diff --git a/kobo/apps/openrosa/apps/logger/exceptions.py b/kobo/apps/openrosa/apps/logger/exceptions.py
index 62fbfaf64d..19be8d18e1 100644
--- a/kobo/apps/openrosa/apps/logger/exceptions.py
+++ b/kobo/apps/openrosa/apps/logger/exceptions.py
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ def __init__(self, message=t('The instance could not be parsed')):
         super().__init__(message)
 
 
+class InvalidXMLCharacterError(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
 class LockedSubmissionError(Exception):
     def __init__(self, message=t('Submission is currently being processed.')):
         super().__init__(message)
diff --git a/kobo/apps/openrosa/apps/logger/tests/test_simple_submission.py b/kobo/apps/openrosa/apps/logger/tests/test_simple_submission.py
index badaf13a19..442f94b590 100644
--- a/kobo/apps/openrosa/apps/logger/tests/test_simple_submission.py
+++ b/kobo/apps/openrosa/apps/logger/tests/test_simple_submission.py
@@ -135,8 +135,8 @@ def test_corrupted_submission(self):
             self.user.username, TempFileProxy(xml), None, None, request=request
         )
         # No `DjangoUnicodeDecodeError` errors are raised anymore.
-        # An `ExpatError` is raised instead
-        text = 'Improperly formatted XML'
+        # An `InvalidXMLCharacterError` is raised instead
+        text = 'unsupported or invisible characters'
         self.assertContains(error, text, status_code=400)
 
     @pytest.mark.skipif(
@@ -150,3 +150,23 @@ def test_check_exceeded_limit_on_submission(self):
             self._submit_simple_yes()
             patched.assert_any_call(self.user, UsageType.SUBMISSION)
             patched.assert_any_call(self.user, UsageType.STORAGE_BYTES)
+
+    def test_rejects_invalid_xml_char_in_text_submission(self):
+        """
+        Submitting an XML that contains an invalid XML control character (U+000C)
+        should be rejected
+        """
+        # XML with an invalid character
+        invalid_char_xml = (
+            '<?xml version="1.0" ?>'
+            '<yes_or_no id="yes_or_no">'
+            '<yesno>Yes\u000CNo</yesno>'
+            '<meta><instanceID>uuid:{}</instanceID></meta>'
+            '</yes_or_no>'
+        ).format(str(uuid.uuid4()))
+
+        error, instance = safe_create_instance(
+            self.user.username, TempFileProxy(invalid_char_xml), None, None
+        )
+        text = 'unsupported or invisible characters'
+        self.assertContains(error, text, status_code=400)
diff --git a/kobo/apps/openrosa/libs/utils/logger_tools.py b/kobo/apps/openrosa/libs/utils/logger_tools.py
index 27be31438a..8418e564fa 100644
--- a/kobo/apps/openrosa/libs/utils/logger_tools.py
+++ b/kobo/apps/openrosa/libs/utils/logger_tools.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
     InstanceIdMissingError,
     InstanceInvalidUserError,
     InstanceMultipleNodeError,
+    InvalidXMLCharacterError,
     LockedSubmissionError,
     TemporarilyUnavailableError,
 )
@@ -204,6 +205,7 @@ def create_instance(
         username = username.lower()
 
     xml = smart_str(xml_file.read())
+    validate_xml_chars(xml)
     xml_hash = Instance.get_hash(xml)
     xform = get_xform_from_submission(xml, username, uuid)
     check_submission_permissions(request, xform)
@@ -350,6 +352,33 @@ def dict2xform(submission: dict, xform_id_string: str) -> str:
     return xml_head + dict2xml(submission) + xml_tail
 
 
+def validate_xml_chars(xml: str) -> None:
+    """
+    Validate an XML submission for parser errors and disallowed XML characters
+
+    - Some clients may include a parser error wrapper when they fail to
+      serialise form content that contains control/invisible characters.
+    - If either the wrapper or disallowed characters are present, this
+      function raises `InvalidXMLCharacterError`.
+    """
+    invalid_xml_char_re = re.compile(
+        r'[^\x09\x0A\x0D\x20-\uD7FF\uE000-\uFFFD\U00010000-\U0010FFFF]'
+    )
+
+    has_parser_error = '<parsererror' in xml or 'PCDATA invalid Char value' in xml
+    has_invalid_chars = invalid_xml_char_re.search(xml)
+
+    if has_parser_error or has_invalid_chars:
+        raise InvalidXMLCharacterError(
+            t(
+                'Submission rejected: '
+                'the form contains unsupported or invisible characters.'
+            )
+        )
+
+    return None
+
+
 @contextlib.contextmanager
 def get_instance_lock(submission_uuid: str, xform_id: int) -> bool:
     """
@@ -473,6 +502,9 @@ def status_code(self):
             'The owner of this survey has exceeded their submission limit.'
         )
         result.http_error_response = OpenRosaResponsePaymentRequired(result.error)
+    except InvalidXMLCharacterError as e:
+        result.error = str(e)
+        result.http_error_response = OpenRosaResponseBadRequest(result.error)
     except AccountInactiveError:
         result.error = t('Account is not active')
         result.http_error_response = OpenRosaResponseNotAllowed(result.error)