diff --git a/SafeguardDevOpsService/ConfigDb/LiteDbConfigurationRepository.cs b/SafeguardDevOpsService/ConfigDb/LiteDbConfigurationRepository.cs
index 86affdcd..e1a467ae 100644
--- a/SafeguardDevOpsService/ConfigDb/LiteDbConfigurationRepository.cs
+++ b/SafeguardDevOpsService/ConfigDb/LiteDbConfigurationRepository.cs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 using OneIdentity.DevOps.Data;
 using OneIdentity.DevOps.Data.Spp;
 using OneIdentity.DevOps.Exceptions;
+using OneIdentity.DevOps.Extensions;
 using OneIdentity.DevOps.Logic;
 using CredentialType = CredentialManagement.CredentialType;
 
@@ -653,7 +654,7 @@ public X509Certificate2 UserCertificate
                     try
                     {
                         var bytes = Convert.FromBase64String(UserCertificateBase64Data);
-                        var cert = X509CertificateLoader.LoadPkcs12(bytes, UserCertificatePassphrase);
+                        var cert = CertificateExtensions.LoadFromBytes(bytes,UserCertificatePassphrase);
                         return cert;
                     }
                     catch (Exception)
@@ -699,7 +700,7 @@ public X509Certificate2 WebSslCertificate
                     try
                     {
                         var bytes = Convert.FromBase64String(WebSslCertificateBase64Data);
-                        var cert = X509CertificateLoader.LoadPkcs12(bytes, WebSslCertificatePassphrase);
+                        var cert = CertificateExtensions.LoadFromBytes(bytes, WebSslCertificatePassphrase);
                         return cert;
                     }
                     catch (Exception)
diff --git a/SafeguardDevOpsService/Extensions/CertificateExtensions.cs b/SafeguardDevOpsService/Extensions/CertificateExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8ee98d41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SafeguardDevOpsService/Extensions/CertificateExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+using System.Security.Cryptography;
+using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace OneIdentity.DevOps.Extensions
+{
+    public static class CertificateExtensions
+    {
+        public static X509Certificate2 LoadFromBytes(byte[] rawData, string? password = null, X509KeyStorageFlags? keyStorageFlags = null)
+        {
+            // 1. Detect if the byte array is PKCS12 or PEM
+            X509ContentType contentType = X509Certificate2.GetCertContentType(rawData);
+
+            if (contentType == X509ContentType.Pkcs12)
+            {
+                if (keyStorageFlags.HasValue)
+                {
+                    // Use the new .NET 9 Loader for binary PKCS12/PFX
+                    return X509CertificateLoader.LoadPkcs12(rawData, password, keyStorageFlags.Value);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    // Use the new .NET 9 Loader for binary PKCS12/PFX
+                    return X509CertificateLoader.LoadPkcs12(rawData, password);
+                }
+
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                // It's likely PEM (text-based). 
+                // We convert the bytes to a string to use the PEM parser.
+                string pemString = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(rawData);
+
+                // 1. Load the public certificate
+                var cert = X509CertificateLoader.LoadCertificate(rawData);
+
+                // 2. Load the private key if it exists in the string
+                if (pemString.Contains("PRIVATE KEY"))
+                {
+                    using var rsa = RSA.Create();
+                    // ImportFromPem automatically handles both 'Universal 2' and 'Universal 16'
+                    rsa.ImportFromPem(pemString);
+
+                    // 3. Link them together
+                    return cert.CopyWithPrivateKey(rsa);
+                }
+
+                return cert;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/SafeguardDevOpsService/Logic/CertificateData.cs b/SafeguardDevOpsService/Logic/CertificateData.cs
index 94a35ef9..7f9bae2d 100644
--- a/SafeguardDevOpsService/Logic/CertificateData.cs
+++ b/SafeguardDevOpsService/Logic/CertificateData.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
 using System.Text;
 using OneIdentity.DevOps.Exceptions;
+using OneIdentity.DevOps.Extensions;
 
 namespace OneIdentity.DevOps.Logic
 {
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ internal class CertificateData : ICertificateData, IDisposable
         public CertificateData(string certB64, string password)
         {
             Password = password;
-            cert = X509CertificateLoader.LoadPkcs12(Convert.FromBase64String(certB64), password, X509KeyStorageFlags.EphemeralKeySet | X509KeyStorageFlags.Exportable);
+            cert = CertificateExtensions.LoadFromBytes(Convert.FromBase64String(certB64), password, X509KeyStorageFlags.EphemeralKeySet | X509KeyStorageFlags.Exportable);
         }
 
         public string Base64Certificate => Convert.ToBase64String(cert.Export(X509ContentType.Cert));
diff --git a/SafeguardDevOpsService/Logic/SafeguardLogic.cs b/SafeguardDevOpsService/Logic/SafeguardLogic.cs
index fc128b10..db1b76b3 100644
--- a/SafeguardDevOpsService/Logic/SafeguardLogic.cs
+++ b/SafeguardDevOpsService/Logic/SafeguardLogic.cs
@@ -1640,7 +1640,7 @@ public void InstallCertificate(CertificateInfo certificate, CertificateType cert
             X509Certificate2 cert;
             try
             {
-                cert = X509CertificateLoader.LoadPkcs12(certificateBytes, certificate.Passphrase);
+                cert = CertificateExtensions.LoadFromBytes(certificateBytes, certificate.Passphrase);
                 _logger.Debug(
                     $"Parsed certificate for installation: subject={cert.SubjectName.Name}, thumbprint={cert.Thumbprint}");
             }
@@ -2304,7 +2304,7 @@ private CertificateInfo AddTrustedCertificate(string base64CertificateData, stri
             try
             {
                 var certificateBytes = CertificateHelper.ConvertPemToData(base64CertificateData);
-                var cert = X509CertificateLoader.LoadPkcs12(certificateBytes, passPhrase);
+                var cert = CertificateExtensions.LoadFromBytes(certificateBytes, passPhrase);
                 _logger.Debug(
                     $"Parsed new trusted certificate: subject={cert.SubjectName}, thumbprint={cert.Thumbprint}.");