diff --git a/app/composables/usePackageComparison.ts b/app/composables/usePackageComparison.ts
index c0798bc11d..568e24787d 100644
--- a/app/composables/usePackageComparison.ts
+++ b/app/composables/usePackageComparison.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { normalizeLicense } from '#shared/utils/npm'
 import { getDependencyCount } from '~/utils/npm/dependency-count'
 
 /** Special identifier for the "What Would James Do?" comparison column */
@@ -193,10 +194,7 @@ export function usePackageComparison(packageNames: MaybeRefOrGetter<string[]>) {
                 severity: vulnsSeverity,
               },
               metadata: {
-                license:
-                  typeof pkgData.license === 'object' && 'type' in pkgData.license
-                    ? pkgData.license.type
-                    : pkgData.license,
+                license: normalizeLicense(pkgData.license),
                 // Use version-specific publish time, NOT time.modified (which can be
                 // updated by metadata changes like maintainer additions)
                 lastUpdated: pkgData.time?.[latestVersion],
diff --git a/server/api/registry/badge/[type]/[...pkg].get.ts b/server/api/registry/badge/[type]/[...pkg].get.ts
index b99e22ddfe..bfd1bce60c 100644
--- a/server/api/registry/badge/[type]/[...pkg].get.ts
+++ b/server/api/registry/badge/[type]/[...pkg].get.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { createError, getRouterParam, getQuery, setHeader } from 'h3'
 import { PackageRouteParamsSchema } from '#shared/schemas/package'
 import { CACHE_MAX_AGE_ONE_HOUR, ERROR_NPM_FETCH_FAILED } from '#shared/utils/constants'
 import { fetchNpmPackage } from '#server/utils/npm'
-import { assertValidPackageName } from '#shared/utils/npm'
+import { assertValidPackageName, normalizeLicense } from '#shared/utils/npm'
 import { fetchPackageWithTypesAndFiles } from '#server/utils/file-tree'
 import { handleApiError } from '#server/utils/error-handler'
 
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ const badgeStrategies = {
   'license': async (pkgData: globalThis.Packument) => {
     const latest = getLatestVersion(pkgData)
     const versionData = latest ? pkgData.versions?.[latest] : undefined
-    const value = versionData?.license ?? 'unknown'
+    const value = normalizeLicense(versionData?.license) ?? 'unknown'
     return { label: 'license', value, color: COLORS.green }
   },
 
diff --git a/server/api/registry/package-meta/[...pkg].get.ts b/server/api/registry/package-meta/[...pkg].get.ts
index d627b1cbc1..fca3910fc1 100644
--- a/server/api/registry/package-meta/[...pkg].get.ts
+++ b/server/api/registry/package-meta/[...pkg].get.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { normalizeLicense } from '#shared/utils/npm'
+
 /**
  * Returns lightweight package metadata for search results.
  *
@@ -66,14 +68,7 @@ export default defineCachedEventHandler(
         author = typeof a === 'string' ? { name: a } : { name: a.name, email: a.email, url: a.url }
       }
 
-      // Normalize license to a string
-      // TODO: @npm/types types license as string, but some old packages use
-      // the deprecated { type, url } object format
-      const license = packument.license
-        ? typeof packument.license === 'string'
-          ? packument.license
-          : (packument.license as { type: string }).type
-        : undefined
+      const license = normalizeLicense(packument.license)
 
       return {
         name: packument.name,
diff --git a/server/api/registry/timeline/[...pkg].get.ts b/server/api/registry/timeline/[...pkg].get.ts
index aa4455513f..948decc7bf 100644
--- a/server/api/registry/timeline/[...pkg].get.ts
+++ b/server/api/registry/timeline/[...pkg].get.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { normalizeLicense } from '#shared/utils/npm'
 import { hasBuiltInTypes } from '~~/shared/utils/package-analysis'
 
 const DEFAULT_LIMIT = 25
@@ -68,15 +69,11 @@ export default defineCachedEventHandler(
         .filter(v => packument.time[v])
         .map(v => {
           const version = packument.versions[v]!
-          let license = version.license
-          if (license && typeof license === 'object' && 'type' in license) {
-            license = (license as { type: string }).type
-          }
 
           return {
             version: v,
             time: packument.time[v]!,
-            license: typeof license === 'string' ? license : undefined,
+            license: normalizeLicense(version.license),
             type: typeof version.type === 'string' ? version.type : undefined,
             hasTypes: hasBuiltInTypes(version) || undefined,
             hasTrustedPublisher: version._npmUser?.trustedPublisher ? true : undefined,
diff --git a/test/unit/server/api/registry/badge/pkg.get.spec.ts b/test/unit/server/api/registry/badge/pkg.get.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ba15e4f2a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/server/api/registry/badge/pkg.get.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { afterAll, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import type { H3Event } from 'h3'
+import type { Packument } from '#shared/types/npm-registry'
+import { parsePackageParams } from '#server/utils/parse-package-params'
+
+const fetchNpmPackageMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
+const getRouterParamMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
+const getQueryMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
+const setHeaderMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn())
+
+vi.mock('#server/utils/npm', () => ({
+  fetchNpmPackage: fetchNpmPackageMock,
+}))
+
+vi.mock('h3', () => ({
+  createError: vi.fn((options: unknown) => options),
+  getRouterParam: getRouterParamMock,
+  getQuery: getQueryMock,
+  setHeader: setHeaderMock,
+}))
+
+vi.stubGlobal('defineCachedEventHandler', (fn: Function) => fn)
+vi.stubGlobal('parsePackageParams', parsePackageParams)
+
+const handler = (await import('#server/api/registry/badge/[type]/[...pkg].get')).default
+
+const fakeEvent = {} as H3Event
+
+afterAll(() => {
+  vi.unstubAllGlobals()
+})
+
+describe('badge API', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks()
+    getQueryMock.mockReturnValue({})
+    getRouterParamMock.mockImplementation((_event: unknown, name: string) => {
+      if (name === 'type') return 'license'
+      if (name === 'pkg') return 'my-pkg'
+      return undefined
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('normalizes object-shaped licenses before rendering SVG', async () => {
+    fetchNpmPackageMock.mockResolvedValue({
+      '_id': 'my-pkg',
+      '_rev': '1',
+      'name': 'my-pkg',
+      'dist-tags': { latest: '1.0.0' },
+      'versions': {
+        '1.0.0': { version: '1.0.0', license: { type: 'MIT' } },
+      },
+      'time': {},
+    } as unknown as Packument)
+
+    const svg = await handler(fakeEvent)
+
+    expect(svg).toContain('>MIT<')
+    expect(svg).not.toContain('[object Object]')
+  })
+})