diff --git a/src/bun_core/lib.rs b/src/bun_core/lib.rs
index c5b8d48c6220..15551ae5ee62 100644
--- a/src/bun_core/lib.rs
+++ b/src/bun_core/lib.rs
@@ -1607,6 +1607,10 @@ pub(crate) mod strings_impl {
                     break;
                 }
                 Some(i) => {
+                    debug_assert!(
+                        rest[i] >= 0x80,
+                        "first_non_ascii_usize pointed at an ASCII byte"
+                    );
                     list.extend_from_slice(&rest[..i]);
                     rest = &rest[i..];
                     while let Some(&c) = rest.first() {
diff --git a/src/runtime/bin_entry/mod.rs b/src/runtime/bin_entry/mod.rs
index 098d8c73ceaa..44dac7781e91 100644
--- a/src/runtime/bin_entry/mod.rs
+++ b/src/runtime/bin_entry/mod.rs
@@ -157,6 +157,10 @@ pub(crate) unsafe extern "C" fn main(argc: c_int, argv: *const *const c_char) ->
     // 1. Crash handler first so anything below gets a usable trace.
     bun_crash_handler::init();
 
+    // Before the first string conversion: simdutf's CPUID dispatch may have
+    // picked a stub that returns 0 for every call.
+    bun_simdutf_sys::simdutf::init();
+
     use_mimalloc_in_dependencies();
 
     // SIGPIPE/SIGXFSZ → SIG_IGN.
diff --git a/src/simdutf_sys/bun-simdutf.cpp b/src/simdutf_sys/bun-simdutf.cpp
index 6afd6862ddc1..7c912eb76f12 100644
--- a/src/simdutf_sys/bun-simdutf.cpp
+++ b/src/simdutf_sys/bun-simdutf.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,24 @@ typedef struct SIMDUTFResult {
 
 extern "C" {
 
+// When CPUID advertises none of the compiled-in kernels (QEMU's default CPU
+// model hides SSE4.2 that the host executes), simdutf installs a stub whose
+// every method returns 0 / false. WTF builds simdutf without the scalar
+// fallback, so pick the last kernel in the priority-ordered list: on x64 that
+// is westmere, the same -march=nehalem baseline the whole binary runs.
+void simdutf__init()
+{
+    if (simdutf::get_active_implementation()->name() != "unsupported")
+        return;
+
+    const simdutf::implementation* least_demanding = nullptr;
+    for (const simdutf::implementation* impl : simdutf::get_available_implementations())
+        least_demanding = impl;
+
+    if (least_demanding)
+        simdutf::get_active_implementation() = least_demanding;
+}
+
 bool simdutf__validate_utf8(const char* buf, size_t len)
 {
     return simdutf::validate_utf8(buf, len);
diff --git a/src/simdutf_sys/simdutf.rs b/src/simdutf_sys/simdutf.rs
index 47be59bcb46d..74ec55a5eae1 100644
--- a/src/simdutf_sys/simdutf.rs
+++ b/src/simdutf_sys/simdutf.rs
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ impl Status {
 }
 
 unsafe extern "C" {
+    safe fn simdutf__init();
     pub(crate) fn simdutf__validate_utf8(buf: *const u8, len: usize) -> bool;
     pub(crate) fn simdutf__validate_utf8_with_errors(buf: *const u8, len: usize) -> SIMDUTFResult;
     pub fn simdutf__validate_ascii(buf: *const u8, len: usize) -> bool;
@@ -60,6 +61,12 @@ unsafe extern "C" {
     pub fn simdutf__utf8_length_from_latin1(input: *const u8, length: usize) -> usize;
 }
 
+/// Replaces simdutf's "unsupported" stub (every call returns 0 / false) with a
+/// compiled-in kernel. Call once at process start, before any thread.
+pub fn init() {
+    simdutf__init();
+}
+
 pub mod validate {
     use super::*;
 
diff --git a/test/regression/issue/41361.test.ts b/test/regression/issue/41361.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..751fd8e6fbe3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/regression/issue/41361.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import { expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { bunEnv, bunExe, tempDir } from "harness";
+
+// simdutf picks its SIMD kernel by CPUID at first use. When no compiled-in
+// kernel matches (QEMU's default CPU model hides SSE4.2), it installs a stub
+// whose every call returns 0 or false. SIMDUTF_FORCE_IMPLEMENTATION with an
+// unknown name installs the same stub on any machine. Bun used to spin forever
+// in a Latin-1 to UTF-8 loop on the first ASCII string longer than 32 bytes,
+// which is the entry point path, before it opened the entry file.
+test("bun starts when simdutf finds no supported kernel", async () => {
+  using dir = tempDir("simdutf-no-supported-kernel", {
+    "entry-file-with-a-name-longer-than-thirty-two-bytes.mjs": `console.log("ok");`,
+  });
+  await using proc = Bun.spawn({
+    cmd: [bunExe(), `${dir}/entry-file-with-a-name-longer-than-thirty-two-bytes.mjs`],
+    env: { ...bunEnv, SIMDUTF_FORCE_IMPLEMENTATION: "bogus" },
+    cwd: String(dir),
+    stdout: "pipe",
+    stderr: "pipe",
+  });
+  const [stdout, stderr, exitCode] = await Promise.all([proc.stdout.text(), proc.stderr.text(), proc.exited]);
+  expect(stdout).toBe("ok\n");
+  expect(stderr).toBe("");
+  expect(proc.signalCode).toBeNull();
+  expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+});