diff --git a/src/test/core/Config_test.cpp b/src/test/core/Config_test.cpp
index fdac1e450dd..df0bf892975 100644
--- a/src/test/core/Config_test.cpp
+++ b/src/test/core/Config_test.cpp
@@ -594,6 +594,28 @@ main
 
         BEAST_EXPECT(error.empty());
         BEAST_EXPECT(c.networkId == 10000);
+
+        // A trailing inline comment on a single-value section must be
+        // stripped, not passed to lexicalCast. Before the fix this threw
+        // beast::BadLexicalCast (a std::bad_cast, not a std::runtime_error),
+        // which escaped as an uncaught terminate at startup. Catch
+        // std::exception so a regression fails the test rather than aborting
+        // the test binary. See issue #7545.
+        error.clear();
+        try
+        {
+            c.loadFromString(R"xrpldConfig(
+[network_id]
+1024  # inline comment after the value
+)xrpldConfig");
+        }
+        catch (std::exception const& e)
+        {
+            error = e.what();
+        }
+
+        BEAST_EXPECT(error.empty());
+        BEAST_EXPECT(c.networkId == 1024);
     }
 
     void
diff --git a/src/xrpld/core/detail/Config.cpp b/src/xrpld/core/detail/Config.cpp
index 1b2449823e4..b5240a44d7c 100644
--- a/src/xrpld/core/detail/Config.cpp
+++ b/src/xrpld/core/detail/Config.cpp
@@ -217,6 +217,38 @@ getIniFileSection(IniFileSections& secSource, std::string const& strSection)
     return nullptr;
 }
 
+// Strip a trailing, unescaped '#' comment from a single-line section value.
+// parseIniFile() only discards whole-line comments (lines that begin with
+// '#'), so a value such as "1  # note" is otherwise passed verbatim to
+// lexicalCast and throws beast::BadLexicalCast, aborting startup. This mirrors
+// the inline-comment handling BasicConfig::Section::append already performs for
+// key=value sections (including escaped "\#"). See issue #7545.
+static void
+removeTrailingComment(std::string& value)
+{
+    auto pos = value.find('#');
+    while (pos != std::string::npos)
+    {
+        if (pos == 0)
+        {
+            value.clear();
+            return;
+        }
+        if (value[pos - 1] == '\\')
+        {
+            // escaped '#': drop the backslash, keep the '#', keep scanning
+            value.erase(pos - 1, 1);
+            pos = value.find('#', pos);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            value.erase(pos);
+            boost::algorithm::trim(value);
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 bool
 getSingleSection(
     IniFileSections& secSource,
@@ -229,6 +261,7 @@ getSingleSection(
     if ((pmtEntries != nullptr) && pmtEntries->size() == 1)
     {
         strValue = (*pmtEntries)[0];
+        removeTrailingComment(strValue);
         return true;
     }