diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/CharacterMappings/cyrillic.json b/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/CharacterMappings/cyrillic.json
index 6dc4904618..5b45a4abf0 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/CharacterMappings/cyrillic.json
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/CharacterMappings/cyrillic.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "Cyrillic",
-  "description": "Russian Cyrillic to Latin transliteration",
+  "description": "Russian Cyrillic to Latin transliteration. NOTE: Uses original Umbraco mappings for backward compatibility with existing URLs, not ISO 9 or BGN/PCGN standard transliteration.",
   "priority": 0,
   "mappings": {
     "А": "A",
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterNew.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterNew.cs
index 247b5d37e5..d1327bab6f 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterNew.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterNew.cs
@@ -8,8 +8,29 @@ namespace Umbraco.Cms.Core.Strings;
 /// <summary>
 /// SIMD-optimized UTF-8 to ASCII converter with extensible character mappings.
 /// </summary>
+/// <remarks>
+/// <para>
+/// This converter uses a multi-step fallback strategy:
+/// 1. Dictionary lookup for special cases (ligatures, Cyrillic, special Latin)
+/// 2. Unicode normalization (FormD) for accented Latin characters
+/// 3. Control character stripping
+/// 4. Whitespace normalization
+/// 5. Fallback character for unmapped characters
+/// </para>
+/// <para>
+/// Most accented Latin characters (À, é, ñ, etc.) are handled automatically via
+/// Unicode normalization. Dictionary mappings are only needed for characters that
+/// don't decompose correctly (ligatures like Æ→AE, Cyrillic, special Latin like Ø→O).
+/// </para>
+/// </remarks>
 public sealed class Utf8ToAsciiConverterNew : IUtf8ToAsciiConverter
 {
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Maximum expansion ratio for output buffer sizing.
+    /// Worst case: single char becomes 4 chars (e.g., Щ→Shch in standard transliteration).
+    /// </summary>
+    private const int MaxExpansionRatio = 4;
+
     // SIMD-optimized ASCII detection (uses AVX-512 when available)
     private static readonly SearchValues<char> AsciiPrintable =
         SearchValues.Create(" !\"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@" +
@@ -39,8 +60,8 @@ public sealed class Utf8ToAsciiConverterNew : IUtf8ToAsciiConverter
             return text;
         }
 
-        // Allocate output buffer (worst case: each char becomes 4, e.g., Щ→Shch)
-        var maxLen = text.Length * 4;
+        // Allocate output buffer for worst-case expansion
+        var maxLen = text.Length * MaxExpansionRatio;
         char[] arrayBuffer = ArrayPool<char>.Shared.Rent(maxLen);
         try
         {
diff --git a/tests/Umbraco.Tests.UnitTests/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterGoldenTests.cs b/tests/Umbraco.Tests.UnitTests/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterGoldenTests.cs
index 2b9ea1ea97..d833a95e16 100644
--- a/tests/Umbraco.Tests.UnitTests/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterGoldenTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Umbraco.Tests.UnitTests/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterGoldenTests.cs
@@ -22,18 +22,24 @@ public class Utf8ToAsciiConverterGoldenTests
             "TestData",
             "golden-mappings.json");
 
-        if (File.Exists(testDataPath))
+        if (!File.Exists(testDataPath))
         {
-            var json = File.ReadAllText(testDataPath);
-            var doc = JsonDocument.Parse(json);
-            GoldenMappings = doc.RootElement
-                .GetProperty("mappings")
-                .EnumerateObject()
-                .ToDictionary(p => p.Name, p => p.Value.GetString() ?? "");
+            throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                $"Golden mappings file not found at: {testDataPath}. " +
+                "Ensure the test data is configured to copy to output directory.");
         }
-        else
+
+        var json = File.ReadAllText(testDataPath);
+        var doc = JsonDocument.Parse(json);
+        GoldenMappings = doc.RootElement
+            .GetProperty("mappings")
+            .EnumerateObject()
+            .ToDictionary(p => p.Name, p => p.Value.GetString() ?? "");
+
+        if (GoldenMappings.Count == 0)
         {
-            GoldenMappings = new Dictionary<string, string>();
+            throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                "Golden mappings file is empty. Test data may be corrupted.");
         }
     }
 
@@ -69,9 +75,23 @@ public class Utf8ToAsciiConverterGoldenTests
     public void NewConverter_MatchesOriginalBehavior(string input, string expected)
     {
         // Compare new implementation against original
-        var originalResult = Utf8ToAsciiConverter.ToAsciiString(input);
-        var newResult = _newConverter.Convert(input);
+        // Note: Original has buffer overflow bugs for chars that expand to 4+ chars (e.g., ⑽→(10))
+        string? originalResult;
+        try
+        {
+            originalResult = Utf8ToAsciiConverter.ToAsciiString(input);
+        }
+        catch (IndexOutOfRangeException)
+        {
+            // Original converter has known buffer bugs for high-expansion characters
+            // New converter fixes these - verify it produces the expected golden mapping
+            var newResult = _newConverter.Convert(input);
+            Assert.That(newResult, Is.EqualTo(expected),
+                $"Original throws IndexOutOfRangeException, but new converter should match golden mapping");
+            return;
+        }
 
-        Assert.That(newResult, Is.EqualTo(originalResult));
+        var result = _newConverter.Convert(input);
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo(originalResult));
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Umbraco.Tests.UnitTests/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterNewTests.cs b/tests/Umbraco.Tests.UnitTests/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterNewTests.cs
index 2bcff40f15..db2369648d 100644
--- a/tests/Umbraco.Tests.UnitTests/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterNewTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Umbraco.Tests.UnitTests/Umbraco.Core/Strings/Utf8ToAsciiConverterNewTests.cs
@@ -112,4 +112,104 @@ public class Utf8ToAsciiConverterNewTests
 
         Assert.That(_converter.Convert(input), Is.EqualTo(expected));
     }
+
+    // === Edge Cases: Control Characters ===
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_ControlCharacters_AreStripped()
+    {
+        // Tab, newline, carriage return should be stripped
+        var input = "hello\t\n\rworld";
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input);
+
+        // Control characters are stripped (not converted to space)
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo("helloworld"));
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_NullCharacter_IsStripped()
+    {
+        var input = "hello\0world";
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input);
+
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo("helloworld"));
+    }
+
+    // === Edge Cases: Whitespace Variants ===
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_NonBreakingSpace_NormalizesToSpace()
+    {
+        // Non-breaking space (U+00A0)
+        var input = "hello\u00A0world";
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input);
+
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo("hello world"));
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_EmSpace_NormalizesToSpace()
+    {
+        // Em space (U+2003)
+        var input = "hello\u2003world";
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input);
+
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo("hello world"));
+    }
+
+    // === Edge Cases: Empty Mappings ===
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_CyrillicHardSign_MapsToQuote()
+    {
+        // Ъ maps to " in original Umbraco implementation
+        var input = "Ъ";
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input);
+
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo("\""));
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_CyrillicSoftSign_MapsToApostrophe()
+    {
+        // Ь maps to ' in original Umbraco implementation
+        var input = "Ь";
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input);
+
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo("'"));
+    }
+
+    // === Edge Cases: Surrogate Pairs (Emoji) ===
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_Emoji_ReplacedWithFallback()
+    {
+        // Emoji (surrogate pair)
+        var input = "hello 😀 world";
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input);
+
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo("hello ? world"));
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_Emoji_CustomFallback()
+    {
+        var input = "test 🎉 emoji";
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input, fallback: '*');
+
+        Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo("test * emoji"));
+    }
+
+    // === Edge Cases: Long Input ===
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Convert_LongAsciiString_ReturnsSameReference()
+    {
+        // Pure ASCII should return same string instance (no allocation)
+        var input = new string('a', 10000);
+        var result = _converter.Convert(input);
+
+        Assert.That(ReferenceEquals(input, result), Is.True,
+            "Pure ASCII input should return same string instance");
+    }
 }