diff --git a/src/delta.c b/src/delta.c
index 236a6c09..67c44e5f 100644
--- a/src/delta.c
+++ b/src/delta.c
@@ -303,6 +303,15 @@ int wb_diff(WB_DIFF_CTX *ctx, uint8_t *patch, uint32_t len)
                 blk_start = pa - ctx->src_a;
                 if (blk_start > BLOCK_OFF_MAX)
                     return -1;
+                if (((blk_start >> 16) & 0xFF) == ESC) {
+                    /* The most-significant offset byte would collide with
+                     * the escaped-literal marker (ESC ESC), making the
+                     * header indistinguishable from a literal ESC byte on
+                     * decode. Skip this candidate and keep searching.
+                     */
+                    pa++;
+                    continue;
+                }
                 b_start = ctx->off_b;
                 pa+= BLOCK_HDR_SIZE;
                 ctx->off_b += BLOCK_HDR_SIZE;
@@ -367,6 +376,13 @@ int wb_diff(WB_DIFF_CTX *ctx, uint8_t *patch, uint32_t len)
                     blk_start = pb - ctx->src_b;
                     if (blk_start > BLOCK_OFF_MAX)
                         return -1;
+                    if (((blk_start >> 16) & 0xFF) == ESC) {
+                        /* Same ESC-collision hazard as the forward-match
+                         * path: skip this candidate and keep searching.
+                         */
+                        pb++;
+                        continue;
+                    }
                     pb+= BLOCK_HDR_SIZE;
                     ctx->off_b += BLOCK_HDR_SIZE;
                     while ((pb < pb_limit) &&
diff --git a/tools/unit-tests/unit-delta.c b/tools/unit-tests/unit-delta.c
index b870b32c..6f630ac4 100644
--- a/tools/unit-tests/unit-delta.c
+++ b/tools/unit-tests/unit-delta.c
@@ -533,6 +533,34 @@ START_TEST(test_wb_patch_and_diff_multi_sector_images)
 }
 END_TEST
 
+START_TEST(test_wb_patch_and_diff_match_offset_msb_equals_esc)
+{
+    /* A matched block whose 24-bit source offset has 0x7f (ESC) as its
+     * most-significant byte would encode a header starting with the same
+     * two bytes (ESC, ESC) used to escape a literal ESC byte, making it
+     * indistinguishable on decode. wb_diff must never emit such a header;
+     * base images large enough to expose an offset in [0x7f0000,0x7fffff]
+     * are a supported configuration (e.g. MMU/Linux delta updates).
+     */
+    static uint8_t src_a[0x800000];
+    uint8_t src_b[7];
+    const uint32_t src_off = 0x7f0010;
+
+    memset(src_a, 0, sizeof(src_a));
+    src_a[src_off] = 0x11;
+    src_a[src_off + 1] = 0x22;
+    src_a[src_off + 2] = 0x33;
+    src_a[src_off + 3] = 0x44;
+    src_a[src_off + 4] = 0x55;
+    src_a[src_off + 5] = 0x66;
+
+    memcpy(src_b, src_a + src_off, 6);
+    src_b[6] = 0xAA;
+
+    (void)run_roundtrip_case(src_a, sizeof(src_a), src_b, sizeof(src_b), 64);
+}
+END_TEST
+
 START_TEST(test_wb_diff_get_sector_size_rejects_values_above_16bit)
 {
 #if HAVE_POSIX_FORK
@@ -690,6 +718,7 @@ Suite *patch_diff_suite(void)
     tcase_add_test(tc_wolfboot_delta, test_wb_patch_and_diff_completely_different_images);
     tcase_add_test(tc_wolfboot_delta, test_wb_patch_and_diff_all_escape_images);
     tcase_add_test(tc_wolfboot_delta, test_wb_patch_and_diff_multi_sector_images);
+    tcase_add_test(tc_wolfboot_delta, test_wb_patch_and_diff_match_offset_msb_equals_esc);
     tcase_add_test(tc_wolfboot_delta, test_wb_diff_get_sector_size_accepts_16bit_limit);
     tcase_add_test(tc_wolfboot_delta, test_wb_diff_get_sector_size_rejects_values_above_16bit);
     tcase_add_test(tc_wolfboot_delta, test_wb_patch_and_diff_size_changing_update);