diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4f27cdf..f30e669 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ## Unreleased
 
 - Added `--keep-names` flag to `record` command to preserve the original file names of playlists and segments in the recording. (This may not be compatible with all streams.) ([#6](https://github.com/THEOplayer/streamrr/pull/6))
+- Fixed an issue where HLS playlists that start with a [UTF-8 byte order mark (BOM)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_order_mark#UTF-8) were not parsed correctly. ([#7](https://github.com/THEOplayer/streamrr/issues/7), [#8](https://github.com/THEOplayer/streamrr/pull/8)) 
 
 ## v0.3.2 (2026-03-19)
 
diff --git a/src/record/mod.rs b/src/record/mod.rs
index b4f5b30..1167566 100644
--- a/src/record/mod.rs
+++ b/src/record/mod.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use tokio_util::io::StreamReader;
 use tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken;
 use url::Url;
 
-use crate::shared::{ByteRange, MediaSelect, Recording, VariantSelectOptions};
+use crate::shared::{ByteRange, MediaSelect, Recording, StripBom, VariantSelectOptions};
 pub use rewrite::*;
 
 mod rewrite;
@@ -70,11 +70,12 @@ pub async fn record(
     let raw_playlist = token
         .run_until_cancelled(download_playlist(&client, url))
         .await
-        .ok_or(RecordError::Cancelled)??;
+        .ok_or(RecordError::Cancelled)??
+        .strip_bom();
     let initial_playlist = parse_playlist_res(raw_playlist.as_bytes()).map_err(|e| {
         RecordError::Parse(anyhow!(
             "Error while parsing playlist: {}",
-            e.map_input(|_| url.to_string())
+            e.map_input(|i| String::from_utf8_lossy(i))
         ))
     })?;
     match initial_playlist {
@@ -280,9 +281,13 @@ async fn record_media_playlist(
             let raw_playlist = token
                 .run_until_cancelled(download_playlist(client, url))
                 .await
-                .ok_or(RecordError::Cancelled)??;
+                .ok_or(RecordError::Cancelled)??
+                .strip_bom();
             parse_media_playlist_res(raw_playlist.as_bytes()).map_err(|e| {
-                RecordError::Parse(anyhow!("Error while parsing media playlist: {e}"))
+                RecordError::Parse(anyhow!(
+                    "Error while parsing media playlist: {}",
+                    e.map_input(|i| String::from_utf8_lossy(i))
+                ))
             })?
         };
         let now = Instant::now();
diff --git a/src/replay/mod.rs b/src/replay/mod.rs
index c93377d..30ea9be 100644
--- a/src/replay/mod.rs
+++ b/src/replay/mod.rs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ use warp::reject::{Reject, custom};
 use warp::{Filter, Rejection, Reply, reject, reply};
 
 use crate::record::strip_media_playlist;
-use crate::shared::Recording;
+use crate::shared::{Recording, StripBom};
 
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 struct PlaylistQueryParams {
@@ -168,8 +168,11 @@ async fn m3u8_reply(path: &Path, start: i64) -> Result<impl Reply + use<>, Repla
     file.read_to_end(&mut raw_playlist)
         .await
         .map_err(|e| ReplayError::InvalidPlaylist(anyhow!(e)))?;
+    (&mut raw_playlist).strip_bom();
     let mut playlist = m3u8_rs::parse_playlist_res(&raw_playlist).map_err(|e| {
-        ReplayError::InvalidPlaylist(anyhow!(e.map_input(|_| path.to_string_lossy().to_string())))
+        ReplayError::InvalidPlaylist(anyhow!(
+            e.map_input(|i| String::from_utf8_lossy(i).to_string())
+        ))
     })?;
     // Rewrite the playlist
     match &mut playlist {
diff --git a/src/shared/bom.rs b/src/shared/bom.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1647996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shared/bom.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+
+const BOM: &str = "\u{feff}";
+
+pub trait StripBom {
+    /// Strip the byte-order mark (BOM) from a UTF-8 string.
+    fn strip_bom(self) -> Self;
+}
+
+impl StripBom for &str {
+    fn strip_bom(self) -> Self {
+        self.strip_prefix(BOM).unwrap_or(self)
+    }
+}
+
+impl StripBom for &[u8] {
+    fn strip_bom(self) -> Self {
+        self.strip_prefix(BOM.as_bytes()).unwrap_or(self)
+    }
+}
+
+impl StripBom for &mut String {
+    fn strip_bom(self) -> Self {
+        if self.starts_with(BOM) {
+            self.drain(0..BOM.len());
+        }
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl StripBom for String {
+    fn strip_bom(mut self) -> Self {
+        (&mut self).strip_bom();
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl StripBom for &mut Vec<u8> {
+    fn strip_bom(self) -> Self {
+        if self.starts_with(BOM.as_bytes()) {
+            self.drain(0..BOM.len());
+        }
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl StripBom for Vec<u8> {
+    fn strip_bom(mut self) -> Self {
+        (&mut self).strip_bom();
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a> StripBom for Cow<'a, str> {
+    fn strip_bom(self) -> Self {
+        match self {
+            Cow::Borrowed(s) => Cow::Borrowed(s.strip_bom()),
+            Cow::Owned(s) => Cow::Owned(s.strip_bom()),
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/shared/mod.rs b/src/shared/mod.rs
index 8290497..6d8f5bb 100644
--- a/src/shared/mod.rs
+++ b/src/shared/mod.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
+pub use bom::*;
 pub use byte_range::*;
 pub use ctrlc::*;
 pub use hexstring::*;
 pub use recording::*;
 pub(crate) use url::*;
 
+mod bom;
 mod byte_range;
 mod ctrlc;
 mod hexstring;