diff --git a/src/app/dashboard/purchasing/[poId]/po-detail-view.tsx b/src/app/dashboard/purchasing/[poId]/po-detail-view.tsx
index f853c68..5e34d27 100644
--- a/src/app/dashboard/purchasing/[poId]/po-detail-view.tsx
+++ b/src/app/dashboard/purchasing/[poId]/po-detail-view.tsx
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import {
   DialogTitle,
 } from "@/components/ui/dialog";
 import { SlipPreview } from "@/components/slip-preview";
-import { cn, formatCurrency, formatNumber } from "@/lib/utils";
+import { cn, formatCurrency, formatNumber, isUnknownSupplier } from "@/lib/utils";
 import type { DeliveryNoteProcessingStatus } from "@/lib/pb-types";
 
 export interface PoDetailItem {
@@ -152,7 +152,17 @@ export function PoDetailView({ detail }: { detail: PoDetail }) {
               <h2 className="font-mono text-lg font-semibold tracking-tight">
                 {detail.poNumber}
               </h2>
-              <span className="text-base font-medium">{detail.supplier || "—"}</span>
+              {isUnknownSupplier(detail.supplier) ? (
+                <Badge
+                  variant="outline"
+                  className="gap-1.5 border-amber-500/40 bg-amber-500/15 px-2 py-0.5 text-amber-700 dark:text-amber-300"
+                >
+                  <AlertTriangle className="h-3.5 w-3.5" />
+                  Supplier unknown
+                </Badge>
+              ) : (
+                <span className="text-base font-medium">{detail.supplier}</span>
+              )}
               <Badge variant="outline" className="font-mono text-xs">
                 {detail.projectCode || "—"}
               </Badge>
diff --git a/src/app/dashboard/purchasing/purchasing-view.tsx b/src/app/dashboard/purchasing/purchasing-view.tsx
index a58a0d6..3be7b3a 100644
--- a/src/app/dashboard/purchasing/purchasing-view.tsx
+++ b/src/app/dashboard/purchasing/purchasing-view.tsx
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import {
   SelectValue,
 } from "@/components/ui/select";
 import { Pagination } from "@/components/ui/pagination";
-import { cn, formatCurrency, formatNumber } from "@/lib/utils";
+import { cn, formatCurrency, formatNumber, isUnknownSupplier } from "@/lib/utils";
 
 const PAGE_SIZE = 25;
 const PO_BASE = "/dashboard/purchasing";
@@ -331,9 +331,19 @@ function PoListItem({ po }: { po: PoRow }) {
         <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
           <div className="flex flex-wrap items-baseline gap-x-3 gap-y-1">
             <span className="font-mono text-sm font-semibold">{po.poNumber}</span>
-            <span className="truncate text-sm text-foreground">
-              {po.supplier || "—"}
-            </span>
+            {isUnknownSupplier(po.supplier) ? (
+              <Badge
+                variant="outline"
+                className="gap-1 border-amber-500/40 bg-amber-500/15 text-amber-700 dark:text-amber-300"
+              >
+                <AlertTriangle className="h-3 w-3" />
+                Supplier unknown
+              </Badge>
+            ) : (
+              <span className="truncate text-sm text-foreground">
+                {po.supplier}
+              </span>
+            )}
             <Badge variant="outline" className="font-mono text-xs">
               {po.projectCode || "—"}
             </Badge>
diff --git a/src/lib/utils.ts b/src/lib/utils.ts
index c6ec6ac..e0ab6df 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils.ts
@@ -23,3 +23,30 @@ export function formatCurrency(n: number, currency = "ZAR") {
 export function formatPercent(n: number, digits = 1) {
   return `${n.toFixed(digits)}%`;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Strings that mean "OCR could not extract a real supplier" rather than
+ * a real vendor name. The OCR pipeline writes "Not specified in
+ * document" verbatim when the supplier line is missing; other placeholders
+ * ("Unknown", "N/A", "—") cover other pipelines. Anything in this set
+ * (case-insensitive, trimmed) renders as "Supplier unknown" in the UI
+ * instead of being displayed as if it were a real supplier.
+ *
+ * Kept as a Set literal rather than reading from config so it's easy to
+ * grep and extend — add more aliases here when OCR pipelines change.
+ */
+const UNKNOWN_SUPPLIER_ALIASES = new Set([
+  "",
+  "—",
+  "-",
+  "n/a",
+  "na",
+  "unknown",
+  "not specified",
+  "not specified in document",
+]);
+
+export function isUnknownSupplier(supplier: string | undefined | null): boolean {
+  if (!supplier) return true;
+  return UNKNOWN_SUPPLIER_ALIASES.has(supplier.trim().toLowerCase());
+}