diff --git a/static/ui.js b/static/ui.js
index 66061b57..595f0b59 100644
--- a/static/ui.js
+++ b/static/ui.js
@@ -7785,13 +7785,32 @@ function renderMd(raw){
   s=s.replace(/<em>([\s\S]*?)<\/em>/gi,(_,t)=>_emphasis(t));
   s=s.replace(/<i>([\s\S]*?)<\/i>/gi,(_,t)=>_emphasis(t));
   s=s.replace(/<code>([^<]*?)<\/code>/gi,(_,t)=>'`'+t+'`');
-  // Convert <br> to a newline ONLY outside markdown table rows — inside a row a
-  // newline would split the row and destroy the table. No sentinel token is used
-  // here on purpose: any fixed placeholder is attacker-suppliable in message text
-  // and would be rewritten on the way out.
-  s=s.split('\n').map(line=>(
-    /^\s*\|.*\|\s*$/.test(line) ? line : line.replace(/<br\s*\/?>/gi,'\n')
-  )).join('\n');
+  // Convert <br> to a newline, EXCEPT inside genuine markdown table rows — there a
+  // newline would split the row and destroy the table. No sentinel token is used on
+  // purpose: any fixed placeholder is attacker-suppliable in message text and would be
+  // rewritten on the way out.
+  // The "is this a table row" test must match the DOWNSTREAM table parser's grammar
+  // exactly (a run of pipe-lines whose SECOND line is a separator). A looser per-line
+  // test would treat pipe-wrapped prose like `| note<br># heading |` as a table row and
+  // silently strip its heading/list rendering.
+  {
+    const _rowRe=/^ {0,3}\|.+\|[ \t]*$/;
+    const _sepRe=/^\|[\s|:-]+\|$/;
+    const _lines=s.split('\n');
+    const _isTableRow=new Array(_lines.length).fill(false);
+    for(let i=0;i<_lines.length;){
+      if(!_rowRe.test(_lines[i])){ i++; continue; }
+      let j=i;
+      while(j<_lines.length && _rowRe.test(_lines[j])) j++;
+      // A block qualifies only if the parser would accept it: >=2 rows and a separator
+      // in the second position.
+      if(j-i>=2 && _sepRe.test(_lines[i+1].trim())){
+        for(let k=i;k<j;k++) _isTableRow[k]=true;
+      }
+      i=j;
+    }
+    s=_lines.map((line,i)=>_isTableRow[i]?line:line.replace(/<br\s*\/?>/gi,'\n')).join('\n');
+  }
   // ── Glued-bold-heading lift (issue #1446) ────────────────────────────────
   // LLMs in thinking/reasoning mode frequently emit a "section header" glued
   // to the end of the previous paragraph with no whitespace, like:
diff --git a/tests/test_renderer_js_behaviour.py b/tests/test_renderer_js_behaviour.py
index 0793fbaa..80bfecda 100644
--- a/tests/test_renderer_js_behaviour.py
+++ b/tests/test_renderer_js_behaviour.py
@@ -982,3 +982,35 @@ class TestRendererGateRegressions7618:
         out = _render(driver_path, "2 * 3 * 4 = 24")
         assert "<em>" not in out
         assert "2 * 3 * 4 = 24" in out
+
+    def test_pipe_wrapped_prose_keeps_heading_rendering(self, driver_path):
+        """`| note<br># heading |` is NOT a table — it must keep heading rendering.
+
+        The table-row guard must use the same grammar as the downstream table
+        parser (a pipe-line run whose SECOND line is a separator). A naive
+        per-line "looks pipe-wrapped" test silently stripped heading/list
+        rendering from pipe-delimited prose.
+        """
+        out = _render(driver_path, "| prose<br># heading |")
+        assert "<h1>" in out
+
+    def test_pipe_wrapped_prose_keeps_list_rendering(self, driver_path):
+        out = _render(driver_path, "| prose<br>- item |")
+        assert "<ul>" in out and "<li>" in out
+
+    def test_pipe_rows_without_separator_are_not_treated_as_table(self, driver_path):
+        """Two pipe lines with no separator row are prose, so <br> still converts."""
+        out = _render(driver_path, "| a | b |\n| c | d |")
+        assert "<table>" not in out
+
+    def test_multi_row_table_preserves_br_in_every_data_row(self, driver_path):
+        src = (
+            "| Feature | Notes | Status |\n"
+            "|---|---|---|\n"
+            "| Auth | OAuth<br>API keys<br>tokens | shipped |\n"
+            "| Cache | LRU<br>60s TTL | in review |"
+        )
+        out = _render(driver_path, src)
+        assert out.count("<tr>") == 3
+        assert "OAuth<br>API keys<br>tokens" in out
+        assert "LRU<br>60s TTL" in out