diff --git a/sources/borderproperties.cpp b/sources/borderproperties.cpp
index b1812032c..b9ab708bd 100644
--- a/sources/borderproperties.cpp
+++ b/sources/borderproperties.cpp
@@ -117,9 +117,15 @@ void BorderProperties::toXml(QDomElement &e) const
 */
 void BorderProperties::fromXml(QDomElement &e) {
 	if (e.hasAttribute("cols"))        columns_count   = e.attribute("cols").toInt();
-	if (e.hasAttribute("colsize"))     columns_width   = e.attribute("colsize").toInt();
 	if (e.hasAttribute("rows"))        rows_count      = e.attribute("rows").toInt();
-	if (e.hasAttribute("rowsize"))     rows_height     = e.attribute("rowsize").toInt();
+		// The sizes are decimals (toXml() writes them with %1), read as
+		// BorderTitleBlock::borderFromXml() does; an unreadable value is
+		// left as it was.
+	bool ok;
+	qreal size = e.attribute("colsize").toDouble(&ok);
+	if (ok && qIsFinite(size)) columns_width = size;
+	size = e.attribute("rowsize").toDouble(&ok);
+	if (ok && qIsFinite(size)) rows_height = size;
 	if (e.hasAttribute("displaycols")) display_columns = e.attribute("displaycols") == "true";
 	if (e.hasAttribute("displayrows")) display_rows    = e.attribute("displayrows") == "true";
 }
diff --git a/tests/qttest/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/qttest/CMakeLists.txt
index 1af0799b1..48dede22d 100644
--- a/tests/qttest/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/qttest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1001,6 +1001,16 @@ add_test(NAME tst_xrefpos COMMAND tst_xrefpos)
 target_include_directories(tst_xrefpos PRIVATE ${QET_DIR}/sources)
 target_link_libraries(tst_xrefpos PRIVATE Qt::Test Qt::Widgets Qt::Xml pugixml::pugixml)
 
+# BorderProperties::fromXml() -- the project's <border> for new folios:
+# column width and row height are decimals and are read as such.
+add_executable(
+  tst_borderpropertiesxml
+  tst_borderpropertiesxml.cpp
+  ${QET_DIR}/sources/borderproperties.cpp)
+add_test(NAME tst_borderpropertiesxml COMMAND tst_borderpropertiesxml)
+target_include_directories(tst_borderpropertiesxml PRIVATE ${QET_DIR}/sources)
+target_link_libraries(tst_borderpropertiesxml PRIVATE Qt::Test Qt::Xml)
+
 # Qt 6.4.2 writes the attributes of an element in an order that changes from
 # one process to the next, so a project saved twice by two runs of the binary
 # differs in bytes only (seen on projects without any numbering, too). A fixed
diff --git a/tests/qttest/tst_borderpropertiesxml.cpp b/tests/qttest/tst_borderpropertiesxml.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5aedc7c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qttest/tst_borderpropertiesxml.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+/*
+	Copyright 2006-2026 The QElectroTech Team
+	This file is part of QElectroTech.
+
+	QElectroTech is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+	it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+	the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
+	(at your option) any later version.
+
+	QElectroTech is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+	but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+	MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+	GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+	along with QElectroTech.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+#include "borderproperties.h"
+
+#include <QtTest>
+#include <QDomDocument>
+
+/**
+	BorderProperties::fromXml() -- the <border> element a project keeps for
+	its new folios. Its column width and row height are decimals, written
+	by toXml() as "%1"; they used to be read with toInt(), which is 0 for
+	"60.5", and 0 is then clamped to the 5 px minimum by the folio.
+*/
+class tst_borderpropertiesxml : public QObject
+{
+	Q_OBJECT
+
+	static QDomElement border(const QString &attributes)
+	{
+		static QDomDocument doc;
+		doc.setContent(QStringLiteral("<border %1/>").arg(attributes));
+		return doc.documentElement();
+	}
+
+	static BorderProperties base()
+	{
+		BorderProperties p;
+		p.columns_count = 17;
+		p.columns_width = 60;
+		p.rows_count = 8;
+		p.rows_height = 80;
+		p.display_columns = true;
+		p.display_rows = true;
+		return p;
+	}
+
+private slots:
+	void sizesAreReadAsDecimals_data()
+	{
+		QTest::addColumn<QString>("colsize");
+		QTest::addColumn<QString>("rowsize");
+		QTest::addColumn<qreal>("width");
+		QTest::addColumn<qreal>("height");
+		QTest::newRow("whole numbers") << "50" << "100" << 50.0 << 100.0;
+		QTest::newRow("decimals")      << "60.5" << "80.25" << 60.5 << 80.25;
+		QTest::newRow("rounds down")   << "61.3" << "61.3" << 61.3 << 61.3;
+		QTest::newRow("rounds up")     << "61.7" << "61.7" << 61.7 << 61.7;
+	}
+
+	void sizesAreReadAsDecimals()
+	{
+		QFETCH(QString, colsize);
+		QFETCH(QString, rowsize);
+		QFETCH(qreal, width);
+		QFETCH(qreal, height);
+
+		BorderProperties p = base();
+		QDomElement e = border(QStringLiteral("cols=\"17\" colsize=\"%1\" rows=\"8\" rowsize=\"%2\"")
+				       .arg(colsize, rowsize));
+		p.fromXml(e);
+		QCOMPARE(p.columns_width, width);
+		QCOMPARE(p.rows_height, height);
+		QCOMPARE(p.columns_count, 17);
+		QCOMPARE(p.rows_count, 8);
+	}
+
+	void savedSizesComeBack()
+	{
+		BorderProperties saved = base();
+		saved.columns_width = 60.5;
+		saved.rows_height = 80.25;
+		QDomDocument doc;
+		QDomElement e = doc.createElement(QStringLiteral("border"));
+		saved.toXml(e);
+
+		BorderProperties loaded = base();
+		loaded.fromXml(e);
+		QCOMPARE(loaded.columns_width, 60.5);
+		QCOMPARE(loaded.rows_height, 80.25);
+	}
+
+	// An unreadable size leaves the previous value, as a missing one does.
+	void unreadableSizeIsLeftAlone_data()
+	{
+		QTest::addColumn<QString>("attributes");
+		QTest::newRow("missing")  << "cols=\"17\" rows=\"8\"";
+		QTest::newRow("text")     << "colsize=\"wide\" rowsize=\"tall\"";
+		QTest::newRow("nan")      << "colsize=\"nan\" rowsize=\"nan\"";
+		QTest::newRow("inf")      << "colsize=\"inf\" rowsize=\"-inf\"";
+	}
+
+	void unreadableSizeIsLeftAlone()
+	{
+		QFETCH(QString, attributes);
+		BorderProperties p = base();
+		QDomElement e = border(attributes);
+		p.fromXml(e);
+		QCOMPARE(p.columns_width, 60.0);
+		QCOMPARE(p.rows_height, 80.0);
+	}
+};
+
+QTEST_GUILESS_MAIN(tst_borderpropertiesxml)
+#include "tst_borderpropertiesxml.moc"