diff --git a/tests/tools/test_skill_ledger.py b/tests/tools/test_skill_ledger.py
index de0218a8be..ae96e79f55 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_skill_ledger.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_skill_ledger.py
@@ -697,3 +697,11 @@ def test_trim_oldest_when_still_over_cap(ledger_env, monkeypatch):
     assert compactions == [], "an append under the cap must not re-run the sweep"
     assert skill_ledger.ledger_path().stat().st_size <= 8192
     assert "{not json at all" in skill_ledger.ledger_path().read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    # U+2028 inside a row (ensure_ascii=False leaves it unescaped) is not a row boundary for the
+    # trim: a cap that fits only the newest row keeps that row byte-for-byte, not its second half.
+    u_row = (json.dumps({"id": "u2028", "skill": "my-skill", "action": "edit",
+                         "evidence": {"note": "line one\u2028line two"}}, ensure_ascii=False) + "\n").encode("utf-8")
+    with open(skill_ledger.ledger_path(), "ab") as fh:
+        fh.write(u_row)
+    assert skill_ledger._trim_oldest(len(u_row) + 8) >= 1
+    assert skill_ledger.ledger_path().read_bytes() == u_row, "a retained row containing U+2028 survives intact"
diff --git a/tools/skill_ledger.py b/tools/skill_ledger.py
index 5b5ae39567..5868ade955 100644
--- a/tools/skill_ledger.py
+++ b/tools/skill_ledger.py
@@ -366,17 +366,21 @@ def _trim_oldest(max_bytes: int) -> int:
     raw = _read_ledger("trim skipped")
     if raw is None:
         return 0
-    lines = raw.decode("utf-8").splitlines()
-    kept: List[str] = []
+    # Split on the physical row terminator only: ``str.splitlines`` would also split on
+    # U+2028/U+2029/U+0085, which ``ensure_ascii=False`` rows may legitimately contain.
+    lines = raw.split(b"\n")
+    if lines and lines[-1] == b"":
+        lines.pop()
+    kept: List[bytes] = []
     size = 0
     for line in reversed(lines):  # the first iteration always keeps lines[-1]: the newest entry
-        addition = len(line.encode("utf-8")) + 1
+        addition = len(line) + 1
         if kept and size + addition > max_bytes:
             break
         kept.append(line)
         size += addition
     kept.reverse()
-    data = ("\n".join(kept) + "\n").encode("utf-8") if kept else b""
+    data = b"\n".join(kept) + b"\n" if kept else b""
     dropped = len(lines) - len(kept)
     if dropped <= 0:
         return 0