diff --git a/scripts/i18n/lib/translate-backend.mjs b/scripts/i18n/lib/translate-backend.mjs
index 444d2a3545..77e4ca7d9e 100644
--- a/scripts/i18n/lib/translate-backend.mjs
+++ b/scripts/i18n/lib/translate-backend.mjs
@@ -119,6 +119,32 @@ export const TRANSLATION_SYSTEM = (englishName, native) =>
     `Keep punctuation and trailing whitespace identical to the source.`,
   ].join(" ");
 
+/**
+ * Restores the ICU literal escape the backends drop around angle placeholders.
+ *
+ * English writes `'<name>'`: those single quotes are ICU's escape, so the span
+ * renders as the literal text `<name>`. Translations come back as a bare
+ * `<nome>`, which ICU then parses as an (unclosed) tag and the message fails to
+ * compile — every locale in the first batch shipped two of these.
+ *
+ * Only messages whose English side quotes EVERY angle span are touched: when the
+ * source mixes real markup (`<b>`) with a literal span there is no safe way to
+ * tell which is which, so the translation is left exactly as it came back. An
+ * apostrophe inside the span is doubled, otherwise it closes the literal early.
+ */
+export function preserveIcuLiteralQuotes(englishValue, translated) {
+  if (typeof englishValue !== "string" || typeof translated !== "string") return translated;
+  if (!englishValue.includes("'<")) return translated;
+  // Every "<" in the source must be the start of an escaped span.
+  for (let i = 0; i < englishValue.length; i++) {
+    if (englishValue[i] === "<" && englishValue[i - 1] !== "'") return translated;
+  }
+  return translated.replace(
+    /(?<!')<([^<>]*)>(?!')/g,
+    (_m, inner) => `'<${inner.replace(/'/g, "''")}>'`
+  );
+}
+
 export async function translateString(englishValue, localeEntry, backend) {
   const englishName = localeEntry.english ?? localeEntry.name;
   const native = localeEntry.native ?? localeEntry.name;
@@ -127,7 +153,7 @@ export async function translateString(englishValue, localeEntry, backend) {
     { role: "user", content: englishValue },
   ];
   const out = await callChat(messages, backend);
-  return out.trim();
+  return preserveIcuLiteralQuotes(englishValue, out.trim());
 }
 
 // ----- Batch mode ----------------------------------------------------------
@@ -198,8 +224,14 @@ export async function translateBatch(entries, localeEntry, backend) {
     { role: "user", content: JSON.stringify(payload) },
   ];
   const out = await callChat(messages, backend);
-  return parseBatchResponse(
+  const parsed = parseBatchResponse(
     out,
     entries.map((e) => e.id)
   );
+  for (const entry of entries) {
+    if (typeof parsed[entry.id] === "string") {
+      parsed[entry.id] = preserveIcuLiteralQuotes(entry.text, parsed[entry.id]);
+    }
+  }
+  return parsed;
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/i18n-translate-backend-icu-quotes.test.ts b/tests/unit/i18n-translate-backend-icu-quotes.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c976cbfc7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/i18n-translate-backend-icu-quotes.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { preserveIcuLiteralQuotes } from "../../scripts/i18n/lib/translate-backend.mjs";
+
+// The English catalog escapes angle placeholders for ICU: the single quotes in
+// '<name>' make the span literal text. Translation backends drop them, and the
+// message then parses as an unclosed ICU tag — every locale added in batch 1
+// shipped two such strings before CI caught them.
+test("re-escapes an angle span the translation left bare", () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    preserveIcuLiteralQuotes(
+      "Regenerate ~/.claude/profiles/'<name>'/settings.json",
+      "Regenerar ~/.claude/profiles/<nome>/settings.json"
+    ),
+    "Regenerar ~/.claude/profiles/'<nome>'/settings.json"
+  );
+});
+
+test("doubles an apostrophe inside the span, which would close the literal early", () => {
+  assert.equal(
+    preserveIcuLiteralQuotes("'<your OmniRoute API key>'", "<teie OmniRoute'i API-võti>"),
+    "'<teie OmniRoute''i API-võti>'"
+  );
+});
+
+test("leaves a translation that already carries the quotes untouched", () => {
+  const already = "'<seu token>'";
+  assert.equal(preserveIcuLiteralQuotes("'<your token>'", already), already);
+});
+
+test("does not touch messages whose English has a real unquoted tag", () => {
+  // <b> here is markup the translation must keep as markup, not literal text.
+  const translated = "Clique em <b>Salvar</b> e em '<nome>'";
+  assert.equal(preserveIcuLiteralQuotes("Click <b>Save</b> and '<name>'", translated), translated);
+});
+
+test("leaves messages without angle spans alone", () => {
+  assert.equal(preserveIcuLiteralQuotes("Settings", "Nastavitve"), "Nastavitve");
+  assert.equal(
+    preserveIcuLiteralQuotes("Restricted to {count} endpoints", "Omejeno na {count} točk"),
+    "Omejeno na {count} točk"
+  );
+});