diff --git a/ui/src/components/MarkdownBody.tsx b/ui/src/components/MarkdownBody.tsx
index d9a2afb6..b996629a 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/MarkdownBody.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/MarkdownBody.tsx
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import remarkGfm from "remark-gfm";
 import { parseProjectMentionHref } from "@paperclipai/shared";
 import { cn } from "../lib/utils";
 import { useTheme } from "../context/ThemeContext";
-import { normalizeMarkdownArtifacts } from "../lib/markdown";
 
 interface MarkdownBodyProps {
   children: string;
@@ -115,7 +114,6 @@ function MermaidDiagramBlock({ source, darkMode }: { source: string; darkMode: b
 
 export function MarkdownBody({ children, className }: MarkdownBodyProps) {
   const { theme } = useTheme();
-  const normalizedMarkdown = normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(children);
   return (
     <div
       className={cn(
@@ -156,7 +154,7 @@ export function MarkdownBody({ children, className }: MarkdownBodyProps) {
           },
         }}
       >
-        {normalizedMarkdown}
+        {children}
       </Markdown>
     </div>
   );
diff --git a/ui/src/components/MarkdownEditor.tsx b/ui/src/components/MarkdownEditor.tsx
index 507308a1..85b67c32 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/MarkdownEditor.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/MarkdownEditor.tsx
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ import {
 } from "@mdxeditor/editor";
 import { buildProjectMentionHref, parseProjectMentionHref } from "@paperclipai/shared";
 import { cn } from "../lib/utils";
-import { normalizeMarkdownArtifacts } from "../lib/markdown";
 
 /* ---- Mention types ---- */
 
@@ -204,7 +203,7 @@ export const MarkdownEditor = forwardRef<MarkdownEditorRef, MarkdownEditorProps>
 }: MarkdownEditorProps, forwardedRef) {
   const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const ref = useRef<MDXEditorMethods>(null);
-  const latestValueRef = useRef(normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(value));
+  const latestValueRef = useRef(value);
   const [uploadError, setUploadError] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [isDragOver, setIsDragOver] = useState(false);
   const dragDepthRef = useRef(0);
@@ -282,10 +281,9 @@ export const MarkdownEditor = forwardRef<MarkdownEditorRef, MarkdownEditorProps>
   }, [hasImageUpload]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    const normalizedValue = normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(value);
-    if (normalizedValue !== latestValueRef.current) {
-      ref.current?.setMarkdown(normalizedValue);
-      latestValueRef.current = normalizedValue;
+    if (value !== latestValueRef.current) {
+      ref.current?.setMarkdown(value);
+      latestValueRef.current = value;
     }
   }, [value]);
 
@@ -556,15 +554,11 @@ export const MarkdownEditor = forwardRef<MarkdownEditorRef, MarkdownEditorProps>
     >
       <MDXEditor
         ref={ref}
-        markdown={normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(value)}
+        markdown={value}
         placeholder={placeholder}
         onChange={(next) => {
-          const normalizedNext = normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(next);
-          latestValueRef.current = normalizedNext;
-          if (normalizedNext !== next) {
-            ref.current?.setMarkdown(normalizedNext);
-          }
-          onChange(normalizedNext);
+          latestValueRef.current = next;
+          onChange(next);
         }}
         onBlur={() => onBlur?.()}
         className={cn("paperclip-mdxeditor", !bordered && "paperclip-mdxeditor--borderless")}
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/markdown.test.ts b/ui/src/lib/markdown.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index a455ea1f..00000000
--- a/ui/src/lib/markdown.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { normalizeMarkdownArtifacts } from "./markdown";
-
-describe("normalizeMarkdownArtifacts", () => {
-  it("normalizes escaped unordered list markers and space entities", () => {
-    const input = "Here is a list:\n\n\\* foo&#x20;\n\\- bar&#x20;";
-    const output = normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(input);
-    expect(output).toBe("Here is a list:\n\n* foo \n- bar ");
-  });
-
-  it("does not rewrite escaped markers inside fenced code blocks", () => {
-    const input = "```md\n\\* keep literal&#x20;\n\\- keep literal&#x20;\n```";
-    expect(normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(input)).toBe(input);
-  });
-
-  it("keeps escaped non-list syntax intact", () => {
-    const input = "\\*not-a-list";
-    expect(normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(input)).toBe(input);
-  });
-});
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/markdown.ts b/ui/src/lib/markdown.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ab485319..00000000
--- a/ui/src/lib/markdown.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-const FENCE_RE = /^\s*(`{3,}|~{3,})/;
-const SPACE_ENTITY_RE = /&#x20;/gi;
-const ESCAPED_UNORDERED_LIST_RE = /^(\s{0,3})\\([*+-])([ \t]+)/;
-
-/**
- * Normalize markdown artifacts emitted by rich-text serialization so
- * plain markdown list syntax remains usable in Paperclip editors.
- */
-export function normalizeMarkdownArtifacts(markdown: string): string {
-  if (!markdown) return markdown;
-
-  const lines = markdown.split(/\r?\n/);
-  let inFence = false;
-  let fenceMarker: "`" | "~" | null = null;
-  let fenceLength = 0;
-  let changed = false;
-
-  const normalized = lines.map((line) => {
-    const fenceMatch = FENCE_RE.exec(line);
-    if (fenceMatch) {
-      const marker = fenceMatch[1];
-      if (!inFence) {
-        inFence = true;
-        fenceMarker = marker[0] as "`" | "~";
-        fenceLength = marker.length;
-      } else if (marker[0] === fenceMarker && marker.length >= fenceLength) {
-        inFence = false;
-        fenceMarker = null;
-        fenceLength = 0;
-      }
-      return line;
-    }
-
-    if (inFence) return line;
-
-    let next = line;
-    if (next.includes("&#x20;")) {
-      next = next.replace(SPACE_ENTITY_RE, " ");
-    }
-    const unescaped = next.replace(ESCAPED_UNORDERED_LIST_RE, "$1$2$3");
-    if (unescaped !== line) changed = true;
-    return unescaped;
-  });
-
-  if (!changed) return markdown;
-  return normalized.join("\n");
-}