diff --git a/tests/tools/test_file_write_safety.py b/tests/tools/test_file_write_safety.py
index 9fecf8ece2..58441f8188 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_file_write_safety.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_file_write_safety.py
@@ -371,6 +371,26 @@ class TestBomHandling:
         assert b"print('world')" in raw
 
 
+    def test_v4a_update_keeps_terminal_escape_bytes_on_untouched_lines(self, ops, tmp_path: Path):
+        # read_file_raw feeds the V4A write-back; its leak cleanup must not eat the file's own
+        # OSC title escapes and BEL bytes on lines the patch never touched.
+        target = tmp_path / "prompt.sh"
+        original = (b'set_title() { printf "\x1b]0;%s\x07" "$1"; }\n'
+                    b'beep() { printf "\x07"; }\n'
+                    b'VERSION=1\n')
+        target.write_bytes(original)
+        patch = (
+            "*** Begin Patch\n"
+            f"*** Update File: {target}\n"
+            "@@\n"
+            "-VERSION=1\n"
+            "+VERSION=2\n"
+            "*** End Patch"
+        )
+        res = ops.patch_v4a(patch)
+        assert res.success, res.error
+        assert target.read_bytes() == original.replace(b"VERSION=1", b"VERSION=2")
+
 
 class TestProtectedInstructionFiles:
     """Writes to agent-instruction files ALWAYS require approval.
diff --git a/tools/file_operations.py b/tools/file_operations.py
index 01d25f151b..ffd578fdfe 100644
--- a/tools/file_operations.py
+++ b/tools/file_operations.py
@@ -1085,7 +1085,8 @@ class ShellFileOperations(LintMixin, SearchMixin, FileOperations):
             return ReadResult(error=f"Failed to read file: {cat_result.stdout}")
         # Strip a leading BOM (a phantom U+FEFF defeats an exact first-line match);
         # write_file re-probes disk and restores it.
-        raw_content, _ = _strip_bom(_strip_terminal_fence_leaks(cat_result.stdout))
+        # V4A writes this back, so only lines carrying a leaked fence are cleaned.
+        raw_content, _ = _strip_bom(_strip_terminal_fence_leaks(cat_result.stdout, fenced_lines_only=True))
         return ReadResult(content=raw_content, file_size=file_size)
 
     def read_file_bytes(self, path: str, max_bytes: Optional[int] = None) -> ReadResult:
diff --git a/tools/file_operations_common.py b/tools/file_operations_common.py
index fa616482a0..324cdef2fa 100644
--- a/tools/file_operations_common.py
+++ b/tools/file_operations_common.py
@@ -204,13 +204,20 @@ def count_conflict_blocks(formatted_content: str) -> int:
     return min(opens, len(_CONFLICT_CLOSE.findall(formatted_content))) if opens else 0
 
 
-def _strip_terminal_fence_leaks(text: str) -> str:
+def _strip_terminal_fence_leaks(text: str, *, fenced_lines_only: bool = False) -> str:
     """Strip leaked terminal fence wrappers (OSC sequences, fence markers) from
-    command output; drops lines that were nothing but wrapper."""
+    command output; drops lines that were nothing but wrapper.
+
+    ``fenced_lines_only`` is for file content that gets written back: a leak always carries the
+    fence marker, so a line without one is the file's own bytes (a prompt script's ``\x1b]0;``
+    title escape, a BEL) and is kept verbatim."""
     if not text:
         return text
     cleaned_lines: List[str] = []
     for line in text.splitlines(keepends=True):
+        if fenced_lines_only and "__HERMES_FENCE_" not in line:
+            cleaned_lines.append(line)
+            continue
         had_terminal_wrapper = "__HERMES_FENCE_" in line or "\x1b]" in line
         cleaned = _FENCE_MARKER_RE.sub("", _OSC_SEQUENCE_RE.sub("", line)).replace("\x07", "")
         if had_terminal_wrapper and cleaned.strip("'\r\n\t ") == "":