diff --git a/docs/apktool-resource-analysis.md b/docs/apktool-resource-analysis.md
index 8c98f762f..3632cce22 100644
--- a/docs/apktool-resource-analysis.md
+++ b/docs/apktool-resource-analysis.md
@@ -85,8 +85,11 @@ select Android's `values-pt-rBR`; Android qualifiers such as `pt-rBR` and
   truncated when larger.
 - **Strings are projected verbatim.** Escaped entities stay escaped, and
   entries containing nested markup (`<b>`, `<xliff:g>`) are counted as
-  unparsed rather than flattened — the limitation names the count. The
-  default table is bounded to 2000 entries with partial coverage when more
+  unparsed rather than flattened — the limitation names the examined count.
+  Malformed XML and a wrong document root are whole-document projection
+  failures: the result is partial, the failure reason is disclosed, and entry
+  counts remain unknown. They are not counted as one unsupported string.
+  The default table is bounded to 2000 entries with partial coverage when more
   exist. `locales` lists observed regular `strings.xml` tables whose exact
   `values-<locale>` directory is selectable by the request's locale grammar.
   Locale suffixes allow up to 23 ASCII characters, derived from Apktool's
diff --git a/src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.test.ts b/src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.test.ts
index 94ff2ae81..ed6140ff4 100644
--- a/src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.test.ts
+++ b/src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { ok } from "../domain/result.js";
 
 import {
   parseApktoolYml,
@@ -161,30 +162,37 @@ describe("parseDecodedStrings", () => {
       "</resources>",
       "",
     ].join("\n");
-    expect(parseDecodedStrings(stringsXml)).toEqual({
-      entries: [
-        { name: "api_endpoint", value: "https://api.example.com/v1" },
-        { name: "app_name", value: "ApktoolProbe" },
-        { name: "debug_flag", value: "true" },
-      ],
-      unparsedCount: 0,
-    });
+    expect(parseDecodedStrings(stringsXml)).toEqual(
+      ok({
+        entries: [
+          { name: "api_endpoint", value: "https://api.example.com/v1" },
+          { name: "app_name", value: "ApktoolProbe" },
+          { name: "debug_flag", value: "true" },
+        ],
+        unparsedCount: 0,
+      }),
+    );
   });
 
   it("counts entries with nested markup instead of flattening them", () => {
     const stringsXml =
       '<resources><string name="styled">Hello <b>world</b></string><string name="plain">ok</string></resources>';
-    expect(parseDecodedStrings(stringsXml)).toEqual({
-      entries: [{ name: "plain", value: "ok" }],
-      unparsedCount: 1,
-    });
+    expect(parseDecodedStrings(stringsXml)).toEqual(
+      ok({
+        entries: [{ name: "plain", value: "ok" }],
+        unparsedCount: 1,
+      }),
+    );
   });
 
   it("preserves escaped entities verbatim", () => {
     const stringsXml =
       '<resources><string name="escaped">a &amp; b &lt;c&gt;</string></resources>';
-    expect(parseDecodedStrings(stringsXml).entries[0]?.value).toBe(
-      "a &amp; b &lt;c&gt;",
+    expect(parseDecodedStrings(stringsXml)).toEqual(
+      ok({
+        entries: [{ name: "escaped", value: "a &amp; b &lt;c&gt;" }],
+        unparsedCount: 0,
+      }),
     );
   });
 
@@ -193,22 +201,28 @@ describe("parseDecodedStrings", () => {
       parseDecodedStrings(
         '<resources><string name="good">Hello</string><string name="edge">\uFFFD</string></resources>',
       ),
-    ).toEqual({
-      entries: [
-        { name: "good", value: "Hello" },
-        { name: "edge", value: "\uFFFD" },
-      ],
-      unparsedCount: 0,
-    });
+    ).toEqual(
+      ok({
+        entries: [
+          { name: "good", value: "Hello" },
+          { name: "edge", value: "\uFFFD" },
+        ],
+        unparsedCount: 0,
+      }),
+    );
   });
 
   it.each([
     "<resources><string name=unquoted>\uFFFD</string></resources>",
     '<resources><string name="broken">\uFFFD</resources>',
   ])("still rejects malformed XML containing U+FFFD: %s", (xml) => {
-    expect(parseDecodedStrings(xml)).toEqual({
-      entries: [],
-      unparsedCount: 1,
+    expect(parseDecodedStrings(xml)).toMatchObject({
+      ok: false,
+      error: {
+        _tag: "ApktoolStringsDocumentError",
+        reason: "malformed",
+        cause: { _tag: "XmlDocumentParseError" },
+      },
     });
   });
 
@@ -217,13 +231,15 @@ describe("parseDecodedStrings", () => {
       parseDecodedStrings(
         '<resources><string translatable="false" name="empty"/><string name="paired"></string></resources>',
       ),
-    ).toEqual({
-      entries: [
-        { name: "empty", value: "" },
-        { name: "paired", value: "" },
-      ],
-      unparsedCount: 0,
-    });
+    ).toEqual(
+      ok({
+        entries: [
+          { name: "empty", value: "" },
+          { name: "paired", value: "" },
+        ],
+        unparsedCount: 0,
+      }),
+    );
   });
 
   it("ignores comments without mistaking them for nested markup", () => {
@@ -231,10 +247,12 @@ describe("parseDecodedStrings", () => {
       parseDecodedStrings(
         '<resources><!-- <string name="fake">bad</string> --><string name="real">before<!-- note -->after</string></resources>',
       ),
-    ).toEqual({
-      entries: [{ name: "real", value: "beforeafter" }],
-      unparsedCount: 0,
-    });
+    ).toEqual(
+      ok({
+        entries: [{ name: "real", value: "beforeafter" }],
+        unparsedCount: 0,
+      }),
+    );
   });
 
   it("does not include a trailing document comment in the last string", () => {
@@ -242,18 +260,25 @@ describe("parseDecodedStrings", () => {
       parseDecodedStrings(
         '<resources><string name="a">one</string></resources><!-- </string> -->',
       ),
-    ).toEqual({
-      entries: [{ name: "a", value: "one" }],
-      unparsedCount: 0,
-    });
+    ).toEqual(
+      ok({
+        entries: [{ name: "a", value: "one" }],
+        unparsedCount: 0,
+      }),
+    );
   });
 
   it("preserves source whitespace and entity spelling", () => {
     expect(
       parseDecodedStrings(
         '<resources><string name="raw">  a &amp; b  </string></resources>',
-      ).entries,
-    ).toEqual([{ name: "raw", value: "  a &amp; b  " }]);
+      ),
+    ).toEqual(
+      ok({
+        entries: [{ name: "raw", value: "  a &amp; b  " }],
+        unparsedCount: 0,
+      }),
+    );
   });
 
   it("keeps source slices aligned across CRLF and CR line endings", () => {
@@ -262,27 +287,48 @@ describe("parseDecodedStrings", () => {
         parseDecodedStrings(
           `<resources>${newline}  <string name="raw">x &amp; y</string>${newline}</resources>`,
         ),
-      ).toEqual({
-        entries: [{ name: "raw", value: "x &amp; y" }],
-        unparsedCount: 0,
-      });
+      ).toEqual(
+        ok({
+          entries: [{ name: "raw", value: "x &amp; y" }],
+          unparsedCount: 0,
+        }),
+      );
     }
   });
+});
 
+describe("string document validity and omission counts", () => {
   it("counts a string with no name as unsupported instead of emitting an empty name", () => {
     expect(
       parseDecodedStrings("<resources><string>value</string></resources>"),
-    ).toEqual({ entries: [], unparsedCount: 1 });
+    ).toEqual(ok({ entries: [], unparsedCount: 1 }));
   });
 
-  it("reports malformed XML and unsupported string markup as partial", () => {
+  it("distinguishes malformed XML from counted unsupported string markup", () => {
     expect(
       parseDecodedStrings("<resources><string name='broken'>no</resources>"),
-    ).toEqual({ entries: [], unparsedCount: 1 });
+    ).toMatchObject({
+      ok: false,
+      error: { _tag: "ApktoolStringsDocumentError", reason: "malformed" },
+    });
     expect(
       parseDecodedStrings(
         '<resources><string name="styled">Hello <b>world</b></string></resources>',
       ),
-    ).toEqual({ entries: [], unparsedCount: 1 });
+    ).toEqual(ok({ entries: [], unparsedCount: 1 }));
   });
 });
+
+it.each(["<manifest/>", '<other><string name="a">one</string></other>'])(
+  "keeps a wrong document root separate from an entry count: %s",
+  (xml) => {
+    const parsed = parseDecodedStrings(xml);
+    expect(parsed).toMatchObject({
+      ok: false,
+      error: { _tag: "ApktoolStringsDocumentError", reason: "wrong_root" },
+    });
+    expect(parsed).not.toHaveProperty("value");
+    if (parsed.ok) throw new Error("Expected document failure");
+    expect(parsed.error).not.toHaveProperty("unparsedCount");
+  },
+);
diff --git a/src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.ts b/src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.ts
index 4638aca29..949678146 100644
--- a/src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.ts
+++ b/src/apktool/ApktoolDecodeOutput.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import type { Document, Element, Node } from "@xmldom/xmldom";
+import type { Element, Node } from "@xmldom/xmldom";
 import { parseXmlDocument } from "../domain/xmlDocument.js";
+import { ok, err, type Result } from "../domain/result.js";
 import {
   isMap,
   isScalar,
@@ -53,8 +54,16 @@ export const parseApktoolYml = (yml: string): ApktoolMetadata => {
 
 /** Read the package attribute from the decoded Android manifest root. */
 export const parseManifestPackage = (manifest: string): string | null => {
-  const document = parseXml(manifest, "AndroidManifest.xml");
-  const root = document.documentElement;
+  const parsed = parseXmlDocument(manifest, {
+    doctype: "allow",
+    lineEndings: "preserve",
+  });
+  if (!parsed.ok)
+    throw new TypeError(
+      `AndroidManifest.xml is not well-formed XML: ${parsed.error.message}`,
+      { cause: parsed.error },
+    );
+  const root = parsed.value.documentElement;
   if (root === null || root.nodeName !== "manifest")
     throw new TypeError("AndroidManifest.xml root must be <manifest>");
   return root.getAttribute("package") || null;
@@ -65,6 +74,18 @@ export interface DecodedStringEntry {
   readonly value: string;
 }
 
+/** A whole-document failure does not establish an omitted-entry count. */
+export class ApktoolStringsDocumentError extends Error {
+  readonly _tag = "ApktoolStringsDocumentError";
+  constructor(
+    readonly reason: "malformed" | "wrong_root",
+    message: string,
+    options?: ErrorOptions,
+  ) {
+    super(message, options);
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Project direct `<string>` children from decoded resources XML. DOM parsing
  * identifies elements and attributes; text values are sliced from the input
@@ -73,19 +94,31 @@ export interface DecodedStringEntry {
  */
 export const parseDecodedStrings = (
   stringsXml: string,
-): {
-  entries: readonly DecodedStringEntry[];
-  unparsedCount: number;
-} => {
-  let document: Document;
-  try {
-    document = parseXml(stringsXml, "strings.xml");
-  } catch {
-    return { entries: [], unparsedCount: 1 };
-  }
-  const root = document.documentElement;
+): Result<
+  {
+    readonly entries: readonly DecodedStringEntry[];
+    readonly unparsedCount: number;
+  },
+  ApktoolStringsDocumentError
+> => {
+  const parsed = parseXmlDocument(stringsXml, {
+    doctype: "allow",
+    lineEndings: "preserve",
+  });
+  if (!parsed.ok)
+    return err(
+      new ApktoolStringsDocumentError("malformed", parsed.error.message, {
+        cause: parsed.error,
+      }),
+    );
+  const root = parsed.value.documentElement;
   if (root === null || root.nodeName !== "resources")
-    return { entries: [], unparsedCount: 1 };
+    return err(
+      new ApktoolStringsDocumentError(
+        "wrong_root",
+        "String resource document root must be <resources>",
+      ),
+    );
 
   const entries: DecodedStringEntry[] = [];
   let unparsedCount = 0;
@@ -125,7 +158,7 @@ export const parseDecodedStrings = (
     }
     entries.push({ name, value: value.join("") });
   }
-  return { entries, unparsedCount };
+  return ok({ entries, unparsedCount });
 };
 
 const yamlScalar = (
@@ -142,19 +175,6 @@ const yamlScalar = (
     : source.slice(range[0], range[1]);
 };
 
-const parseXml = (xml: string, label: string) => {
-  const parsed = parseXmlDocument(xml, {
-    doctype: "allow",
-    lineEndings: "preserve",
-  });
-  if (!parsed.ok)
-    throw new TypeError(
-      `${label} is not well-formed XML: ${parsed.error.message}`,
-      { cause: parsed.error },
-    );
-  return parsed.value;
-};
-
 const childNodes = (node: Node): Node[] => {
   const children: Node[] = [];
   for (let child = node.firstChild; child !== null; child = child.nextSibling)
diff --git a/src/apktool/ApktoolProvider.test.ts b/src/apktool/ApktoolProvider.test.ts
index 5c02c3c8e..dd6a39dbd 100644
--- a/src/apktool/ApktoolProvider.test.ts
+++ b/src/apktool/ApktoolProvider.test.ts
@@ -688,15 +688,30 @@ it("retains completed Evidence and live cleanup until a denied workspace removal
 });
 
 it.each([
-  [false, "2.7.0-dirty", "CVE-2024-21633"],
-  [true, "2.7.0-dirty", "CVE-2024-21633"],
-  [false, "3.0.1", "CVE-2026-39973"],
-  [true, "3.0.1", "CVE-2026-39973"],
+  [false, "2.7.0-dirty", "CVE-2024-21633", undefined],
+  [true, "2.7.0-dirty", "CVE-2024-21633", undefined],
+  [false, "3.0.1", "CVE-2026-39973", undefined],
+  [true, "3.0.1", "CVE-2026-39973", undefined],
+  [
+    false,
+    "3.0.1",
+    "CVE-2026-39973",
+    "<resources><string name=unquoted>bad</string></resources>",
+  ],
+  [
+    true,
+    "3.0.1",
+    "CVE-2026-39973",
+    "<resources><string name=unquoted>bad</string></resources>",
+  ],
 ] as const)(
-  "preserves completed Evidence and cancellation during workspace cleanup (denied=%s, version=%s)",
-  async (deniedInitially, version, advisory) => {
+  "preserves completed Evidence and cancellation during workspace cleanup (denied=%s, version=%s, advisory=%s, XML=%s)",
+  async (deniedInitially, version, advisory, stringsXml) => {
     const { command, root } = await writeApktoolStub((root) =>
-      decodeStub()(root).replace(VERSION_BLOCK, `printf '%s\\n' '${version}'`),
+      decodeStub(stringsXml === undefined ? {} : { stringsXml })(root).replace(
+        VERSION_BLOCK,
+        `printf '%s\\n' '${version}'`,
+      ),
     );
     const apk = await apkFixture(root);
     const controller = new AbortController();
@@ -730,6 +745,12 @@ it.each([
           expect.stringContaining(advisory),
         ]),
       });
+      if (stringsXml !== undefined)
+        expect(result.error.partialObservation).toMatchObject({
+          limitations: expect.arrayContaining([
+            expect.stringContaining("entry counts are unknown"),
+          ]),
+        });
       denied = false;
       await provider.close();
       expect(result.error.cleanupIncomplete).toBe(false);
@@ -1084,3 +1105,58 @@ it.each([
     }
   },
 );
+
+it.each([
+  [
+    "malformed",
+    '<resources><string name="a">one</string><string name="b">two</resources>',
+    [],
+  ],
+  ["wrong_root", "<manifest/>", []],
+  [
+    "unsupported",
+    '<resources><string name="a"><b>A</b></string><string>unnamed</string><string name="good">ok</string></resources>',
+    [{ name: "good", value: "ok" }],
+  ],
+] as const)(
+  "reports document projection semantics for %s (#4820)",
+  async (kind, stringsXml, strings) => {
+    const { command, root } = await writeApktoolStub(
+      decodeStub({ stringsXml }),
+    );
+    const apk = await apkFixture(root);
+    const provider = providerOver(command);
+    try {
+      const result = await provider.execute({
+        operation: "decode_android_resources",
+        input: { path: apk.path, include_strings: true },
+      });
+      if (!result.ok) throw result.error;
+      expect(result.value.result).toMatchObject({
+        strings,
+        target: { sha256: apk.sha256 },
+        coverage: "partial",
+      });
+      const limitations = result.value.limitations.join("\n");
+      if (kind === "unsupported") {
+        expect(limitations).toContain(
+          "String entries omitted due to unsupported markup or missing names: 2",
+        );
+        expect(limitations).not.toContain("entry counts are unknown");
+      } else {
+        expect(limitations).toContain(
+          'String table "res/values/strings.xml" could not be projected:',
+        );
+        expect(limitations).toContain("entry counts are unknown");
+        expect(limitations).not.toContain("String entries omitted");
+        expect(limitations).toContain(
+          kind === "wrong_root"
+            ? "root must be <resources>"
+            : "XML is not well-formed",
+        );
+      }
+    } finally {
+      await provider.close();
+    }
+  },
+);
diff --git a/src/apktool/ApktoolProvider.ts b/src/apktool/ApktoolProvider.ts
index 7681774ac..7599bb6e8 100644
--- a/src/apktool/ApktoolProvider.ts
+++ b/src/apktool/ApktoolProvider.ts
@@ -598,11 +598,13 @@ export class ApktoolProvider {
         : { text: null, truncated: false };
       // Do not parse an incomplete XML document as though its projection were complete.
       const stringsXml = stringsRead.truncated ? null : stringsRead.text;
+      const stringsProjection =
+        stringsXml === null ? undefined : parseDecodedStrings(stringsXml);
       const parsedStrings =
-        stringsXml === null
-          ? { entries: [], unparsedCount: 0 }
-          : parseDecodedStrings(stringsXml);
-      const bounded = parsedStrings.entries.slice(0, MAX_STRINGS);
+        stringsProjection?.ok === true ? stringsProjection.value : undefined;
+      const documentFailure =
+        stringsProjection?.ok === false ? stringsProjection.error : undefined;
+      const bounded = parsedStrings?.entries.slice(0, MAX_STRINGS) ?? [];
       const files = await countDecodedFiles(
         resources,
         workspace,
@@ -611,10 +613,12 @@ export class ApktoolProvider {
       );
       throwIfCancelled(operation, signal);
       const coverage =
-        (stringsXml !== null && parsedStrings.entries.length > MAX_STRINGS) ||
+        (parsedStrings !== undefined &&
+          parsedStrings.entries.length > MAX_STRINGS) ||
         manifestRead.truncated ||
         stringsRead.truncated ||
-        parsedStrings.unparsedCount > 0 ||
+        (parsedStrings !== undefined && parsedStrings.unparsedCount > 0) ||
+        documentFailure !== undefined ||
         files.capped ||
         files.unreadableStringsTables.length > 0
           ? "partial"
@@ -656,12 +660,18 @@ export class ApktoolProvider {
                     "No default res/values/strings.xml was found in the decoded workspace",
                   ]
                 : []),
-              ...(parsedStrings.unparsedCount > 0
+              ...(documentFailure === undefined
+                ? []
+                : [
+                    `String table ${JSON.stringify(`res/${stringsDirectory}/strings.xml`)} could not be projected: ${documentFailure.message}; entry counts are unknown`,
+                  ]),
+              ...(parsedStrings !== undefined && parsedStrings.unparsedCount > 0
                 ? [
-                    `String entries omitted due to malformed XML or unsupported markup: ${String(parsedStrings.unparsedCount)}`,
+                    `String entries omitted due to unsupported markup or missing names: ${String(parsedStrings.unparsedCount)}`,
                   ]
                 : []),
-              ...(parsedStrings.entries.length > MAX_STRINGS
+              ...(parsedStrings !== undefined &&
+              parsedStrings.entries.length > MAX_STRINGS
                 ? [
                     `strings reports the first ${String(MAX_STRINGS)} of ${String(parsedStrings.entries.length)} entries`,
                   ]