diff --git a/internal/server/decode_json_nul_test.go b/internal/server/decode_json_nul_test.go
index 331971678..7392a98a2 100644
--- a/internal/server/decode_json_nul_test.go
+++ b/internal/server/decode_json_nul_test.go
@@ -1024,3 +1024,29 @@ func TestOAuthRegisterRefusesNULBody(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("the refusal should name the cause, got %s", rr.Body.String())
 	}
 }
+
+// TestBodyDecodesNULMatchesKeysLikeTheDecoder is codex round 16: encoding/json
+// matches an incoming key to a struct field by an exact match first and a
+// CASE-INSENSITIVE one otherwise, so `{"Fields":...}` lands in
+// ItemCreate.Fields exactly as `{"fields":...}` does. A case-sensitive lookup
+// in the walk skipped the nested check for a body the handler then accepted,
+// and the database answered the original 500.
+//
+// Measured before the fix: `fields` refused, `Fields` and `FIELDS` accepted.
+func TestBodyDecodesNULMatchesKeysLikeTheDecoder(t *testing.T) {
+	inner := `{"k":"a` + escNULLiteral + `b"}`
+	for _, key := range []string{"fields", "Fields", "FIELDS", "fIeLdS", "Schema", "TAGS"} {
+		body := `{"title":"x","` + key + `":` + jsonEncode(t, inner) + `}`
+		if !bodyDecodesNUL([]byte(body)) {
+			t.Errorf("key %q reaches the same struct field as its lower-case spelling and must be "+
+				"walked the same way", key)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Control: a key that is not a wire key in ANY casing stays caller data,
+	// so this is case-insensitive matching rather than matching everything.
+	notAKey := `{"title":"x","Notes":` + jsonEncode(t, inner) + `}`
+	if bodyDecodesNUL([]byte(notAKey)) {
+		t.Error("an unlisted key must not be treated as JSON-encoded whatever its casing")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/server/middleware_request_text.go b/internal/server/middleware_request_text.go
index b38af233f..2895a3e97 100644
--- a/internal/server/middleware_request_text.go
+++ b/internal/server/middleware_request_text.go
@@ -478,6 +478,28 @@ var jsonEncodedFieldKeys = map[string]bool{
 	"traits":         true,
 }
 
+// isJSONEncodedFieldKey matches a wire key the way the DECODER that consumes
+// it does: case-insensitively.
+//
+// encoding/json matches an incoming key to a struct field by an exact match
+// first and a CASE-INSENSITIVE one otherwise, so `{"Fields":...}` and
+// `{"FIELDS":...}` both land in ItemCreate.Fields. A case-SENSITIVE lookup
+// here therefore skipped the nested walk for a body the handler went on to
+// accept, and the database answered the original 500 (codex round 16,
+// measured: `fields` refused, `Fields` and `FIELDS` accepted).
+//
+// This is the same defect shape as the rest of BUG-2803 — a check that agrees
+// with one layer's rules while the layer that actually consumes the value
+// uses different ones — and it is the reason this predicate is a function
+// rather than a bare map index: the map is the vocabulary, the MATCHING RULE
+// belongs to the consumer.
+func isJSONEncodedFieldKey(k string) bool {
+	if jsonEncodedFieldKeys[k] {
+		return true
+	}
+	return jsonEncodedFieldKeys[strings.ToLower(k)]
+}
+
 // valueDecodesNUL walks a decoded request body for a string that contains a
 // NUL, descending into a JSON document carried as a string exactly once.
 //
@@ -520,7 +542,7 @@ func valueDecodesNUL(v any, inUserData bool) bool {
 			if strings.ContainsRune(k, 0) {
 				return true
 			}
-			if !inUserData && jsonEncodedFieldKeys[k] {
+			if !inUserData && isJSONEncodedFieldKey(k) {
 				if str, isString := sub.(string); isString {
 					// BOTH checks. The nested walk answers "is there an
 					// escape inside the document this string carries"; it