diff --git a/code/osapi/osregistry.cpp b/code/osapi/osregistry.cpp
index b45018e2395..5e941188258 100644
--- a/code/osapi/osregistry.cpp
+++ b/code/osapi/osregistry.cpp
@@ -621,8 +621,15 @@ static Profile *profile_read(const char *file)
 	IniSection *sp = nullptr;
 
 	KeyValue **kvp_ptr = nullptr;
+	bool first_line = true;
 
 	while ((str = read_line_from_file(fp)) != nullptr) {
+		// some editors save a UTF-8 byte order mark, which would hide the first section header
+		if (first_line && !strncmp(str, "\xEF\xBB\xBF", 3)) {
+			memmove(str, str + 3, strlen(str + 3) + 1);
+		}
+		first_line = false;
+
 		char *ptr = trim_string(str);
 
 		if (*ptr == '[') {