diff --git a/network/msgCompressor.go b/network/msgCompressor.go
index 6b51476726..34c18bb373 100644
--- a/network/msgCompressor.go
+++ b/network/msgCompressor.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package network
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"sync/atomic"
@@ -219,7 +220,11 @@ func (c *wsPeerMsgCodec) decompress(tag protocol.Tag, data []byte) ([]byte, erro
 		if c.avdec.enabled {
 			res, err := c.avdec.convert(data)
 			if err != nil {
-				c.log.Warnf("peer %s vote decompress error: %v", c.origin, err)
+				if errors.Is(err, vpack.ErrLikelyUncompressed) {
+					// allow uncompressed AV to pass through without logging an error
+				} else {
+					c.log.Warnf("peer %s vote decompress error: %v", c.origin, err)
+				}
 				// fall back to original data
 				return data, nil
 			}
diff --git a/network/vpack/parse_test.go b/network/vpack/parse_test.go
index 0ad6230c8a..866c0e9ea0 100644
--- a/network/vpack/parse_test.go
+++ b/network/vpack/parse_test.go
@@ -187,3 +187,66 @@ func TestParseVoteTrailingDataErr(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := se.CompressVote(nil, buf)
 	assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "unexpected trailing data")
 }
+
+// TestUncompressedMsgpackDetection tests that decompression errors on uncompressed
+// msgpack data get wrapped with ErrLikelyUncompressed, while corrupted vpack data does not.
+func TestUncompressedMsgpackDetection(t *testing.T) {
+	partitiontest.PartitionTest(t)
+
+	// Create a vote structure shared by both subtests
+	vote := map[string]any{
+		"cred": map[string]any{"pf": crypto.VrfProof{7, 8, 9}},
+		"r": map[string]any{
+			"rnd":  uint64(1000),
+			"per":  uint64(5),
+			"step": uint64(2),
+			"snd":  [32]byte{1, 2, 3},
+			"prop": map[string]any{
+				"dig": [32]byte{4, 5, 6},
+			},
+		},
+		"sig": map[string]any{
+			"s":   [64]byte{10, 11, 12},
+			"p":   [32]byte{13, 14, 15},
+			"p2":  [32]byte{16, 17, 18},
+			"p1s": [64]byte{22, 23, 24},
+			"p2s": [64]byte{25, 26, 27},
+			"ps":  [64]byte{},
+		},
+	}
+
+	t.Run("uncompressed_detected", func(t *testing.T) {
+		msgpackData := protocol.EncodeReflect(vote)
+
+		// Verify it starts with the uncompressed msgpack pattern
+		assert.GreaterOrEqual(t, len(msgpackData), 6)
+		assert.Equal(t, byte(0x83), msgpackData[0], "uncompressed vote should start with fixmap(3)")
+		assert.Equal(t, byte(0xa4), msgpackData[1], "followed by fixstr(4)")
+		assert.Equal(t, "cred", string(msgpackData[2:6]), "field name should be 'cred'")
+
+		// Try to decompress as vpack - should fail with ErrLikelyUncompressed
+		var dec StatelessDecoder
+		_, err := dec.DecompressVote(nil, msgpackData)
+
+		assert.Error(t, err)
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, err, ErrLikelyUncompressed, "should detect uncompressed msgpack pattern")
+		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "data appears to be uncompressed msgpack")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("corrupted_vpack_not_detected", func(t *testing.T) {
+		msgpackData := protocol.EncodeReflect(vote)
+		var enc StatelessEncoder
+		compressed, err := enc.CompressVote(nil, msgpackData)
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Corrupt the compressed data by truncating it
+		corrupted := compressed[:len(compressed)/2]
+
+		// Try to decompress - should fail but NOT with ErrLikelyUncompressed
+		var dec StatelessDecoder
+		_, err = dec.DecompressVote(nil, corrupted)
+
+		assert.Error(t, err)
+		assert.NotErrorIs(t, err, ErrLikelyUncompressed, "corrupted vpack should not be detected as uncompressed msgpack")
+	})
+}
diff --git a/network/vpack/vpack.go b/network/vpack/vpack.go
index 86cfc41567..ec377552a1 100644
--- a/network/vpack/vpack.go
+++ b/network/vpack/vpack.go
@@ -215,9 +215,31 @@ func (d *StatelessDecoder) proposalValueMapSize(mask uint8) uint8 {
 	return uint8(bits.OnesCount8(mask & (bitDig | bitEncDig | bitOper | bitOprop)))
 }
 
+// ErrLikelyUncompressed is returned when vpack decompression detects what appears
+// to be uncompressed msgpack data from a peer claiming vpack support.
+var ErrLikelyUncompressed = fmt.Errorf("data appears to be uncompressed msgpack")
+
+// isLikelyUncompressedMsgpack checks if the source data looks like an uncompressed
+// msgpack vote that was mistakenly treated as vpack-compressed.
+func isLikelyUncompressedMsgpack(src []byte) bool {
+	// uncompressed msgpack votes start with 0x83 (fixmap marker with 3 elements: cred, r, sig),
+	// followed by 0xa4 (fixstr marker of length 4), then "cred"
+	return len(src) > 5 && src[0] == 0x83 && src[1] == 0xa4 &&
+		src[2] == 'c' && src[3] == 'r' && src[4] == 'e' && src[5] == 'd'
+}
+
 // DecompressVote decodes a compressed vote in src and appends it to dst.
 // To re-use dst, run like: dst = dec.DecompressVote(dst[:0], src)
 func (d *StatelessDecoder) DecompressVote(dst, src []byte) ([]byte, error) {
+	result, err := d.decompressVote(dst, src)
+	if err != nil && isLikelyUncompressedMsgpack(src) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %v", ErrLikelyUncompressed, err)
+	}
+	return result, err
+}
+
+// decompressVote performs the actual decompression logic.
+func (d *StatelessDecoder) decompressVote(dst, src []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	if len(src) < 2 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("header missing")
 	}