diff --git a/crates/interchange/src/import.rs b/crates/interchange/src/import.rs
index bce99004..55161b71 100644
--- a/crates/interchange/src/import.rs
+++ b/crates/interchange/src/import.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,83 @@ pub struct ImportResult {
 
 /// Import a timeline document into `project`. `probe` reads a media file's footage metadata
 /// (None = missing or unreadable: the item becomes a placeholder with the document's metadata).
+/// The deepest element / array nesting accepted in XML and OTIO documents. Real timelines nest
+/// a few levels per nested sequence; parsing several thousand levels overflowed the stack.
+pub const MAX_DEPTH: usize = 256;
+
+/// The deepest element nesting of an XML document (a quick scan that skips comments, CDATA,
+/// processing instructions, declarations and quoted attribute values).
+pub(crate) fn xml_depth(b: &[u8]) -> usize {
+    let (mut i, mut depth, mut max) = (0usize, 0usize, 0usize);
+    let skip_to = |from: usize, end: &[u8]| b.get(from..).and_then(|r| r.windows(end.len()).position(|w| w == end)).map_or(b.len(), |p| from + p + end.len());
+    while let Some(&c) = b.get(i) {
+        if c != b'<' {
+            i += 1;
+            continue;
+        }
+        let rest = b.get(i..).unwrap_or_default();
+        if rest.starts_with(b"<!--") {
+            i = skip_to(i + 4, b"-->");
+        } else if rest.starts_with(b"<![CDATA[") {
+            i = skip_to(i + 9, b"]]>");
+        } else if rest.starts_with(b"<?") {
+            i = skip_to(i + 2, b"?>");
+        } else if rest.starts_with(b"<!") {
+            i = skip_to(i + 2, b">");
+        } else if rest.starts_with(b"</") {
+            depth = depth.saturating_sub(1);
+            i = skip_to(i + 2, b">");
+        } else {
+            // A start tag: find its end outside quotes; `/>` closes it at once.
+            let mut j = i + 1;
+            let mut quote = None;
+            while let Some(&c) = b.get(j) {
+                match quote {
+                    Some(q) if c == q => quote = None,
+                    Some(_) => {}
+                    None if c == b'"' || c == b'\'' => quote = Some(c),
+                    None if c == b'>' => break,
+                    None => {}
+                }
+                j += 1;
+            }
+            if b.get(j.wrapping_sub(1)) != Some(&b'/') {
+                depth += 1;
+                max = max.max(depth);
+            }
+            i = j + 1;
+        }
+    }
+    max
+}
+
+/// The deepest array / object nesting of a JSON document (strings skipped).
+pub(crate) fn json_depth(b: &[u8]) -> usize {
+    let (mut depth, mut max, mut in_str, mut esc) = (0usize, 0usize, false, false);
+    for &c in b {
+        if in_str {
+            if esc {
+                esc = false;
+            } else if c == b'\\' {
+                esc = true;
+            } else if c == b'"' {
+                in_str = false;
+            }
+            continue;
+        }
+        match c {
+            b'"' => in_str = true,
+            b'[' | b'{' => {
+                depth += 1;
+                max = max.max(depth);
+            }
+            b']' | b'}' => depth = depth.saturating_sub(1),
+            _ => {}
+        }
+    }
+    max
+}
+
 pub fn import(
     project: &mut Project,
     bytes: &[u8],
@@ -56,6 +133,16 @@ pub fn import(
         Some(f) => f,
         None => TimelineFormat::detect(bytes, Some(&opts.name)).ok_or(Error::UnknownFormat)?,
     };
+    // The XML and JSON parsers recurse per nesting level: a small file nested thousands of levels
+    // deep overflowed the stack and aborted the app.
+    let depth = match format {
+        TimelineFormat::Fcp7Xml | TimelineFormat::Fcpxml => xml_depth(bytes),
+        TimelineFormat::Otio => json_depth(bytes),
+        _ => 0,
+    };
+    if depth > MAX_DEPTH {
+        return Err(Error::TooDeep(MAX_DEPTH));
+    }
     let fc_opts = filmcraft_interchange::ImportOptions {
         base_dir: opts.base_dir.clone(),
         edl_frame_rate: opts.edl_frame_rate.map(|f| {
diff --git a/crates/interchange/src/lib.rs b/crates/interchange/src/lib.rs
index cc57d22d..34d9aeab 100644
--- a/crates/interchange/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/interchange/src/lib.rs
@@ -158,6 +158,8 @@ pub enum Error {
     UnknownFormat,
     #[error("no composition {0}")]
     NoComp(u64),
+    #[error("the timeline document nests more than {0} levels deep")]
+    TooDeep(usize),
 }
 
 pub type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, Error>;
diff --git a/crates/interchange/src/tests.rs b/crates/interchange/src/tests.rs
index 375243d8..3ad7fcaa 100644
--- a/crates/interchange/src/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/interchange/src/tests.rs
@@ -519,3 +519,21 @@ fn export_survives_a_precomp_layer_pointing_at_a_non_comp() {
     }
     assert!(matches!(export(&p, footage, &ExportOptions::default(), &HashMap::new()), Err(Error::NoComp(_))));
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn deeply_nested_documents_error_instead_of_overflowing_the_stack() {
+    // A few hundred kilobytes nested 100 000 levels deep overflowed the parsers' stack.
+    let n = 100_000;
+    let docs = [
+        (TimelineFormat::Fcp7Xml, format!("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><xmeml version=\"5\">{}{}</xmeml>", "<a>".repeat(n), "</a>".repeat(n))),
+        (TimelineFormat::Fcpxml, format!("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><fcpxml version=\"1.9\">{}{}</fcpxml>", "<a>".repeat(n), "</a>".repeat(n))),
+        (TimelineFormat::Otio, format!("{{\"OTIO_SCHEMA\":\"Timeline.1\",\"tracks\":{}{}}}", "[".repeat(n), "]".repeat(n))),
+    ];
+    for (format, doc) in docs {
+        let mut p = Project::default();
+        let r = import(&mut p, doc.as_bytes(), Some(format), &ImportOptions::default(), &mut |_| None);
+        assert!(matches!(r, Err(Error::TooDeep(_))), "{format:?}");
+    }
+    assert_eq!(super::import::xml_depth(b"<a><!-- <b><b> --><c x='>'/><![CDATA[<d>]]><e></e></a>"), 2);
+    assert_eq!(super::import::json_depth(br#"{"a": "[[[{{", "b": [[1], {"c": "\\\"["}]}"#), 3);
+}