diff --git a/api/mlos_sort.py b/api/mlos_sort.py
index af5b8fe..7797362 100644
--- a/api/mlos_sort.py
+++ b/api/mlos_sort.py
@@ -227,6 +227,12 @@ def parse_mod_info(text: str, workshop_id: Optional[str] = None) -> Optional[Mod
     Parse a mod.info file body. Returns None if no `id=` line found.
     Lines are `key=value`; keys lowercased; list-fields comma-separated.
     """
+    # Strip a leading UTF-8 BOM if present. Some authors save mod.info with
+    # BOM (notepad.exe default on Windows); without this, the first line's
+    # `name=` regex misses because the line starts with U+FEFF instead of
+    # `n`, leaving the mod with an empty display name even though `id=` on
+    # subsequent lines parses fine.
+    text = text.lstrip("")
     fields: Dict[str, object] = {}
     for raw in text.splitlines():
         line = raw.strip()
diff --git a/worker/mlos_sort.py b/worker/mlos_sort.py
index b5b7d2b..1399526 100644
--- a/worker/mlos_sort.py
+++ b/worker/mlos_sort.py
@@ -227,6 +227,12 @@ def parse_mod_info(text: str, workshop_id: Optional[str] = None) -> Optional[Mod
     Parse a mod.info file body. Returns None if no `id=` line found.
     Lines are `key=value`; keys lowercased; list-fields comma-separated.
     """
+    # Strip a leading UTF-8 BOM if present. Some authors save mod.info with
+    # BOM (notepad.exe default on Windows); without this, the first line's
+    # `name=` regex misses because the line starts with U+FEFF instead of
+    # `n`, leaving the mod with an empty display name even though `id=` on
+    # subsequent lines parses fine.
+    text = text.lstrip("")
     fields: Dict[str, object] = {}
     for raw in text.splitlines():
         line = raw.strip()