diff --git a/mcp_servers/email_server.py b/mcp_servers/email_server.py
index b43eeca87..227c89939 100644
--- a/mcp_servers/email_server.py
+++ b/mcp_servers/email_server.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ from mcp.types import Tool, TextContent
 
 sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent))
 
+from src.email_mime import decode_text_part as _decode_text_part
 server = Server("email")
 EMAIL_SOCKET_TIMEOUT = float(os.environ.get("EMAIL_SOCKET_TIMEOUT", "20"))
 from src.constants import DATA_DIR as _DATA_DIR, APP_DB, EMAIL_CACHE_DB, SETTINGS_FILE as _SETTINGS_FILE, MAIL_ATTACHMENTS_DIR
@@ -923,29 +924,25 @@ def _extract_text(msg):
     """Extract plain text body from email message."""
     if msg.is_multipart():
         text_parts = []
+        html_parts = []
         for part in msg.walk():
             ct = part.get_content_type()
             cd = str(part.get("Content-Disposition", ""))
             if ct == "text/plain" and "attachment" not in cd:
-                payload = part.get_payload(decode=True)
-                if payload:
-                    charset = part.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
-                    text_parts.append(payload.decode(charset, errors="replace"))
-            elif ct == "text/html" and not text_parts and "attachment" not in cd:
-                payload = part.get_payload(decode=True)
-                if payload:
-                    charset = part.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
-                    raw_html = payload.decode(charset, errors="replace")
+                text = _decode_text_part(part)
+                if text:
+                    text_parts.append(text)
+            elif ct == "text/html" and not html_parts and "attachment" not in cd:
+                raw_html = _decode_text_part(part)
+                if raw_html:
                     text = re.sub(r"<br\s*/?>", "\n", raw_html, flags=re.I)
                     text = re.sub(r"<[^>]+>", "", text)
                     text = html.unescape(text)
-                    text_parts.append(text.strip())
-        return "\n".join(text_parts)
+                    html_parts.append(text.strip())
+        return "\n".join(text_parts or html_parts)
     else:
-        payload = msg.get_payload(decode=True)
-        if payload:
-            charset = msg.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
-            text = payload.decode(charset, errors="replace")
+        text = _decode_text_part(msg)
+        if text:
             if msg.get_content_type() == "text/html":
                 text = re.sub(r"<br\s*/?>", "\n", text, flags=re.I)
                 text = re.sub(r"</(?:p|div|li|tr|h[1-6])\s*>", "\n", text, flags=re.I)
diff --git a/routes/email/email_helpers.py b/routes/email/email_helpers.py
index d697b2fe7..d6987f7b2 100644
--- a/routes/email/email_helpers.py
+++ b/routes/email/email_helpers.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ from fastapi import Query, HTTPException, Request
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 from typing import Optional, List
 
+from src.email_mime import decode_text_part as _decode_text_part
 from src.auth_helpers import _auth_disabled, get_current_user
 from src.secret_storage import decrypt as _decrypt
 from src.url_safety import OutboundAddressBlocked, connect_outbound_tcp
@@ -1776,44 +1777,38 @@ def _extract_html(msg):
             ct = part.get_content_type()
             cd = str(part.get("Content-Disposition", ""))
             if ct == "text/html" and "attachment" not in cd:
-                payload = part.get_payload(decode=True)
-                if payload:
-                    charset = part.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
-                    return payload.decode(charset, errors="replace")
+                text = _decode_text_part(part)
+                if text:
+                    return text
     elif msg.get_content_type() == "text/html":
-        payload = msg.get_payload(decode=True)
-        if payload:
-            charset = msg.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
-            return payload.decode(charset, errors="replace")
+        text = _decode_text_part(msg)
+        if text:
+            return text
     return None
 
 
 def _extract_text(msg):
     if msg.is_multipart():
         text_parts = []
+        html_parts = []
         for part in msg.walk():
             ct = part.get_content_type()
             cd = str(part.get("Content-Disposition", ""))
             if ct == "text/plain" and "attachment" not in cd:
-                payload = part.get_payload(decode=True)
-                if payload:
-                    charset = part.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
-                    text_parts.append(payload.decode(charset, errors="replace"))
-            elif ct == "text/html" and not text_parts and "attachment" not in cd:
-                payload = part.get_payload(decode=True)
-                if payload:
-                    charset = part.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
-                    raw_html = payload.decode(charset, errors="replace")
+                text = _decode_text_part(part)
+                if text:
+                    text_parts.append(text)
+            elif ct == "text/html" and not html_parts and "attachment" not in cd:
+                raw_html = _decode_text_part(part)
+                if raw_html:
                     text = re.sub(r"<br\s*/?>", "\n", raw_html, flags=re.I)
                     text = re.sub(r"<[^>]+>", "", text)
                     text = html.unescape(text)
-                    text_parts.append(text.strip())
-        return "\n".join(text_parts)
+                    html_parts.append(text.strip())
+        return "\n".join(text_parts or html_parts)
     else:
-        payload = msg.get_payload(decode=True)
-        if payload:
-            charset = msg.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
-            text = payload.decode(charset, errors="replace")
+        text = _decode_text_part(msg)
+        if text:
             if msg.get_content_type() == "text/html":
                 text = re.sub(r"<br\s*/?>", "\n", text, flags=re.I)
                 text = re.sub(r"</(?:p|div|li|tr|h[1-6])\s*>", "\n", text, flags=re.I)
diff --git a/src/email_mime.py b/src/email_mime.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..66945437d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/email_mime.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+"""Shared MIME text decoding for the web email helpers and MCP server."""
+
+
+def decode_text_part(part) -> str:
+    payload = part.get_payload(decode=True)
+    if not payload:
+        return ""
+    charset = part.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
+    try:
+        return payload.decode(charset, errors="replace")
+    except (LookupError, ValueError):
+        # Broken senders can label valid UTF-8 with an unsupported codec.
+        return payload.decode("utf-8", errors="replace")
diff --git a/tests/test_email_mime_body_decoding.py b/tests/test_email_mime_body_decoding.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea90663ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_email_mime_body_decoding.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+"""MIME alternatives are selected independently of part order and codec labels."""
+from email import message_from_bytes
+from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart
+from email.mime.text import MIMEText
+
+import pytest
+
+from mcp_servers.email_server import _extract_text as mcp_text
+from routes.email_helpers import _extract_html, _extract_text as route_text
+
+
+def alternative(order, plain='Body text', html='<p>Body text</p>'):
+    msg = MIMEMultipart('alternative')
+    parts = {'plain': MIMEText(plain, 'plain', 'utf-8'), 'html': MIMEText(html, 'html', 'utf-8')}
+    for kind in order:
+        msg.attach(parts[kind])
+    return message_from_bytes(msg.as_bytes())
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('extract', [route_text, mcp_text], ids=['route', 'mcp'])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('order', [('html', 'plain'), ('plain', 'html')])
+def test_plain_alternative_wins_in_either_order(extract, order):
+    assert extract(alternative(order)) == 'Body text'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('extract', [route_text, mcp_text], ids=['route', 'mcp'])
+def test_empty_plain_allows_html_fallback(extract):
+    assert extract(alternative(('plain', 'html'), plain='', html='Hello<br>world &amp; all')) == 'Hello\nworld & all'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('extract', [route_text, mcp_text], ids=['route', 'mcp'])
+def test_text_attachments_are_not_body_alternatives(extract):
+    msg = MIMEMultipart('mixed')
+    attachment = MIMEText('Attachment text', 'plain')
+    attachment.add_header('Content-Disposition', 'attachment', filename='note.txt')
+    msg.attach(attachment)
+    msg.attach(MIMEText('<p>Body text</p>', 'html'))
+    assert extract(msg) == 'Body text'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('extract', [route_text, mcp_text], ids=['route', 'mcp'])
+def test_multiple_plain_body_parts_remain_joined(extract):
+    msg = MIMEMultipart('mixed')
+    msg.attach(MIMEText('Part one', 'plain'))
+    msg.attach(MIMEText('Part two', 'plain'))
+    assert extract(msg) == 'Part one\nPart two'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('extract', [route_text, mcp_text], ids=['route', 'mcp'])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('kind', ['plain', 'html'])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('multipart', [False, True])
+def test_unknown_charset_falls_back_to_utf8(extract, kind, multipart):
+    body = 'Hello café' if kind == 'plain' else '<p>Hello café</p>'
+    raw = f'Content-Type: text/{kind}; charset=x-unknown\r\nContent-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\r\n\r\n'.encode()+body.encode()
+    part = message_from_bytes(raw)
+    if multipart:
+        msg = MIMEMultipart('mixed');msg.attach(part)
+    else:
+        msg = part
+    assert extract(msg) == 'Hello café'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('extract', [route_text, mcp_text], ids=['route', 'mcp'])
+def test_declared_latin1_is_preserved(extract):
+    assert extract(MIMEText('café', 'plain', 'iso-8859-1')) == 'café'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('multipart', [False, True])
+def test_raw_html_unknown_charset_is_readable(multipart):
+    part = message_from_bytes(b'Content-Type: text/html; charset=x-unknown\r\n\r\n<p>Hello caf\xc3\xa9</p>')
+    if multipart:
+        msg=MIMEMultipart('mixed');msg.attach(part)
+    else:msg=part
+    assert _extract_html(msg) == '<p>Hello café</p>'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('extract', [route_text, mcp_text], ids=['route', 'mcp'])
+def test_invalid_bytes_are_replaced_in_unknown_charset(extract):
+    msg=message_from_bytes(b'Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-unknown\r\n\r\nHello\xff')
+    assert extract(msg) == 'Hello\ufffd'