diff --git a/.changes/rpc-error-truncation-byte-length b/.changes/rpc-error-truncation-byte-length
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f187a9a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/rpc-error-truncation-byte-length
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+patch type="fixed" "RPC error `message` and `data` are now truncated by UTF-8 byte length rather than by UTF-16 code unit count, so the 15 KB cap actually bounds the packet and a truncated field no longer ends in half a surrogate pair"
diff --git a/lib/src/rpc/rpc_server_manager.dart b/lib/src/rpc/rpc_server_manager.dart
index d7eca716f..b317253e2 100644
--- a/lib/src/rpc/rpc_server_manager.dart
+++ b/lib/src/rpc/rpc_server_manager.dart
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import '../proto/livekit_models.pb.dart' as lk_models;
 import '../types/data_stream.dart';
 import '../types/other.dart';
 import '../types/rpc.dart';
+import 'rpc_utils.dart';
 
 /// Handler-side RPC dispatcher. Owns the registered-method map and routes incoming
 /// requests (v1 packets and v2 data streams) to user handlers, choosing the response
@@ -274,15 +275,11 @@ class RpcServerManager {
     final originalMessage = error.message;
     final originalData = error.data;
 
-    final truncatedMessage = originalMessage.length > kRpcMaxPayloadBytes
-        ? originalMessage.substring(0, kRpcMaxPayloadBytes)
-        : originalMessage;
+    final truncatedMessage = truncateBytes(originalMessage, kRpcMaxPayloadBytes);
 
     String? truncatedData;
     if (originalData != null) {
-      truncatedData = originalData.length > kRpcMaxPayloadBytes
-          ? originalData.substring(0, kRpcMaxPayloadBytes)
-          : originalData;
+      truncatedData = truncateBytes(originalData, kRpcMaxPayloadBytes);
     }
 
     if (truncatedMessage.length != originalMessage.length ||
diff --git a/lib/src/rpc/rpc_utils.dart b/lib/src/rpc/rpc_utils.dart
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0fccc9c57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/src/rpc/rpc_utils.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+// Copyright 2026 LiveKit, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+import 'dart:convert';
+
+import 'package:meta/meta.dart';
+
+/// The number of bytes [s] occupies once encoded as UTF-8.
+@internal
+int byteLength(String s) => utf8.encode(s).length;
+
+/// Truncates [s] so that its UTF-8 encoding fits within [maxBytes].
+///
+/// Dart strings are counted in UTF-16 code units, which is not the unit the wire
+/// budget is expressed in, so the cut point is found by binary search over the
+/// encoded length rather than by slicing at [maxBytes] directly.
+@internal
+String truncateBytes(String s, int maxBytes) {
+  if (byteLength(s) <= maxBytes) {
+    return s;
+  }
+
+  var low = 0;
+  var high = s.length;
+
+  // Binary search for the longest prefix that fits.
+  while (low < high) {
+    final mid = (low + high + 1) ~/ 2;
+    if (byteLength(s.substring(0, mid)) <= maxBytes) {
+      low = mid;
+    } else {
+      high = mid - 1;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Never end on the first half of a surrogate pair: it would be encoded as a
+  // replacement character, and the truncated string would no longer round trip.
+  if (low > 0 && _isHighSurrogate(s.codeUnitAt(low - 1))) {
+    low -= 1;
+  }
+
+  return s.substring(0, low);
+}
+
+bool _isHighSurrogate(int codeUnit) => codeUnit >= 0xd800 && codeUnit <= 0xdbff;
diff --git a/test/core/rpc_test.dart b/test/core/rpc_test.dart
index fe30eda0b..255b8cd0b 100644
--- a/test/core/rpc_test.dart
+++ b/test/core/rpc_test.dart
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 @Timeout(Duration(seconds: 10))
 library;
 
+import 'dart:convert';
+
 import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
 
 import 'package:livekit_client/livekit_client.dart';
@@ -497,6 +499,53 @@ void main() {
       v2Room.unregisterRpcMethod('throws-rpc-error');
     });
 
+    test('v2 oversize error message is truncated on a character boundary', () async {
+      v2Container.capturedDataPackets.clear();
+
+      // 'a' sits at index 0, so every following surrogate pair starts on an odd
+      // index. Cutting at a code-unit count lands on a high surrogate and splits
+      // the pair in half.
+      final longMessage = 'a${'😀' * 8000}';
+      expect(longMessage.length, greaterThan(kRpcMaxPayloadBytes));
+
+      v2Room.registerRpcMethod('throws-huge-error', (_) async {
+        throw RpcError(code: 101, message: longMessage);
+      });
+
+      RpcError? error;
+      try {
+        await v2Room.localParticipant!.performRpc(
+          PerformRpcParams(
+            destinationIdentity: v2Room.localParticipant!.identity,
+            method: 'throws-huge-error',
+            payload: 'x',
+          ),
+        );
+      } catch (e) {
+        if (e is RpcError) {
+          error = e;
+        }
+      }
+
+      expect(error?.code, 101);
+
+      final message = error!.message;
+      // A split surrogate pair cannot be encoded, so it reaches the peer as U+FFFD.
+      expect(
+        message.contains('�'),
+        isFalse,
+        reason: 'truncation split a surrogate pair',
+      );
+      // The cap exists to bound the wire packet, so it has to be counted in bytes.
+      expect(
+        utf8.encode(message).length,
+        lessThanOrEqualTo(kRpcMaxPayloadBytes),
+        reason: 'truncated message still exceeds the v1 payload budget',
+      );
+
+      v2Room.unregisterRpcMethod('throws-huge-error');
+    });
+
     test('v2 response timeout', () async {
       v2Container.capturedDataPackets.clear();
       v2Room.registerRpcMethod('hangs', (_) async {