diff --git a/lib/data/repo_note.dart b/lib/data/repo_note.dart
index 143fb14..c74c604 100644
--- a/lib/data/repo_note.dart
+++ b/lib/data/repo_note.dart
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ library;
 
 import 'package:todo/data/note.dart';
 import 'package:todo/data/note_repository.dart';
-import 'package:todo/data/note_template.dart';
 import 'package:uuid/uuid.dart';
 
 /// Statuses that count as open.
@@ -31,8 +30,15 @@ String repoSection(String title, String body) {
 Priority maxPriority(Priority a, Priority b) => a.value >= b.value ? a : b;
 
 /// Title line and rest of a note's text.
-({String title, String body}) splitNote(String text) =>
-    (title: noteTitle(text), body: text.split('\n').skip(1).join('\n').trim());
+({String title, String body}) splitNote(String text) {
+  final lines = text.split('\n');
+  final first = lines.indexWhere((l) => l.trim().isNotEmpty);
+  if (first < 0) return (title: '', body: '');
+  return (
+    title: lines[first].trim().replaceFirst(RegExp(r'^#+\s*'), ''),
+    body: lines.skip(first + 1).join('\n').trim(),
+  );
+}
 
 /// Oldest first; ties broken by id so the choice is deterministic.
 int byAge(Note a, Note b) {
diff --git a/pubspec.yaml b/pubspec.yaml
index 2cfd9ef..33f71f0 100644
--- a/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/pubspec.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ publish_to: 'none' # Remove this line if you wish to publish to pub.dev
 # https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/General/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Articles/CoreFoundationKeys.html
 # In Windows, build-name is used as the major, minor, and patch parts
 # of the product and file versions while build-number is used as the build suffix.
-version: 1.0.57+1
+version: 1.0.58+1
 
 environment:
   sdk: ^3.12.2
diff --git a/test/repo_note_test.dart b/test/repo_note_test.dart
index 1d00ae9..8bec462 100644
--- a/test/repo_note_test.dart
+++ b/test/repo_note_test.dart
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ void main() {
     });
   });
 
+  test('splitNote of blank text is empty', () {
+    expect(splitNote(' \n'), (title: '', body: ''));
+  });
+
   group('addRepoTask', () {
     late NoteRepository repo;
     setUp(() async => repo = await NoteRepository.openInMemory());
@@ -165,6 +169,11 @@ void main() {
       );
     });
 
+    test('a leading blank line and a # prefix do not leak into sections', () {
+      final plan = planRepoMerges([_n('a', '\n# Title\nbody')]);
+      expect(plan.single.kept.text, 'wake-alarm todos\n\n## Title\nbody');
+    });
+
     test('closed notes and plain ideas are ignored', () {
       final idea = Note(
         id: 'i',