diff --git a/src/domains/models/SpecificationFile.ts b/src/domains/models/SpecificationFile.ts
index 5370f6e67..d77a06de9 100644
--- a/src/domains/models/SpecificationFile.ts
+++ b/src/domains/models/SpecificationFile.ts
@@ -86,6 +86,23 @@ export class Specification {
     } catch {
       throw new ErrorLoadingSpec('file', filepath);
     }
+
+    // Detect multi-document YAML (separated by ---) and reject with a clear error.
+    // AsyncAPI only supports single-document YAML files. Multi-doc YAML is valid YAML
+    // but causes confusing low-level parser errors downstream.
+    // See: https://github.com/asyncapi/cli/issues/1997
+    const trimmed = spec.trim();
+    const docSeparators = (trimmed.match(/^---$/gm) || []).length;
+    if (docSeparators > 1) {
+      throw new ErrorLoadingSpec(
+        'file',
+        filepath,
+        `File contains multiple YAML documents (${docSeparators - 1} separators found). ` +
+          `AsyncAPI only supports single-document YAML files. ` +
+          `Please split the file or remove extra \`---\` separators.`,
+      );
+    }
+
     return new Specification(spec, { filepath });
   }
 
@@ -130,7 +147,22 @@ export class Specification {
       throw new ErrorLoadingSpec('url', targetUrl);
     }
 
-    return new Specification((await response?.text()) as string, {
+    const urlSpec = (await response?.text()) as string;
+
+    // Detect multi-document YAML (same check as fromFile)
+    // See: https://github.com/asyncapi/cli/issues/1997
+    const trimmed = urlSpec.trim();
+    const docSeparators = (trimmed.match(/^---$/gm) || []).length;
+    if (docSeparators > 1) {
+      throw new ErrorLoadingSpec(
+        'url',
+        targetUrl,
+        `URL content contains multiple YAML documents (${docSeparators - 1} separators found). ` +
+          `AsyncAPI only supports single-document YAML files.`,
+      );
+    }
+
+    return new Specification(urlSpec, {
       fileURL: targetUrl,
     });
   }
diff --git a/src/errors/specification-file.ts b/src/errors/specification-file.ts
index fd64be34d..781c98fbf 100644
--- a/src/errors/specification-file.ts
+++ b/src/errors/specification-file.ts
@@ -37,11 +37,11 @@ export class ErrorLoadingSpec extends Error {
   private readonly errorMessages = {
     default: NO_CONTEXTS_SAVED,
   };
-  constructor(from?: From, param?: string) {
+  constructor(from?: From, param?: string, customMessage?: string) {
     super();
     if (from === 'file') {
       this.name = 'error loading AsyncAPI document from file';
-      this.message = `${param} file does not exist.`;
+      this.message = customMessage ?? `${param} file does not exist.`;
     }
     if (from === 'url') {
       this.name = 'error loading AsyncAPI document from url';