diff --git a/src/main/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/xml/XmlNameProcessors.java b/src/main/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/xml/XmlNameProcessors.java
index 43cd46f7..e23755ed 100644
--- a/src/main/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/xml/XmlNameProcessors.java
+++ b/src/main/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/xml/XmlNameProcessors.java
@@ -229,16 +229,38 @@ static class AlwaysOnBase64NameProcessor implements XmlNameProcessor {
         private static final Base64.Decoder BASE64_DECODER = Base64.getUrlDecoder();
         private static final Base64.Encoder BASE64_ENCODER = Base64.getUrlEncoder().withoutPadding();
 
+        // Marker used to restore a valid XML name start character; see encodeName().
+        private static final char START_MARKER = '_';
+
         public AlwaysOnBase64NameProcessor() { }
 
         @Override
         public void encodeName(XmlName name) {
-            name.localPart = new String(BASE64_ENCODER.encode(name.localPart.getBytes(UTF_8)), UTF_8);
+            String encoded = new String(BASE64_ENCODER.encode(name.localPart.getBytes(UTF_8)), UTF_8);
+            // base64url's alphabet contains digits and '-', but neither can begin an
+            // XML name (only letters, '_' and ':' are NameStartChars). A name whose
+            // first character is U+0400 or above encodes to a leading digit, which
+            // produces an invalid element/attribute name and breaks the round trip
+            // this processor is meant to guarantee. A base64url encoding of UTF-8 bytes
+            // never itself begins with '_', so prepending one restores a valid start
+            // character without making decoding ambiguous.
+            if (!encoded.isEmpty() && !_isNameStartChar(encoded.charAt(0))) {
+                encoded = START_MARKER + encoded;
+            }
+            name.localPart = encoded;
         }
 
         @Override
         public void decodeName(XmlName name) {
-            name.localPart = new String(BASE64_DECODER.decode(name.localPart), UTF_8);
+            String localName = name.localPart;
+            if (!localName.isEmpty() && localName.charAt(0) == START_MARKER) {
+                localName = localName.substring(1);
+            }
+            name.localPart = new String(BASE64_DECODER.decode(localName), UTF_8);
+        }
+
+        private static boolean _isNameStartChar(char c) {
+            return (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || c == '_';
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/xml/misc/XmlNameEscapeTest.java b/src/test/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/xml/misc/XmlNameEscapeTest.java
index 679c5dd4..a530222d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/xml/misc/XmlNameEscapeTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/xml/misc/XmlNameEscapeTest.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import tools.jackson.dataformat.xml.*;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
@@ -92,6 +93,31 @@ public void testAlwaysOnBase64() throws Exception {
         assertEquals(dto, reversed);
     }
 
+    // base64url's alphabet includes digits, but a digit can not start an XML name.
+    // Names whose first character is U+0400 or above encode to a leading digit, so
+    // the "always on" processor has to keep the encoded name a valid NameStartChar
+    // and still round-trip.
+    @Test
+    public void testAlwaysOnBase64NonAsciiKeysRoundTrip() throws Exception {
+        DTO dto = new DTO();
+        // U+4E2D U+6587 (Chinese) encodes to a name starting with a digit
+        dto.badMap.put(new String(new int[] { 0x4E2D, 0x6587 }, 0, 2), "cjk");
+        // U+043F U+0440 U+0438 U+0432 (Cyrillic)
+        dto.badMap.put(new String(new int[] { 0x43F, 0x440, 0x438, 0x432 }, 0, 4), "cyrillic");
+        dto.badMap.put("abc", "ascii"); // starts with a letter, unchanged
+
+        XmlMapper mapper = XmlMapper.builder(
+                xmlFactory(XmlNameProcessors.newAlwaysOnBase64Processor())
+        ).build();
+
+        final String res = mapper.writeValueAsString(dto);
+        // no encoded element/attribute name may start with a digit
+        assertFalse(res.matches("(?s).*<[0-9].*"), res);
+
+        DTO reversed = mapper.readValue(res, DTO.class);
+        assertEquals(dto, reversed);
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testReplace() throws Exception {
         DTO dto = new DTO();