diff --git a/agent/curator_backup.py b/agent/curator_backup.py
index d024219b7fb5..5b95f9e3e707 100644
--- a/agent/curator_backup.py
+++ b/agent/curator_backup.py
@@ -98,7 +98,12 @@ def _backup_cron_jobs_into(dest: Path) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         info["reason"] = "no cron/jobs.json present"
         return info
     try:
-        raw = src.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        # utf-8-sig: same dialect as cron/jobs.load_jobs — a UTF-8 BOM left
+        # by Windows editors otherwise survives decoding as U+FEFF, breaks
+        # json.loads below, and misreports jobs_count as 0 with a spurious
+        # parse warning. The BOM-less text is also what gets written to the
+        # backup, so a later rollback restores a loadable file.
+        raw = src.read_text(encoding="utf-8-sig")
     except OSError as e:
         logger.debug("Failed to read cron/jobs.json for backup: %s", e)
         info["reason"] = f"read error: {e}"
diff --git a/hermes_cli/backup.py b/hermes_cli/backup.py
index 5f945dbccec5..02a96ee3dcfd 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/backup.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/backup.py
@@ -1060,7 +1060,11 @@ def _count_cron_jobs(path: Path) -> Optional[int]:
     if not path.is_file():
         return None
     try:
-        with open(path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        # utf-8-sig: same dialect as cron/jobs.load_jobs — Windows editors
+        # may leave a UTF-8 BOM that plain utf-8 json.load rejects. Without
+        # it a BOM'd jobs.json counts as "unreadable" (None) and the
+        # post-update cron-loss auto-restore safety net silently disables.
+        with open(path, "r", encoding="utf-8-sig") as f:
             data = json.load(f)
     except (OSError, json.JSONDecodeError):
         return None
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_curator_backup.py b/tests/agent/test_curator_backup.py
index 0381be3d314b..8dcb7863318e 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_curator_backup.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_curator_backup.py
@@ -400,6 +400,31 @@ def test_snapshot_cron_jobs_malformed_json_still_captured(backup_env):
     assert "parse_warning" in mf["cron_jobs"]
 
 
+def test_snapshot_cron_jobs_utf8_bom_counted_and_backup_bomless(backup_env):
+    """A UTF-8 BOM on jobs.json (Windows editors) must not break the job
+    count, and the snapshot copy is written BOM-less so rollback restores a
+    file cron/jobs.load_jobs can read."""
+    cb = backup_env["cb"]
+    _write_skill(backup_env["skills"], "alpha")
+    cron_dir = backup_env["home"] / "cron"
+    cron_dir.mkdir()
+    payload = json.dumps({"jobs": [{"id": "job-a"}, {"id": "job-b"}]})
+    (cron_dir / "jobs.json").write_bytes(b"\xef\xbb\xbf" + payload.encode())
+
+    snap = cb.snapshot_skills(reason="test")
+    assert snap is not None
+
+    mf = json.loads((snap / "manifest.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    assert mf["cron_jobs"]["backed_up"] is True
+    assert mf["cron_jobs"]["jobs_count"] == 2
+    assert "parse_warning" not in mf["cron_jobs"]
+
+    # Backup copy is decoded text — no BOM survives into the snapshot.
+    backup_bytes = (snap / cb.CRON_JOBS_FILENAME).read_bytes()
+    assert not backup_bytes.startswith(b"\xef\xbb\xbf")
+    assert json.loads(backup_bytes) == json.loads(payload)
+
+
 def test_rollback_restores_cron_skill_links(backup_env):
     """End-to-end: snapshot with job [alpha,beta], curator-style in-place
     rewrite to [umbrella], then rollback → skills restored to [alpha,beta]."""
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py
index 4a0f8ce5bddd..fc6de295230e 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py
@@ -2520,6 +2520,26 @@ class TestRestoreCronJobsIfEmptied:
         result = restore_cron_jobs_if_emptied(snap_id, hermes_home=hermes_home)
         assert result is None
 
+    def test_bom_live_file_still_counted(self, tmp_path):
+        """A UTF-8 BOM on the live jobs.json (Windows editors) must not make
+        _count_cron_jobs report None — that would silently disable the
+        auto-restore safety net. utf-8-sig matches cron/jobs.load_jobs."""
+        from hermes_cli.backup import _count_cron_jobs, restore_cron_jobs_if_emptied
+        hermes_home = tmp_path / ".hermes"
+        jobs_path = hermes_home / "cron" / "jobs.json"
+        self._seed_jobs(jobs_path, [{"id": "a"}, {"id": "b"}, {"id": "c"}])
+        snap_id = self._make_snapshot(hermes_home)
+        assert snap_id
+
+        # Migration empties the file AND a Windows editor leaves a BOM.
+        jobs_path.write_bytes(b"\xef\xbb\xbf" + json.dumps({"jobs": []}).encode())
+        assert _count_cron_jobs(jobs_path) == 0  # not None
+
+        result = restore_cron_jobs_if_emptied(snap_id, hermes_home=hermes_home)
+        assert result is not None
+        assert result["restored"] is True
+        assert result["job_count"] == 3
+
     def test_noop_when_live_file_unreadable(self, tmp_path):
         """An unparseable live file is left alone — that's a different failure
         mode the user should see, not silently overwrite."""