diff --git a/src/signals/focus-manifest.ts b/src/signals/focus-manifest.ts
index 8fc4b4a3e8..865e8149ab 100644
--- a/src/signals/focus-manifest.ts
+++ b/src/signals/focus-manifest.ts
@@ -796,6 +796,7 @@ export function reviewConfigToJson(review: FocusManifestReviewConfig): JsonValue
   if (review.note !== null) out.note = review.note;
   if (review.profile !== null) out.profile = review.profile;
   if (review.inlineComments !== null) out.inline_comments = review.inlineComments;
+  if (review.instructions !== null) out.instructions = review.instructions;
   if (review.pathInstructions.length > 0) out.path_instructions = review.pathInstructions.map((entry) => ({ path: entry.path, instructions: entry.instructions }));
   if (review.excludePaths.length > 0) out.exclude_paths = [...review.excludePaths];
   if (review.preMergeChecks.length > 0) {
diff --git a/test/unit/focus-manifest-loader.test.ts b/test/unit/focus-manifest-loader.test.ts
index 810aaea17e..5658ee2461 100644
--- a/test/unit/focus-manifest-loader.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/focus-manifest-loader.test.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,22 @@ describe("focus-manifest loader", () => {
     expect(fetched).toEqual(["owner/repo"]);
   });
 
+  it("preserves review.instructions across the repo-file cache round trip", async () => {
+    const env = createTestEnv();
+    let fetches = 0;
+    const fetcher = async () => {
+      fetches += 1;
+      return JSON.stringify({ review: { instructions: "Follow our async-error conventions." } });
+    };
+
+    const first = await loadRepoFocusManifest(env, "owner/review-instructions", { fetcher });
+    expect(first.review.instructions).toBe("Follow our async-error conventions.");
+
+    const second = await loadRepoFocusManifest(env, "owner/review-instructions", { fetcher });
+    expect(fetches).toBe(1);
+    expect(second.review.instructions).toBe("Follow our async-error conventions.");
+  });
+
   it("falls back to an empty manifest when no repo file is published and never throws", async () => {
     const env = createTestEnv();
     const manifest = await loadRepoFocusManifest(env, "owner/missing", { fetcher: async () => null });