diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/core/Configuration.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/core/Configuration.java
index 3db562a92..2e5417a57 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/core/Configuration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/core/Configuration.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public final class Configuration {
      * Automatically populated by Gradle/Maven during build.
      * DO NOT EDIT MANUALLY - this value is replaced at build time.
      */
-    public static final String gitCommitId = "cfdf262ba";
+    public static final String gitCommitId = "f83cf214c";
 
     /**
      * Git commit date of the build (ISO format: YYYY-MM-DD).
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public final class Configuration {
      * Parsed by App::perlbrew and other tools via: perl -V | grep "Compiled at"
      * DO NOT EDIT MANUALLY - this value is replaced at build time.
      */
-    public static final String buildTimestamp = "Apr 30 2026 10:41:56";
+    public static final String buildTimestamp = "Apr 30 2026 12:00:17";
 
     // Prevent instantiation
     private Configuration() {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/LayeredIOHandle.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/LayeredIOHandle.java
index 11b30810c..bc088c82f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/LayeredIOHandle.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/LayeredIOHandle.java
@@ -376,8 +376,12 @@ private void addLayer(String layerSpec) {
                 inputPipeline = inputPipeline.andThen(inputTransform);
                 outputPipeline = outputPipeline.andThen(outputTransform);
             }
-            case "utf8" -> {
-                // UTF-8 encoding layer - convenience alias for :encoding(UTF-8)
+            case "utf8", "utf8_strict" -> {
+                // UTF-8 encoding layer - convenience alias for :encoding(UTF-8).
+                // :utf8_strict (from the PerlIO::utf8_strict CPAN module) is treated
+                // as an alias for :utf8 here: the JVM's UTF-8 CharsetDecoder already
+                // rejects malformed sequences by default, which matches the "strict"
+                // semantics the XS module provides.
                 EncodingLayer layer = new EncodingLayer(StandardCharsets.UTF_8, "utf8");
                 activeLayers.add(layer);
                 Function<String, String> inputTransform = s -> layer.processInput(s);
diff --git a/src/main/perl/lib/PerlIO/utf8_strict.pm b/src/main/perl/lib/PerlIO/utf8_strict.pm
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a3dd5557
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/perl/lib/PerlIO/utf8_strict.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package PerlIO::utf8_strict;
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+our $VERSION = '0.010';
+
+# In standard Perl, PerlIO::utf8_strict is an XS module that provides
+# a :utf8_strict PerlIO layer (a stricter UTF-8 layer that rejects
+# malformed sequences). In PerlOnJava, IO layers are handled by the
+# Java LayeredIOHandle implementation, which treats :utf8_strict as
+# an alias for :utf8 (the JVM's UTF-8 decoder already rejects malformed
+# input by default via CharsetDecoder, so the "strict" semantics are
+# effectively the default).
+#
+# This stub lets `use PerlIO::utf8_strict;` succeed so CPAN modules
+# whose prerequisite chain lists PerlIO::utf8_strict (e.g.
+# Mixin::Linewise -> Config::INI -> Config::INI::Reader::Ordered ->
+# Reply) can be loaded.
+
+1;
+__END__
+
+=head1 NAME
+
+PerlIO::utf8_strict - stub module for PerlOnJava
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+Stub for PerlIO::utf8_strict. The C<:utf8_strict> layer is treated
+as an alias for C<:utf8> by PerlOnJava's LayeredIOHandle.
+
+=cut