await runtime.ready;
+		const response = await fetch(new URL("/api/latest-version", origin), {
+			method: "POST",
+			headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+			body: Buffer.concat([
+				Buffer.from('{"schema":1,"features":{"plugins":["codex"],"pluginsEnabled":7},"ignored":"'),
+				Buffer.from([0xff]),
+				Buffer.from('"}'),
+			]),
+		});
+		expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+		const result = await response.json();
+		expect(result.status).toBe(200);
+		expect(result.body).toEqual({ version: "2026.8.2" });
+		expect(result.point.doubles).toEqual([0, 0, 0]);
+		expect(result.point.blobs.slice(5, 8)).toEqual(["", "", ""]);
+	}, 30_000);
 });