diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5ede1bc..00091be 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -115,7 +115,6 @@ as its own commit; "verify" items are confirmed real before any change, and drop
 
 Cross-process / ABI:
 - **`log_ring` torn-text window** — verify the MPSC overwrite race; fix or bound it.
-- **`narrow`/`widen` not inverse** — make the audio-override name round-trip lossless (or document).
 
 Test coverage:
 - **`log_ring`** — threaded push/drain + wrap-skip generation test (currently zero coverage).
diff --git a/host/src/audio/audio_overrides.cpp b/host/src/audio/audio_overrides.cpp
index 0735409..ba4e240 100644
--- a/host/src/audio/audio_overrides.cpp
+++ b/host/src/audio/audio_overrides.cpp
@@ -23,25 +23,31 @@ std::wstring to_lower(std::wstring s)
 	return s;
 }
 
+// UTF-8 round-trip so a non-ASCII image name (e.g. a CJK game exe) survives persist/reload and can't
+// collide with another name in its high bits. The old `c & 0x7F` mask was lossy and not a true
+// inverse of widen; for ASCII names (the common case) UTF-8 is byte-identical, so existing override
+// files stay compatible.
 std::string narrow(const std::wstring& w)
 {
-	std::string s;
-	s.reserve(w.size());
-	for (wchar_t c : w) // image names + our format tokens are ASCII
+	if (w.empty())
 	{
-		s.push_back(static_cast<char>(c & 0x7F));
+		return {};
 	}
+	const int n = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, w.c_str(), static_cast<int>(w.size()), nullptr, 0, nullptr, nullptr);
+	std::string s(static_cast<std::size_t>(n), '\0');
+	WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, w.c_str(), static_cast<int>(w.size()), s.data(), n, nullptr, nullptr);
 	return s;
 }
 
 std::wstring widen(const std::string& s)
 {
-	std::wstring w;
-	w.reserve(s.size());
-	for (char c : s)
+	if (s.empty())
 	{
-		w.push_back(static_cast<wchar_t>(static_cast<unsigned char>(c)));
+		return {};
 	}
+	const int n = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, s.c_str(), static_cast<int>(s.size()), nullptr, 0);
+	std::wstring w(static_cast<std::size_t>(n), L'\0');
+	MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, s.c_str(), static_cast<int>(s.size()), w.data(), n);
 	return w;
 }
 } // namespace
diff --git a/tests/audio_overrides_test.cpp b/tests/audio_overrides_test.cpp
index 152e0a0..f35d9b9 100644
--- a/tests/audio_overrides_test.cpp
+++ b/tests/audio_overrides_test.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,12 @@ int main()
 
 	const AudioFormatOverride brotato{44100, 2, 32, WAVE_FORMAT_IEEE_FLOAT};
 	const AudioFormatOverride snb{48000, 2, 16, WAVE_FORMAT_PCM};
+	const AudioFormatOverride cafe_ov{96000, 2, 32, WAVE_FORMAT_IEEE_FLOAT};
+	// "cafe.exe" with the e replaced by U+00E9 ('e' with acute). Under the old 7-bit narrow,
+	// 0x00E9 & 0x7F == 0x69 == 'i', so this collapsed onto "cafi.exe" -- a silent key collision.
+	// Built from a code point so the source stays pure ASCII (no literal/escape encoding hazards).
+	const wchar_t cafe_buf[] = {L'c', L'a', L'f', static_cast<wchar_t>(0x00E9), L'.', L'e', L'x', L'e', L'\0'};
+	const wchar_t* kCafe = cafe_buf;
 
 	{
 		AudioOverrideStore store(path);
@@ -64,6 +70,13 @@ int main()
 		const AudioFormatOverride brotato2{48000, 2, 32, WAVE_FORMAT_IEEE_FLOAT};
 		store.set(L"brotato.exe", brotato2, &differed);
 		check(differed, "changed value: flagged as differing overwrite");
+
+		// Non-ASCII names must keep their own entry (no high-bit collision with the ASCII look-alike).
+		store.set(kCafe, cafe_ov, &differed);
+		store.set(L"cafi.exe", snb, &differed);
+		AudioFormatOverride na;
+		check(store.find(kCafe, na) && na == cafe_ov, "non-ASCII name keeps its own override");
+		check(store.find(L"cafi.exe", na) && na == snb, "the ASCII look-alike keeps a separate override");
 	}
 
 	// Reload from disk in a fresh store: persistence + case-insensitive basename lookup.
@@ -75,6 +88,8 @@ int main()
 		check(got == AudioFormatOverride{48000, 2, 32, WAVE_FORMAT_IEEE_FLOAT}, "reload: latest value persisted");
 		check(store.find(L"D:\\steam\\snb.exe", got) && got == snb, "reload: found by full path basename");
 		check(!store.find(L"unknown.exe", got), "reload: unknown game absent");
+		// The non-ASCII name must survive the UTF-8 persist/reload round-trip.
+		check(store.find(kCafe, got) && got == cafe_ov, "reload: non-ASCII name round-trips losslessly");
 	}
 
 	DeleteFileW(path.c_str());