diff --git a/src/components/DynamicPropertiesPanel.tsx b/src/components/DynamicPropertiesPanel.tsx
index a6306f04..97d1aee3 100644
--- a/src/components/DynamicPropertiesPanel.tsx
+++ b/src/components/DynamicPropertiesPanel.tsx
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import type { ParsedFrontmatter } from '../utils/frontmatter'
 import { EditableValue, TagPillList } from './EditableValue'
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button'
 import { getTypeColor, getTypeLightColor } from '../utils/typeColors'
+import { countWords } from '../utils/wikilinks'
 
 const STATUS_STYLES: Record<string, { bg: string; color: string }> = {
   Active: { bg: 'var(--accent-green-light)', color: 'var(--accent-green)' },
@@ -37,12 +38,6 @@ export function containsWikilinks(value: FrontmatterValue): boolean {
   return false
 }
 
-function countWords(content: string | null): number {
-  if (!content) return 0
-  const stripped = content.replace(/^---[\s\S]*?---\n?/, '')
-  const words = stripped.trim().split(/\s+/).filter((w) => w.length > 0)
-  return words.length
-}
 
 function formatDate(timestamp: number | null): string {
   if (!timestamp) return '\u2014'
@@ -238,7 +233,7 @@ export function DynamicPropertiesPanel({
   const [editingKey, setEditingKey] = useState<string | null>(null)
   const [showAddDialog, setShowAddDialog] = useState(false)
 
-  const wordCount = countWords(content)
+  const wordCount = countWords(content ?? '')
 
   const propertyEntries = useMemo(() => {
     return Object.entries(frontmatter)
diff --git a/src/components/Inspector.test.tsx b/src/components/Inspector.test.tsx
index 6ffc6abb..515b6674 100644
--- a/src/components/Inspector.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Inspector.test.tsx
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ describe('Inspector', () => {
 
   it('computes word count from content minus frontmatter', () => {
     render(<Inspector {...defaultProps} entry={mockEntry} content={mockContent} />)
-    // "# Test Project" + "This is a test note with some words to count." = 13 words
-    expect(screen.getByText('13')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    // "Test Project" (# stripped) + "This is a test note with some words to count." = 12 words
+    expect(screen.getByText('12')).toBeInTheDocument()
   })
 
   it('shows "Add property" button as disabled placeholder', () => {
@@ -470,8 +470,11 @@ Status: Active
           allContent={{}}
         />
       )
-      // 2 entries reference via Belongs to
-      expect(screen.getByText('2')).toBeInTheDocument()
+      // 2 entries reference via Belongs to — badge appears in the Referenced by header
+      const allTwos = screen.getAllByText('2')
+      expect(allTwos.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1)
+      // At least one "2" is inside a badge (span with ml-1 class)
+      expect(allTwos.some(el => el.classList.contains('ml-1'))).toBe(true)
     })
 
     it('shows "No references" when no entries reference the current note', () => {
diff --git a/src/utils/wikilinks.test.ts b/src/utils/wikilinks.test.ts
index b2cc16b8..33161dcf 100644
--- a/src/utils/wikilinks.test.ts
+++ b/src/utils/wikilinks.test.ts
@@ -163,6 +163,13 @@ describe('splitFrontmatter', () => {
     expect(fm).toBe('---\ntitle: Hello\n---\n')
     expect(body).toBe('Content')
   })
+
+  it('ignores dashes inside frontmatter values', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: "A --- B"\ntype: Note\n---\n\nBody text'
+    const [fm, body] = splitFrontmatter(content)
+    expect(fm).toBe('---\ntitle: "A --- B"\ntype: Note\n---\n')
+    expect(body).toBe('\nBody text')
+  })
 })
 
 describe('countWords', () => {
@@ -195,6 +202,67 @@ describe('countWords', () => {
     const content = 'Hello world this is four words plus three'
     expect(countWords(content)).toBe(8)
   })
+
+  it('excludes long frontmatter with many keys from count', () => {
+    const content = [
+      '---',
+      'type: Note',
+      'workspace: personal',
+      'notion_id: 63aeb735-e6f4-4a32-b7b6-d34276a26dee',
+      'status: Active',
+      'owner: Luca Rossi',
+      'tags: [Tauri, React, TypeScript]',
+      'belongs_to:',
+      '  - "[[quarter/q1-2026]]"',
+      'related_to:',
+      '  - "[[topic/software-development]]"',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      '# My Note',
+      '',
+      'Only these five words count.',
+    ].join('\n')
+    // Body: "# My Note\n\nOnly these five words count."
+    // After stripping '#': " My Note\n\nOnly these five words count."
+    // Words: My, Note, Only, these, five, words, count. = 7
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(7)
+  })
+
+  it('ignores frontmatter values containing dashes', () => {
+    const content = [
+      '---',
+      'title: "Something --- More"',
+      'type: Note',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      'Body words here.',
+    ].join('\n')
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(3)
+  })
+
+  it('handles frontmatter with horizontal rule in body', () => {
+    const content = [
+      '---',
+      'type: Note',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      '# Title',
+      '',
+      'Before the rule.',
+      '',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      'After the rule.',
+    ].join('\n')
+    // Body includes: Title, Before, the, rule., After, the, rule.
+    // The --- horizontal rule is stripped by the markdown char filter
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(7)
+  })
+
+  it('returns 0 when content is only frontmatter with no trailing body', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Hello\nstatus: Active\ntags: [a, b, c]\n---'
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(0)
+  })
 })
 
 describe('restoreWikilinksInBlocks', () => {