diff --git a/scripts/stoa-dfm/dfm/ui/window_config_page_fields.py b/scripts/stoa-dfm/dfm/ui/window_config_page_fields.py
index dcce960..3beb741 100644
--- a/scripts/stoa-dfm/dfm/ui/window_config_page_fields.py
+++ b/scripts/stoa-dfm/dfm/ui/window_config_page_fields.py
@@ -3,12 +3,18 @@
 import gi
 gi.require_version("Gtk", "4.0")
 gi.require_version("Adw", "1")
-from gi.repository import Gtk, Adw, Gdk
+from gi.repository import Gtk, Adw, Gdk, GLib
 
 from dfm.core.parser import ConfigField, FieldType, ParsedConfig, BOOL_TRUE
 from dfm.core.scanner import DotfileEntry
 
 
+def _esc(text: str) -> str:
+    # Adw row titles/subtitles parse Pango markup; escape user-supplied
+    # text from config files so '&' and '<' don't blow up the parser.
+    return GLib.markup_escape_text(text or "")
+
+
 def auto_range(key: str, current_val: float) -> tuple[float, float, float]:
     """Pick a reasonable (lo, hi, step) for a numeric key."""
     key_lower = key.lower()
@@ -43,9 +49,9 @@ def create_field_row(builder, field: ConfigField, parsed: ParsedConfig,
                      entry: DotfileEntry) -> Adw.ActionRow | None:
     """Create a row widget appropriate for the field's type."""
     ftype = field.field_type if hasattr(field, "field_type") else getattr(field, "type", None)
-    key = field.key
+    key = _esc(field.key)
     value = field.value
-    description = getattr(field, "comment", "") or ""
+    description = _esc(getattr(field, "comment", "") or "")
 
     if ftype == FieldType.COMMENT:
         return None
diff --git a/scripts/stoa-dfm/dfm/ui/window_config_page_sections.py b/scripts/stoa-dfm/dfm/ui/window_config_page_sections.py
index 8a9dcb1..89617b4 100644
--- a/scripts/stoa-dfm/dfm/ui/window_config_page_sections.py
+++ b/scripts/stoa-dfm/dfm/ui/window_config_page_sections.py
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ def build_deps(entry: DotfileEntry) -> Gtk.Widget | None:
 
 
 def build_notes(builder, entry: DotfileEntry) -> Gtk.Widget:
-    group = Adw.PreferencesGroup(title="Notes & Tags")
+    group = Adw.PreferencesGroup(title="Notes &amp; Tags")
 
     note = get_note(entry.name)
     note_text = note.note if note else ""
diff --git a/theme/gtk-4.0/settings.ini b/theme/gtk-4.0/settings.ini
index 316fe17..b42045d 100644
--- a/theme/gtk-4.0/settings.ini
+++ b/theme/gtk-4.0/settings.ini
@@ -9,4 +9,8 @@ gtk-icon-theme-name = Colloid-dark
 gtk-cursor-theme-name = Colloid-cursors
 gtk-cursor-theme-size = 24
 gtk-font-name = EB Garamond 11
-gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme = true
+# Dark mode for GTK4 / libadwaita is driven by
+# org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme = 'prefer-dark', set by
+# theme/pacman-hooks/stoa-theme-enforce. The legacy
+# gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme key is unsupported under libadwaita
+# (emits an Adwaita-WARNING on every app launch) and was removed.