diff --git a/internal/dhtcrawler/persist.go b/internal/dhtcrawler/persist.go
index 9229f462a..67909adbe 100644
--- a/internal/dhtcrawler/persist.go
+++ b/internal/dhtcrawler/persist.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package dhtcrawler
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/bitmagnet-io/bitmagnet/internal/database/dao"
@@ -163,25 +165,34 @@ func createTorrentModel(
 	var filesCount model.NullUint
 
 	filesStatus := model.FilesStatusSingle
+	files := make([]model.TorrentFile, 0, min(int(saveFilesThreshold), len(info.Files)))
+
 	if len(info.Files) > 0 {
 		filesStatus = model.FilesStatusMulti
-		filesCount = model.NewNullUint(uint(len(info.Files)))
-	}
+		nonPaddingFiles := 0
 
-	files := make([]model.TorrentFile, 0, min(int(saveFilesThreshold), len(info.Files)))
+		for i, file := range info.Files {
+			if isPaddingFile(file) {
+				continue
+			}
 
-	for i, file := range info.Files {
-		if i >= int(saveFilesThreshold) {
-			filesStatus = model.FilesStatusOverThreshold
-			break
+			if nonPaddingFiles >= int(saveFilesThreshold) {
+				filesStatus = model.FilesStatusOverThreshold
+			} else {
+				// Persist only the subset of files we keep locally;
+				// the DB entry count still reflects every non-padding file.
+				files = append(files, model.TorrentFile{
+					InfoHash: hash,
+					Index:    uint(i),
+					Path:     file.DisplayPath(&info),
+					Size:     uint(file.Length),
+				})
+			}
+
+			nonPaddingFiles++
 		}
 
-		files = append(files, model.TorrentFile{
-			InfoHash: hash,
-			Index:    uint(i),
-			Path:     file.DisplayPath(&info),
-			Size:     uint(file.Length),
-		})
+		filesCount = model.NewNullUint(uint(nonPaddingFiles))
 	}
 
 	var pieces model.TorrentPieces
@@ -211,6 +222,33 @@ func createTorrentModel(
 	}, nil
 }
 
+func isPaddingFile(file metainfo.FileInfo) bool {
+	if strings.Contains(file.Attr, "p") {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	pathSegments := file.BestPath()
+	if len(pathSegments) > 0 {
+		lastSegment := pathSegments[len(pathSegments)-1]
+		if strings.HasPrefix(lastSegment, "_____padding_file_") {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	for i := 0; i < len(pathSegments)-1; i++ {
+		if pathSegments[i] != ".pad" {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if size, err := strconv.ParseInt(pathSegments[i+1], 10, 64); err == nil && size == file.Length {
+			// Recommended BEP47 path format: .pad/<length>.
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
 const classifyBatchSize = 100
 
 // runPersistSources waits on the persistSources channel for scraped torrents, and persists sources
diff --git a/internal/dhtcrawler/persist_test.go b/internal/dhtcrawler/persist_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ab09de37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/dhtcrawler/persist_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+package dhtcrawler
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/bitmagnet-io/bitmagnet/internal/model"
+	"github.com/bitmagnet-io/bitmagnet/internal/protocol"
+	"github.com/bitmagnet-io/bitmagnet/internal/protocol/metainfo"
+)
+
+func TestCreateTorrentModelSkipsPaddingFiles(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	hash := protocol.MustParseID("0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567")
+	info := metainfo.Info{
+		Name: "test",
+		Files: []metainfo.FileInfo{
+			{
+				Path:   []string{"foo.txt"},
+				Length: 10,
+			},
+			{
+				Path: []string{"attr", "padding.bin"},
+				ExtendedFileAttrs: metainfo.ExtendedFileAttrs{
+					Attr: "p",
+				},
+				Length: 20,
+			},
+			{
+				Path:   []string{".pad", "30"},
+				Length: 30,
+			},
+			{
+				Path:   []string{"bar", "baz.bin"},
+				Length: 40,
+			},
+		},
+		PieceLength: 4,
+	}
+
+	torrent, err := createTorrentModel(hash, info, false, 10)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Len(t, torrent.Files, 2)
+	assert.Equal(t, uint(0), torrent.Files[0].Index)
+	assert.Equal(t, uint(3), torrent.Files[1].Index)
+
+	if assert.True(t, torrent.FilesCount.Valid) {
+		assert.Equal(t, uint(2), torrent.FilesCount.Uint)
+	}
+	assert.Equal(t, model.FilesStatusMulti, torrent.FilesStatus)
+}
+
+func TestCreateTorrentModelCountsNonPaddingFilesPastThreshold(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	hash := protocol.MustParseID("abcdefabcdefabcdefabcdefabcdefabcdefabcd")
+	info := metainfo.Info{
+		Name: "test",
+		Files: []metainfo.FileInfo{
+			{
+				Path: []string{".pad", "1"},
+				ExtendedFileAttrs: metainfo.ExtendedFileAttrs{
+					Attr: "p",
+				},
+				Length: 1,
+			},
+			{
+				Path:   []string{"a.bin"},
+				Length: 10,
+			},
+			{
+				Path:   []string{"b.bin"},
+				Length: 20,
+			},
+		},
+		PieceLength: 4,
+	}
+
+	torrent, err := createTorrentModel(hash, info, false, 1)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, model.FilesStatusOverThreshold, torrent.FilesStatus)
+	if assert.True(t, torrent.FilesCount.Valid) {
+		assert.Equal(t, uint(2), torrent.FilesCount.Uint)
+	}
+	require.Len(t, torrent.Files, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, uint(1), torrent.Files[0].Index)
+}
diff --git a/internal/protocol/metainfo/metainfo.go b/internal/protocol/metainfo/metainfo.go
index 22a92b63b..191715471 100644
--- a/internal/protocol/metainfo/metainfo.go
+++ b/internal/protocol/metainfo/metainfo.go
@@ -3,3 +3,5 @@ package metainfo
 import mi "github.com/anacrolix/torrent/metainfo"
 
 type Info = mi.Info
+type FileInfo = mi.FileInfo
+type ExtendedFileAttrs = mi.ExtendedFileAttrs