diff --git a/.semversioner/next-release/patch-20260512161909030693.json b/.semversioner/next-release/patch-20260512161909030693.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3cc57c21de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.semversioner/next-release/patch-20260512161909030693.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "type": "patch",
+  "description": "Preserve bare `$` characters in config values (e.g. `file_pattern: \".*\\\\.md$\"`) by using `Template.safe_substitute`; missing env vars still raise `ConfigParsingError`."
+}
diff --git a/packages/graphrag-common/graphrag_common/config/load_config.py b/packages/graphrag-common/graphrag_common/config/load_config.py
index c8929149f1..216bb50242 100644
--- a/packages/graphrag-common/graphrag_common/config/load_config.py
+++ b/packages/graphrag-common/graphrag_common/config/load_config.py
@@ -83,12 +83,21 @@ def _get_parser_for_file(file_path: str | Path) -> Callable[[str], dict[str, Any
 
 
 def _parse_env_variables(text: str) -> str:
-    """Parse environment variables in the configuration text."""
-    try:
-        return Template(text).substitute(os.environ)
-    except KeyError as error:
-        msg = f"Environment variable not found: {error}"
-        raise ConfigParsingError(msg) from error
+    r"""Parse environment variables in the configuration text.
+
+    Uses ``Template.safe_substitute`` so that bare ``$`` characters appearing in
+    legitimate config values (for example, regex anchors like ``.*\.md$`` in a
+    ``file_pattern``) are passed through unchanged instead of raising a
+    ``ValueError`` for invalid placeholders. Missing environment variables are
+    still detected up-front and surfaced as ``ConfigParsingError``.
+    """
+    template = Template(text)
+    for match in template.pattern.finditer(text):
+        name = match.group("named") or match.group("braced")
+        if name is not None and name not in os.environ:
+            msg = f"Environment variable not found: '{name}'"
+            raise ConfigParsingError(msg)
+    return template.safe_substitute(os.environ)
 
 
 def _recursive_merge_dicts(dest: dict[str, Any], src: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
diff --git a/tests/unit/load_config/fixtures/config_with_dollar.yaml b/tests/unit/load_config/fixtures/config_with_dollar.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bd1a818899
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/load_config/fixtures/config_with_dollar.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+name: "match_dollar_$"
+value: 100
+nested:
+  nested_str: ".*\\.md$"
+  nested_int: 42
+nested_list:
+  - nested_str: "list_value_1"
+    nested_int: 7
+  - nested_str: "trailing$"
+    nested_int: 8
diff --git a/tests/unit/load_config/fixtures/config_with_dollar_and_env.yaml b/tests/unit/load_config/fixtures/config_with_dollar_and_env.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f2da9202ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/load_config/fixtures/config_with_dollar_and_env.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+name: ${LOAD_CONFIG_NAME}
+value: 100
+nested:
+  nested_str: ".*\\.md$"
+  nested_int: 42
+nested_list:
+  - nested_str: "list_value_1"
+    nested_int: 7
+  - nested_str: "list_value_2"
+    nested_int: 8
diff --git a/tests/unit/load_config/test_load_config.py b/tests/unit/load_config/test_load_config.py
index 0945cf214f..e8e2ce40f2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/load_config/test_load_config.py
+++ b/tests/unit/load_config/test_load_config.py
@@ -155,3 +155,43 @@ def test_load_config():
     assert config_with_env_vars.nested_list[0].nested_int == 7
     assert config_with_env_vars.nested_list[1].nested_str == "list_value_2"
     assert config_with_env_vars.nested_list[1].nested_int == 8
+
+
+def test_load_config_preserves_literal_dollar_signs():
+    """Bare ``$`` characters in config values must be preserved verbatim.
+
+    Regex anchors like ``.*\\.md$`` in fields such as ``file_pattern`` are valid
+    config values; ``string.Template.substitute`` previously raised
+    ``ValueError`` for these, crashing config load. The loader now uses
+    ``safe_substitute`` so invalid placeholders are passed through unchanged.
+    """
+    config_directory = Path(__file__).parent / "fixtures"
+    config_path = config_directory / "config_with_dollar.yaml"
+
+    config = load_config(
+        config_initializer=TestConfigModel,
+        config_path=config_path,
+        set_cwd=False,
+    )
+
+    assert config.name == "match_dollar_$"
+    assert config.nested.nested_str == ".*\\.md$"
+    assert config.nested_list[1].nested_str == "trailing$"
+
+
+def test_load_config_mixed_env_var_and_literal_dollar():
+    """``${VAR}`` substitution and bare ``$`` literals must coexist."""
+    config_directory = Path(__file__).parent / "fixtures"
+    config_path = config_directory / "config_with_dollar_and_env.yaml"
+    env_path = config_directory / "test.env"
+
+    cwd = Path.cwd()
+    config = load_config(
+        config_initializer=TestConfigModel,
+        config_path=config_path,
+        dot_env_path=env_path,
+    )
+    os.chdir(cwd)
+
+    assert config.name == "env_name"
+    assert config.nested.nested_str == ".*\\.md$"