diff --git a/core/downloads/file_finder.py b/core/downloads/file_finder.py
index 0e6e03a7..5ea9a5e5 100644
--- a/core/downloads/file_finder.py
+++ b/core/downloads/file_finder.py
@@ -77,7 +77,16 @@ def _normalize_for_finding(text: str) -> str:
         return ""
     text = unidecode(text).lower()
     text = re.sub(r'[._/]', ' ', text)
-    text = re.sub(r'[\[\(].*?[\]\)]', '', text)
+    # Strip ONLY balanced bracket pairs (tags like "[FLAC]", "(Remastered 2016)").
+    # The old combined pattern r'[\[\(].*?[\]\)]' allowed MISMATCHED delimiters, so a
+    # lone unbalanced '[' — slskd reports "[34 - You & Me (Flume Remix)" but saves the
+    # file as "34 - You & Me (Flume Remix)" — matched from that '[' all the way to the
+    # next ')', eating the entire title and collapsing the search target to "flac". The
+    # file then scored 0.40 against the real on-disk name and was reported "not found"
+    # despite sitting right there. Per-delimiter pairs can't over-consume; a stray
+    # unbalanced bracket simply survives to the alphanumeric strip below.
+    text = re.sub(r'\[[^\]]*\]', '', text)
+    text = re.sub(r'\([^)]*\)', '', text)
     text = re.sub(r'[^a-z0-9\s-]', '', text)
     return ' '.join(text.split()).strip()
 
diff --git a/tests/downloads/test_file_finder.py b/tests/downloads/test_file_finder.py
index 5e7d6291..2bd89130 100644
--- a/tests/downloads/test_file_finder.py
+++ b/tests/downloads/test_file_finder.py
@@ -396,3 +396,56 @@ def test_real_soulseek_path_still_basenamed(tmp_path):
         str(downloads), r'shared\Billy Ocean\Very Best Of\01 - Suddenly.flac',
     )
     assert found == str(target)
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Unbalanced bracket — slskd REPORTS "[34 - Title.flac" but SAVES the file as
+# "34 - Title.flac" (it sanitises the leading '['). The normaliser's old combined
+# bracket-strip r'[\[\(].*?[\]\)]' matched from that lone '[' all the way to the
+# next ')', eating the whole title and collapsing the search target to just "flac"
+# → 0.40 fuzzy score → "File not found on disk" despite the file sitting right
+# there. (Discord: Shdjfgatdif — "You & Me (Flume Remix)".)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_finds_file_when_slskd_strips_a_leading_bracket(tmp_path):
+    downloads = tmp_path / 'downloads'
+    # On disk: no leading '['. API filename (slskd-reported): has the '['.
+    target = downloads / 'Disclosure' / '34 - You & Me (Flume Remix).flac'
+    _touch(target)
+
+    found, location = find_completed_audio_file(
+        str(downloads), r'Music\Disclosure\[34 - You & Me (Flume Remix).flac',
+    )
+
+    assert found == str(target), \
+        'the lone "[" used to collapse the target to "flac" and miss the file'
+    assert location == 'downloads'
+
+
+def test_balanced_bracket_tags_still_stripped(tmp_path):
+    """No regression: balanced "[FLAC]" / "(Remastered 2016)" tags in a Soulseek
+    filename must still be stripped so it matches the clean saved file."""
+    downloads = tmp_path / 'downloads'
+    target = downloads / 'Song.mp3'
+    _touch(target)
+
+    found, _ = find_completed_audio_file(
+        str(downloads), r'shared\Artist\Album\Song [FLAC] (Remastered 2016).mp3',
+    )
+
+    assert found == str(target)
+
+
+def test_stray_closing_bracket_does_not_break_match(tmp_path):
+    """The other shape in the wild (Discord: "Abort, Retry, Fail_]1-01 …") — a
+    stray ']' must not wreck the match either."""
+    downloads = tmp_path / 'downloads'
+    target = downloads / 'White Town' / "Fail_]1-01 Your Woman.flac"
+    _touch(target)
+
+    found, _ = find_completed_audio_file(
+        str(downloads), r"@@digadom\Music\White Town\Fail_]1-01 Your Woman.flac",
+    )
+
+    assert found == str(target)