diff --git a/cli.py b/cli.py
index b80ac2097..8490cc7cb 100644
--- a/cli.py
+++ b/cli.py
@@ -8695,6 +8695,9 @@ class HermesCLI:
             if _should_auto_attach_clipboard_image_on_paste(pasted_text) and self._try_attach_clipboard_image():
                 event.app.invalidate()
             if pasted_text:
+                # Sanitize surrogate characters (e.g. from Word/Google Docs paste) before writing
+                from run_agent import _sanitize_surrogates
+                pasted_text = _sanitize_surrogates(pasted_text)
                 line_count = pasted_text.count('\n')
                 buf = event.current_buffer
                 if line_count >= 5 and not buf.text.strip().startswith('/'):