diff --git a/cmd/helm.go b/cmd/helm.go
index fe4d138f..62e45769 100644
--- a/cmd/helm.go
+++ b/cmd/helm.go
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ func (d *diffCmd) template(isUpgrade bool) ([]byte, error) {
 		subcmd = "template"
 
 		filter = func(s []byte) []byte {
-			return s
+			return stripOCIPullProgress(s)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -494,6 +494,36 @@ func extractManifestFromHelmUpgradeDryRunOutput(s []byte, noHooks bool) []byte {
 	return r
 }
 
+// ociPullProgressRE matches Helm's OCI chart pull progress lines that Helm writes
+// to stdout before the rendered manifests when the chart, or one of its subcharts,
+// is pulled from an OCI registry.
+//
+// The lines reported in the wild are "Pulled: ..." and "Digest: ...";
+// "Pulling: ..." is matched defensively too.
+//
+// These lines are emitted at the start of a line and are not valid Kubernetes
+// manifests, so they are safe to strip. Top-level manifest keys are
+// apiVersion/kind/metadata/spec and never "Pulled", "Digest" or "Pulling";
+// any homonymous keys inside a manifest are indented and therefore not matched.
+//
+// See https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff/issues/1040
+var ociPullProgressRE = regexp.MustCompile(`(?m)^(?:Pulled|Digest|Pulling):[^\n]*\n?`)
+
+// stripOCIPullProgress removes Helm's OCI chart pull progress output that leaks
+// into the rendered manifest buffer when the chart (or a subchart) is pulled
+// from an OCI registry.
+//
+// Without this, the progress lines (e.g. "Pulled: ...", "Digest: ...") are
+// parsed as a YAML document lacking a Kind and break the downstream three-way
+// merge / kubeclient.Build():
+//
+//	unable to decode "": Object 'Kind' is missing in '{"Digest":"...","Pulled":"..."}'
+//
+// See https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff/issues/1040
+func stripOCIPullProgress(s []byte) []byte {
+	return ociPullProgressRE.ReplaceAll(s, []byte(""))
+}
+
 // serverSideFlags returns the --server-side flag(s) to forward to helm.
 //
 // The flag is Helm v4 only:
diff --git a/cmd/helm_test.go b/cmd/helm_test.go
index cddf73dd..f88e46ea 100644
--- a/cmd/helm_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,78 @@ import (
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
 )
 
+func TestStripOCIPullProgress(t *testing.T) {
+	manifest := `---
+# Source: karpenter/templates/cm.yaml
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: karpenter
+  namespace: karpenter
+data:
+  Pulled: preserved
+  Digest: preserved
+---
+# Source: karpenter/templates/deployment.yaml
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: karpenter
+  namespace: karpenter
+`
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name string
+		in   string
+		want string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "strips OCI pull progress prepended to manifests",
+			in: "Pulled: public.ecr.aws/karpenter/karpenter:1.9.0\n" +
+				"Digest: sha256:8e3952caafd208cb888fbf97467cd04a4a024a3fba64c84af73039040cc6a371\n" +
+				manifest,
+			want: manifest,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "strips Pulling/Pulled/Digest progress lines",
+			in: "Pulling: public.ecr.aws/karpenter/karpenter:1.9.0\n" +
+				"Pulled: public.ecr.aws/karpenter/karpenter:1.9.0\n" +
+				"Digest: sha256:abc123\n" +
+				manifest,
+			want: manifest,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "does not modify output without OCI progress",
+			in:   manifest,
+			want: manifest,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "preserves indented Pulled/Digest keys inside manifests",
+			in:   manifest,
+			want: manifest,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "strips OCI progress even with no trailing manifests",
+			in:   "Pulled: registry.example.com/chart:1.0.0\nDigest: sha256:deadbeef\n",
+			want: "",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "returns empty for empty input",
+			in:   "",
+			want: "",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := stripOCIPullProgress([]byte(tc.in))
+			if d := cmp.Diff(tc.want, string(got)); d != "" {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected diff: %s", d)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 type dryRunFlagsConfig struct {
 	isHelmV4             bool
 	supportsDryRunLookup bool
diff --git a/cmd/local.go b/cmd/local.go
index 43a8a73e..942aacc2 100644
--- a/cmd/local.go
+++ b/cmd/local.go
@@ -250,5 +250,6 @@ func (l *local) renderChart(chartPath string) ([]byte, error) {
 		helmBin = "helm"
 	}
 	cmd := exec.Command(helmBin, args...)
-	return outputWithRichError(cmd)
+	out, err := outputWithRichError(cmd)
+	return stripOCIPullProgress(out), err
 }