diff --git a/apps/readest-app/src/__tests__/app/opds/opds-utils.test.ts b/apps/readest-app/src/__tests__/app/opds/opds-utils.test.ts
index 8c1a7929..a532408f 100644
--- a/apps/readest-app/src/__tests__/app/opds/opds-utils.test.ts
+++ b/apps/readest-app/src/__tests__/app/opds/opds-utils.test.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ import {
   isSearchLink,
   resolveURL,
   getFileExtFromPath,
+  looksLikeXMLContent,
   MIME,
   validateOPDSURL,
 } from '@/app/opds/utils/opdsUtils';
@@ -354,6 +355,46 @@ describe('opdsUtils', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('looksLikeXMLContent', () => {
+    it('detects XML that starts with the root element directly', () => {
+      expect(looksLikeXMLContent('<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"></feed>')).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('detects XML with an <?xml ?> declaration', () => {
+      expect(looksLikeXMLContent('<?xml version="1.0"?><feed></feed>')).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    // Regression for https://github.com/readest/readest/issues/4181
+    // The Hungarian MEK catalog returns XML feeds with leading whitespace and
+    // newlines before <feed> (and no <?xml ?> declaration). A naive
+    // text.startsWith('<') check misfired, sending the body to JSON.parse.
+    it('detects XML with leading whitespace and newlines', () => {
+      expect(looksLikeXMLContent('  \n  <feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"></feed>')).toBe(
+        true,
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('detects XML with a leading UTF-8 BOM', () => {
+      expect(looksLikeXMLContent('<feed></feed>')).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('returns false for JSON content', () => {
+      expect(looksLikeXMLContent('{"metadata":{}}')).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('returns false for JSON with leading whitespace', () => {
+      expect(looksLikeXMLContent('  \n  {"metadata":{}}')).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('returns false for plain text', () => {
+      expect(looksLikeXMLContent('Just some plain text')).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('returns false for an empty string', () => {
+      expect(looksLikeXMLContent('')).toBe(false);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('validateOPDSURL', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
       mockFetchWithAuth.mockReset();
@@ -522,6 +563,22 @@ describe('opdsUtils', () => {
       expect(result.isValid).toBe(true);
     });
 
+    // Regression for https://github.com/readest/readest/issues/4181
+    it('should accept an XML feed with leading whitespace and a text/html Content-Type', async () => {
+      const xmlFeed = `  \n<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">\n  <title>MEK</title>\n</feed>`;
+
+      mockFetchWithAuth.mockResolvedValue({
+        ok: true,
+        url: 'https://bookserver.mek.oszk.hu/all/epub/0',
+        text: () => Promise.resolve(xmlFeed),
+        headers: new Headers({ 'Content-Type': 'text/html' }),
+      } as Response);
+
+      const result = await validateOPDSURL('https://bookserver.mek.oszk.hu/all/epub/0');
+      expect(result.isValid).toBe(true);
+      expect(result.data?.type).toBe('feed');
+    });
+
     it('should return invalid for XML that is not a recognized OPDS document type', async () => {
       const xmlDoc = `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <catalog>
diff --git a/apps/readest-app/src/app/opds/page.tsx b/apps/readest-app/src/app/opds/page.tsx
index 3013a62f..ce665f60 100644
--- a/apps/readest-app/src/app/opds/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/readest-app/src/app/opds/page.tsx
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import { OPDSFeed, OPDSPublication, OPDSSearch } from '@/types/opds';
 import {
   getFileExtFromPath,
   isSearchLink,
+  looksLikeXMLContent,
   MIME,
   parseMediaType,
   resolveURL,
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@ export default function BrowserPage() {
         const responseURL = res.url;
         const text = await res.text();
 
-        if (text.startsWith('<')) {
+        if (looksLikeXMLContent(text)) {
           const doc = new DOMParser().parseFromString(text, MIME.XML as DOMParserSupportedType);
           const {
             documentElement: { localName },
diff --git a/apps/readest-app/src/app/opds/utils/opdsUtils.ts b/apps/readest-app/src/app/opds/utils/opdsUtils.ts
index 4717fe28..40d2e907 100644
--- a/apps/readest-app/src/app/opds/utils/opdsUtils.ts
+++ b/apps/readest-app/src/app/opds/utils/opdsUtils.ts
@@ -68,6 +68,20 @@ export const parseMediaType = (str?: string) => {
   };
 };
 
+/**
+ * Detect whether an OPDS response body is XML rather than JSON.
+ *
+ * Some OPDS servers (e.g. the Hungarian MEK catalog, issue #4181) return XML
+ * feeds with leading whitespace/newlines before the root element — sometimes
+ * without an `<?xml ?>` declaration — and a wrong `text/html` Content-Type. A
+ * naive `text.startsWith('<')` check then misfires and the body is handed to
+ * JSON.parse, producing "Unexpected token '<' ... is not valid JSON".
+ *
+ * Trimming leading whitespace (which also strips a UTF-8 BOM) before the
+ * check makes detection robust regardless of Content-Type.
+ */
+export const looksLikeXMLContent = (text: string): boolean => text.trimStart().startsWith('<');
+
 export const isSearchLink = (link: OPDSBaseLink): boolean => {
   const rels = Array.isArray(link.rel) ? link.rel : [link.rel || ''];
   return rels.includes('search') && (link.type === MIME.OPENSEARCH || link.type === MIME.ATOM);
@@ -131,7 +145,7 @@ export const validateOPDSURL = async (
     const text = await res.text();
 
     // Check if it's XML-based OPDS
-    if (text.startsWith('<')) {
+    if (looksLikeXMLContent(text)) {
       const doc = new DOMParser().parseFromString(text, MIME.XML as DOMParserSupportedType);
       const {
         documentElement: { localName },