diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 10e792d19..b10f6bf50 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Package: AMR
-Version: 3.0.1.9112
+Version: 3.0.1.9113
 Date: 2026-10-10
 Title: Antimicrobial Resistance Data Analysis
 Description: Functions to simplify and standardise antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 51ef1592a..4d94bf56f 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# AMR 3.0.1.9112
+# AMR 3.0.1.9113
 
 Planned as v3.1.0, mid October 2026.
 
diff --git a/R/aa_helper_functions.R b/R/aa_helper_functions.R
index 6fc1b4a96..ff44e54ae 100755
--- a/R/aa_helper_functions.R
+++ b/R/aa_helper_functions.R
@@ -469,53 +469,49 @@ cli_to_plain <- function(msg, envir = parent.frame()) {
   }
 
   # cli inline markup -> plain-text equivalents (one level of glue nesting allowed)
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.fun (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("`", resolve(c), "()`"))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.arg (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("`", resolve(c), "`"))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.code (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("`", resolve(c), "`"))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.val (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0('"', resolve(c), '"'))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.field (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0('"', resolve(c), '"'))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.cls (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("<", resolve(c), ">"))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.pkg (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) resolve(c))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.strong (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("*", resolve(c), "*"))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.emph (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("*", resolve(c), "*"))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.help ([^}]+)\\}", function(c) {
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.fun[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("`", resolve(c), "()`"))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.arg[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("`", resolve(c), "`"))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.code[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("`", resolve(c), "`"))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.val[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0('"', resolve(c), '"'))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.field[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0('"', resolve(c), '"'))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.cls[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("<", resolve(c), ">"))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.pkg[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) resolve(c))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.strong[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("*", resolve(c), "*"))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.emph[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) paste0("*", resolve(c), "*"))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.help[[:space:]]+([^}]+)\\}", function(c) {
     # Handle [display text](topic) markdown link format: extract just the display text
     m <- regmatches(c, regexec("^\\[(.*)\\]\\([^)]*\\)$", c))[[1L]]
     if (length(m) >= 2L) m[2L] else paste0("`", resolve(c), "`")
   })
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.topic ([^}]+)\\}", function(c) {
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.topic[[:space:]]+([^}]+)\\}", function(c) {
     # Handle [display text](topic) markdown link format: extract just the display text
     m <- regmatches(c, regexec("^\\[(.*)\\]\\([^)]*\\)$", c))[[1L]]
     if (length(m) >= 2L) m[2L] else paste0("?", resolve(c))
   })
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.url (\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) resolve(c))
-  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.href ([^}]+)\\}", function(c) {
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.url[[:space:]]+(\\{[^}]+\\}|[^}]+)\\}", function(c) resolve(c))
+  msg <- apply_sub(msg, "\\{\\.href[[:space:]]+([^}]+)\\}", function(c) {
     # Handle [display text](url) markdown link format: extract just the URL
     m <- regmatches(c, regexec("^\\[.*\\]\\(([^)]+)\\)$", c))[[1L]]
     if (length(m) >= 2L) m[2L] else resolve(c)
   })
 
-  # bare {variable} or {expression} -> evaluate in caller's environment
-  while (grepl("\\{[^{}]+\\}", msg)) {
-    m <- regexec("\\{([^{}]+)\\}", msg)
-    matches <- regmatches(msg, m)[[1]]
-    if (length(matches) < 2L) break
-    full_match <- matches[1L]
-    inner <- matches[2L]
+  # bare {variable} or {expression} -> evaluate in caller's environment;
+  # processed from left to right, so that an expression that cannot be evaluated is kept as is
+  out <- ""
+  repeat {
+    idx <- regexpr("\\{[^{}]+\\}", msg)
+    if (idx == -1L) break
+    full_match <- regmatches(msg, idx)
+    inner <- substr(full_match, 2L, nchar(full_match) - 1L)
     replacement <- tryCatch(
       paste0(as.character(eval(parse(text = inner), envir = envir)), collapse = ", "),
       error = function(e) full_match
     )
-    idx <- regexpr(full_match, msg, fixed = TRUE)
-    if (idx == -1L) break
-    msg <- paste0(
-      substr(msg, 1L, idx - 1L),
-      replacement,
-      substr(msg, idx + nchar(full_match), nchar(msg))
-    )
+    out <- paste0(out, substr(msg, 1L, idx - 1L), replacement)
+    msg <- substr(msg, idx + attr(idx, "match.length"), nchar(msg))
   }
 
-  msg
+  paste0(out, msg)
 }
 
 # this alternative wrapper to the message(), warning() and stop() functions:
@@ -677,7 +673,8 @@ stop_ <- function(...,
       }
       msg_call <- paste0("in ", call_name, "():")
     }
-    plain_msg <- cli_to_plain(trimws2(word_wrap(msg, as_note = FALSE)), envir = parent.frame())
+    # convert before wrapping, as wrapping could otherwise break the markup
+    plain_msg <- trimws2(word_wrap(cli_to_plain(msg, envir = parent.frame()), as_note = FALSE))
     stop(paste(msg_call, plain_msg), call. = FALSE)
   }
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-_misc.R b/tests/testthat/test-_misc.R
index 67533e4fb..d1098cbe2 100755
--- a/tests/testthat/test-_misc.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-_misc.R
@@ -98,3 +98,15 @@ test_that("test-misc.R", {
     expect_true(is_right, info = "the environmental data cannot be found for tidymodels/prep()")
   }
 })
+
+test_that("test-cli_to_plain", {
+  # plain-text fallback for when cli or rlang is unavailable: must always terminate, also when
+  # word wrapping breaks a line within markup, or for expressions that cannot be evaluated
+  expect_identical(AMR:::cli_to_plain("a {.code\nx()} b"), "a `x()` b")
+  expect_identical(AMR:::cli_to_plain("{.arg x} {not_an_object_in_AMR} {1 + 1}"), "`x` {not_an_object_in_AMR} 2")
+  msg <- "Setting {.code parallel = TRUE} requires a non-sequential {.help [{.fun future::plan}](future::plan)} to be active."
+  expect_identical(
+    gsub("[[:space:]]+", " ", AMR:::cli_to_plain(AMR:::word_wrap(msg, width = 40))),
+    "Setting `parallel = TRUE` requires a non-sequential `future::plan()` to be active."
+  )
+})