diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.test.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.test.ts
index f091705d036..01d7c6506f9 100644
--- a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.test.ts
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.test.ts
@@ -194,6 +194,32 @@ describe("resolveMemoryBackendConfig", () => {
     expect(custom.path).toBe(path.resolve("/workspace/root", "notes"));
   });
 
+  it("normalizes direct file qmd paths to escaped exact-file patterns", async () => {
+    const workspaceDir = await createFixtureDir("direct-file-path");
+    const notesPath = path.join(workspaceDir, "notes{a,b}[1].md");
+    await fs.writeFile(notesPath, "# Notes\n", "utf8");
+
+    const cfg = {
+      agents: {
+        defaults: { workspace: workspaceDir },
+        list: [{ id: "main", workspace: workspaceDir }],
+      },
+      memory: {
+        backend: "qmd",
+        qmd: {
+          paths: [{ path: "notes{a,b}[1].md", name: "direct-note", pattern: "**/*.md" }],
+        },
+      },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+
+    const resolved = resolveMemoryBackendConfig({ cfg, agentId: "main" });
+    const custom = resolved.qmd?.collections.find((c) => c.name.startsWith("direct-note"));
+    expect(custom).toMatchObject({
+      path: workspaceDir,
+      pattern: String.raw`notes\{a,b\}\[1\].md`,
+    });
+  });
+
   it("scopes qmd collection names per agent", () => {
     const cfg = {
       agents: {
diff --git a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.ts b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.ts
index 61e0bd7efdb..ba387270b28 100644
--- a/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.ts
+++ b/packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/backend-config.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ import {
 import { isPathInside } from "./fs-utils.js";
 import { normalizeLowercaseStringOrEmpty } from "./string-utils.js";
 
+function escapeQmdExactFilePattern(fileName: string): string {
+  return fileName.replace(/[\\*?[\]{}()!+@]/g, "\\$&");
+}
+
 export type ResolvedMemoryBackendConfig = {
   backend: MemoryBackend;
   citations: MemoryCitationsMode;
@@ -291,26 +295,40 @@ function resolveCustomPaths(
       return;
     }
     let resolved: string;
+    let collectionPath: string;
     try {
       resolved = resolvePath(trimmedPath, workspaceDir);
     } catch {
       return;
     }
-    const pattern = entry.pattern?.trim() || "**/*.md";
-    const dedupeKey = `${resolved}\u0000${pattern}`;
+    collectionPath = resolved;
+    let pattern = entry.pattern?.trim() || "**/*.md";
+    try {
+      const stat = fs.statSync(resolved);
+      if (stat.isFile()) {
+        // When the configured path points directly to a file, normalize into a
+        // parent-directory collection with an exact-filename pattern, regardless
+        // of any user-supplied glob (a glob does not apply to a single file).
+        collectionPath = path.dirname(resolved);
+        pattern = escapeQmdExactFilePattern(path.basename(resolved));
+      }
+    } catch {
+      // not a file or can't stat, use as-is
+    }
+    const dedupeKey = `${collectionPath}\u0000${pattern}`;
     if (seenRoots.has(dedupeKey)) {
       return;
     }
     seenRoots.add(dedupeKey);
     const explicitName = entry.name?.trim();
     const baseName =
-      explicitName && !isPathInsideRoot(resolved, workspaceDir)
+      explicitName && !isPathInsideRoot(collectionPath, workspaceDir)
         ? explicitName
         : scopeCollectionBase(explicitName || `custom-${index + 1}`, agentId);
     const name = ensureUniqueName(baseName, existing);
     collections.push({
       name,
-      path: resolved,
+      path: collectionPath,
       pattern,
       kind: "custom",
     });