diff --git a/clients/web/src/components/groups/SchemaForm/SchemaForm.test.tsx b/clients/web/src/components/groups/SchemaForm/SchemaForm.test.tsx
index a11fe0b1..47de56d2 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/components/groups/SchemaForm/SchemaForm.test.tsx
+++ b/clients/web/src/components/groups/SchemaForm/SchemaForm.test.tsx
@@ -2002,9 +2002,15 @@ describe("SchemaForm enlarge keyboard access (#2138)", () => {
   // Seeds a value and holds it in real state. A stub `onChange` would leave the
   // field's value frozen, which makes "the value did not change" assertions
   // pass whatever the component does.
-  function SeededHarness({ maxLength }: { maxLength?: number }) {
+  function SeededHarness({
+    maxLength,
+    initial = "abc",
+  }: {
+    maxLength?: number;
+    initial?: unknown;
+  }) {
     const [values, setValues] = useState<Record<string, unknown>>({
-      note: "abc",
+      note: initial,
     });
     return (
       <SchemaForm
@@ -2252,6 +2258,34 @@ describe("SchemaForm enlarge keyboard access (#2138)", () => {
     expect(noteField().value).toBe("a\n");
   });
 
+  // `values` is a Record<string, unknown> fed by whatever a server declares, so
+  // a string field can arrive holding a number. It renders as text, and slicing
+  // it as a string would throw — turning one keystroke into a crashed panel
+  // (#2139 review). Reading the control's own value keeps it a string.
+  it("survives a non-string value on a string field", () => {
+    renderWithMantine(<SeededHarness initial={123} />);
+
+    expect(noteField().value).toBe("123");
+    noteField().setSelectionRange(3, 3);
+    fireEvent.keyDown(noteField(), { key: "Enter" });
+
+    expect(noteField().tagName).toBe("TEXTAREA");
+    expect(noteField().value).toBe("123\n");
+  });
+
+  // Even when the newline does not fit, the keyboard had a real caret position
+  // and it is kept — otherwise the user editing the middle of a full field is
+  // thrown to the end on top of not getting their newline.
+  it("keeps the caret where it was when the newline does not fit", () => {
+    renderWithMantine(<SeededHarness maxLength={3} />);
+
+    noteField().setSelectionRange(1, 1);
+    fireEvent.keyDown(noteField(), { key: "Enter" });
+
+    expect(noteField().value).toBe("abc");
+    expect(noteField().selectionStart).toBe(1);
+  });
+
   // The control: the same seeded field with no maxLength does take the newline,
   // so the test above is showing the constraint at work rather than a field
   // that never accepts one.
diff --git a/clients/web/src/components/groups/SchemaForm/SchemaForm.tsx b/clients/web/src/components/groups/SchemaForm/SchemaForm.tsx
index 76603591..52daebbb 100644
--- a/clients/web/src/components/groups/SchemaForm/SchemaForm.tsx
+++ b/clients/web/src/components/groups/SchemaForm/SchemaForm.tsx
@@ -762,7 +762,14 @@ export function SchemaForm({
       // A field with no room left for the newline is enlarged without one,
       // since the alternative is breaching a maxLength the schema states.
       const enlargeWithNewline = (input: HTMLInputElement) => {
-        const current = (rawValue as string) ?? "";
+        // The control's own value, not the form's. Two reasons, and the second
+        // is the one that bites: it is the exact string the selection offsets
+        // below index into, and it is always a string. `values` is a
+        // `Record<string, unknown>` fed by whatever a server's schema declares,
+        // so a non-string default on a string field (`default: 123`) arrives
+        // here as a number — it renders as text, and would then throw on
+        // `.slice`, turning a keystroke into a crashed panel.
+        const current = input.value;
         // A control that cannot report a selection (`selectionStart` is null
         // for some input types) is treated as a caret at the end.
         const start = input.selectionStart ?? current.length;
@@ -771,13 +778,15 @@ export function SchemaForm({
         const fits =
           fieldSchema.maxLength === undefined ||
           next.length <= fieldSchema.maxLength;
-        if (fits) {
-          handleFieldChange(fieldName, next);
-          setEnlargeCarets((previous) => ({
-            ...previous,
-            [fieldName]: start + 1,
-          }));
-        }
+        if (fits) handleFieldChange(fieldName, next);
+        // The caret is recorded either way. The keyboard route always has a
+        // real position, so dropping it when the newline does not fit would
+        // send the caret to the end of a field the user was editing the middle
+        // of — a second surprise on top of the newline they did not get.
+        setEnlargeCarets((previous) => ({
+          ...previous,
+          [fieldName]: fits ? start + 1 : start,
+        }));
         enlarge();
       };