diff --git a/src/apm_cli/policy/parser.py b/src/apm_cli/policy/parser.py
index 95ca9a73d..881369816 100644
--- a/src/apm_cli/policy/parser.py
+++ b/src/apm_cli/policy/parser.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import errno
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
@@ -241,18 +242,49 @@ def _build_policy(data: dict) -> ApmPolicy:
     )
 
 
+def _looks_like_yaml_content(source: str) -> bool:
+    """Return True when a string is more likely inline YAML than a file path.
+
+    This avoids probing the filesystem for large YAML payloads, which can raise
+    platform-specific path errors such as ENAMETOOLONG on macOS.
+    """
+    stripped = source.lstrip()
+
+    if "\n" in source or "\r" in source:
+        return True
+
+    if stripped.startswith(("{", "[", "---", "- ")):
+        return True
+
+    first_line = stripped.splitlines()[0] if stripped else ""
+    return ": " in first_line or first_line.endswith(":")
+
+
 def load_policy(source: Union[str, Path]) -> Tuple[ApmPolicy, List[str]]:
     """Load and validate an apm-policy.yml from a file path or YAML string.
 
     Returns (policy, warnings). Raises PolicyValidationError on invalid input.
     """
-    path = Path(source) if not isinstance(source, Path) else source
+    raw: str
 
-    if path.is_file():
-        raw = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    if isinstance(source, Path):
+        raw = source.read_text(encoding="utf-8") if source.is_file() else str(source)
+    elif _looks_like_yaml_content(source):
+        raw = source
     else:
-        # Treat source as a YAML string
-        raw = str(source)
+        path = Path(source)
+        try:
+            is_file = path.is_file()
+        except OSError as exc:
+            if exc.errno == errno.ENAMETOOLONG:
+                is_file = False
+            else:
+                raise
+
+        if is_file:
+            raw = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        else:
+            raw = source
 
     try:
         data = yaml.safe_load(raw)
diff --git a/tests/unit/policy/test_parser.py b/tests/unit/policy/test_parser.py
index 2b5e61d3d..7c085788a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/policy/test_parser.py
+++ b/tests/unit/policy/test_parser.py
@@ -321,6 +321,26 @@ def test_version_coerced_to_string(self):
         policy, warnings = load_policy("version: '2.0'")
         self.assertEqual(policy.version, "2.0")
 
+    def test_long_yaml_string_does_not_crash(self):
+        """Long YAML strings (> PATH_MAX on macOS) must not raise OSError."""
+        # Build a YAML payload larger than typical PATH_MAX limits (1024 bytes)
+        # so that Path.is_file() can raise ENAMETOOLONG on macOS.
+        long_comment = "# " + "x" * 2048 + "\n"
+        yaml_str = (
+            long_comment
+            + "name: long-policy\n"
+            + "version: '1.0'\n"
+            + "enforcement: off\n"
+        )
+        # Ensure the string is long enough to trigger ENAMETOOLONG on macOS
+        self.assertGreater(len(yaml_str), 1024)
+
+        # This should parse as inline YAML, not as a file path
+        policy, warnings = load_policy(yaml_str)
+        self.assertEqual(policy.name, "long-policy")
+        self.assertEqual(policy.version, "1.0")
+        self.assertEqual(policy.enforcement, "off")
+
 
 class TestLoadPolicyFromFile(unittest.TestCase):
     """Test load_policy from a file path."""