diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b4f3c2a..505b292 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+- `parse()` now strips a leading UTF-8 byte order mark (BOM) before `JSON.parse`, so BOM-prefixed SBOMs (common from Windows tooling and some generators) no longer crash with a cryptic "Unexpected token" error
+
 ### Added
 - Real devDependencies: `typescript`, `vitest`, `@vitest/coverage-v8`, `typescript-eslint`, `@types/node`
 - `src/types.ts` — Full domain model: `SBOM`, `Component`, `CVEEntry`, `ChangeReport`, `VersionChange`, `SBOMFormat`, `ReportFormat`
diff --git a/src/__tests__/parser.test.ts b/src/__tests__/parser.test.ts
index e0378fb..ac7498e 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/parser.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/parser.test.ts
@@ -126,4 +126,21 @@ describe('parse (JSON string input)', () => {
     const sbom = parse(JSON.stringify(cyclonedxFixture));
     expect(sbom.components).toHaveLength(2);
   });
+
+  it('strips a leading UTF-8 BOM before parsing', () => {
+    // Some SBOM generators / Windows tooling emit BOM-prefixed JSON, which is
+    // valid on disk but makes a naive JSON.parse throw "Unexpected token".
+    const withBom = '' + JSON.stringify(cyclonedxFixture);
+    const sbom = parse(withBom);
+    expect(sbom.format).toBe('cyclonedx');
+    expect(sbom.components).toHaveLength(2);
+  });
+
+  it('only strips a BOM at the very start, not elsewhere', () => {
+    // A BOM appearing inside a string value must be preserved verbatim.
+    const sbom = parse(
+      JSON.stringify({ bomFormat: 'CycloneDX', components: [{ name: 'ab' }] }),
+    );
+    expect(sbom.components[0].name).toBe('ab');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/parser.ts b/src/parser.ts
index 6232fc2..9b0f75b 100644
--- a/src/parser.ts
+++ b/src/parser.ts
@@ -84,7 +84,11 @@ export function parseSPDX(obj: Record<string, unknown>): SBOM {
  * Parse a JSON string or object into an SBOM, auto-detecting format.
  */
 export function parse(input: string | Record<string, unknown>): SBOM {
-  const obj: Record<string, unknown> = typeof input === 'string' ? JSON.parse(input) : input;
+  // Strip a leading UTF-8 byte order mark (U+FEFF) before parsing. Several SBOM
+  // generators and Windows text tooling emit BOM-prefixed JSON, which is valid
+  // on disk but makes JSON.parse throw a cryptic "Unexpected token" error.
+  const obj: Record<string, unknown> =
+    typeof input === 'string' ? JSON.parse(input.replace(/^\uFEFF/, '')) : input;
   const format = detectFormat(obj);
 
   switch (format) {