diff --git a/scripts/dev-lead-fix-reviews.sh b/scripts/dev-lead-fix-reviews.sh
index d97ea5328..3be0f3aaa 100755
--- a/scripts/dev-lead-fix-reviews.sh
+++ b/scripts/dev-lead-fix-reviews.sh
@@ -481,15 +481,19 @@ has_tier1_blockers() {
   [ "${failing_checks:-0}" -gt 0 ] || [ "${changes_requested:-0}" -gt 0 ] || [ "${unresolved_bot_threads:-0}" -gt 0 ]
 }
 
-# try_enable_auto_merge: enables auto-merge (squash) on the PR if reviewDecision is
-# APPROVED and auto-merge is not already set. Safe to call speculatively — checks
-# eligibility first and is idempotent if auto-merge is already on.
+# try_enable_auto_merge: enables auto-merge (squash) on the PR when the engine run
+# succeeds (rc==0). We do NOT gate on reviewDecision here: GitHub holds the merge
+# until branch protection is satisfied (required reviews approved, review threads
+# resolved, required checks green), so enabling early is safe and means a PR merges
+# the moment it becomes mergeable. If the engine run fails the call is skipped, so a
+# new dev-lead event is required in that case.
+# Safe to call speculatively: it is idempotent when auto-merge is already on.
 # Pass "true" as first arg for strict mode: API errors propagate and a merge failure
 # exits non-zero rather than emitting a warning (use for the enable-auto-merge intent).
 try_enable_auto_merge() {
   local strict="${1:-false}"
-  if [ "${DEV_LEAD_DRY_RUN:-false}" = "true" ]; then
-    echo "[dry-run] would enable auto-merge if PR #${PR_NUMBER} is APPROVED"
+  if [[ "${DEV_LEAD_DRY_RUN:-false}" == "true" ]]; then
+    echo "[dry-run] would enable auto-merge (squash) on PR #${PR_NUMBER}"
     return 0
   fi
   # Refresh HEAD_SHA to the commit that is now the PR head. commit_and_push may
@@ -497,53 +501,28 @@ try_enable_auto_merge() {
   # --match-head-commit would fail with the stale value.
   local current_head
   current_head=$(git rev-parse HEAD 2>/dev/null || true)
-  [ -n "$current_head" ] && HEAD_SHA="$current_head"
-
-  local auto_merge_state review_decision
+  [[ -n "$current_head" ]] && HEAD_SHA="$current_head"
 
-  if [ "$strict" = "true" ]; then
+  local auto_merge_state
+  if [[ "$strict" == "true" ]]; then
     auto_merge_state=$(gh api "repos/${REPO}/pulls/${PR_NUMBER}" --jq '.auto_merge // empty')
-    if [ -n "$auto_merge_state" ]; then
-      echo "::notice::PR #${PR_NUMBER} auto-merge already enabled"
-      return 0
-    fi
-    review_decision=$(gh api graphql -f query='
-      query($owner:String!,$repo:String!,$pr:Int!){
-        repository(owner:$owner,name:$repo){
-          pullRequest(number:$pr){reviewDecision}
-        }
-      }' \
-      -F owner="${REPO%%/*}" -F repo="${REPO##*/}" -F pr="$PR_NUMBER" \
-      --jq '.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewDecision')
   else
     auto_merge_state=$(gh api "repos/${REPO}/pulls/${PR_NUMBER}" \
       --jq '.auto_merge // empty' 2>/dev/null || true)
-    if [ -n "$auto_merge_state" ]; then
-      echo "::notice::PR #${PR_NUMBER} auto-merge already enabled"
-      return 0
-    fi
-    review_decision=$(gh api graphql -f query='
-      query($owner:String!,$repo:String!,$pr:Int!){
-        repository(owner:$owner,name:$repo){
-          pullRequest(number:$pr){reviewDecision}
-        }
-      }' \
-      -F owner="${REPO%%/*}" -F repo="${REPO##*/}" -F pr="$PR_NUMBER" \
-      --jq '.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewDecision' 2>/dev/null || true)
+  fi
+  if [[ -n "$auto_merge_state" ]]; then
+    echo "::notice::PR #${PR_NUMBER} auto-merge already enabled"
+    return 0
   fi
 
-  if [ "${review_decision:-}" = "APPROVED" ]; then
-    echo "::notice::PR #${PR_NUMBER} is APPROVED — enabling auto-merge (squash)"
-    set -- --auto --squash
-    [ -n "${HEAD_SHA:-}" ] && set -- "$@" --match-head-commit "$HEAD_SHA"
-    if [ "$strict" = "true" ]; then
-      gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" --repo "$REPO" "$@"
-    else
-      gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" --repo "$REPO" "$@" 2>/dev/null || \
-        echo "::warning::auto-merge could not be enabled on PR #${PR_NUMBER} — check repository settings and token permissions"
-    fi
+  echo "::notice::PR #${PR_NUMBER} — enabling auto-merge (squash); GitHub will merge once branch protection is satisfied"
+  local merge_args=("--auto" "--squash")
+  [[ -n "${HEAD_SHA:-}" ]] && merge_args+=("--match-head-commit" "$HEAD_SHA")
+  if [[ "$strict" == "true" ]]; then
+    gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" --repo "$REPO" "${merge_args[@]}"
   else
-    echo "::notice::PR #${PR_NUMBER} reviewDecision=${review_decision:-unknown} — not yet eligible for auto-merge"
+    gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" --repo "$REPO" "${merge_args[@]}" 2>/dev/null || \
+      echo "::warning::auto-merge could not be enabled on PR #${PR_NUMBER} — check repository settings and token permissions"
   fi
 }
 
@@ -802,6 +781,7 @@ handle_rate_limit() {
   local intent="$1"
   echo "::warning::All engines rate-limited for intent=${intent} — posting rate-limited marker"
   post_reviews_rate_limited "$intent"
+  [[ -n "${PR_NUMBER:-}" ]] && try_enable_auto_merge
   exit 2
 }
 
@@ -905,6 +885,10 @@ case "$INTENT_TYPE" in
       else
         post_reviews_terminal "on-mention" "no-changes" "Engine ran but made no changes."
       fi
+      # Enable auto-merge by default when the mention targets a PR (issue mentions
+      # carry no PR_NUMBER and are skipped). GitHub holds the merge until branch
+      # protection is satisfied.
+      [[ -n "${PR_NUMBER:-}" ]] && try_enable_auto_merge
     fi
     exit "$rc"
     ;;
diff --git a/tests/dev-lead/unit/test_fix_reviews.bats b/tests/dev-lead/unit/test_fix_reviews.bats
index 1c886c0ce..df2e2a420 100644
--- a/tests/dev-lead/unit/test_fix_reviews.bats
+++ b/tests/dev-lead/unit/test_fix_reviews.bats
@@ -420,6 +420,80 @@ STUB
   [[ "$output" == *"would enable auto-merge"* ]]
 }
 
+@test "fix-reviews: try_enable_auto_merge dry-run output present for on-mention" {
+  export INTENT_TYPE="on-mention"
+  export DEV_LEAD_DRY_RUN="true"
+  export USER_INSTRUCTION="Please fix the tests"
+  export PR_DESCRIPTION="A test pull request"
+
+  run bash "$FIX_REVIEWS_SCRIPT"
+
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"would enable auto-merge"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "fix-reviews: auto-merge enabled by default (not gated on APPROVED reviewDecision)" {
+  # Regression guard: dev-lead enables auto-merge whenever it works on a PR;
+  # GitHub holds the merge until branch protection is satisfied. The dry-run
+  # message must not reintroduce an "if APPROVED" eligibility gate.
+  export INTENT_TYPE="fix-reviews"
+  export DEV_LEAD_DRY_RUN="true"
+
+  run bash "$FIX_REVIEWS_SCRIPT"
+
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"would enable auto-merge"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" != *"if PR #"*"is APPROVED"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "fix-reviews: rate-limited run still attempts auto-merge" {
+  # Regression guard: handle_rate_limit() must call try_enable_auto_merge so that
+  # a rate-limited dev-lead run still enables auto-merge before exiting.
+  export INTENT_TYPE="on-mention"
+  export DEV_LEAD_DRY_RUN="false"
+  export USER_INSTRUCTION="Please review"
+  export COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN="stub-token"
+
+  for engine in claude gemini; do
+    cat > "$STUB_BIN_DIR/$engine" <<'STUB'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "rate limit exceeded"
+exit 1
+STUB
+    chmod +x "$STUB_BIN_DIR/$engine"
+  done
+
+  cat > "$STUB_BIN_DIR/gh" <<'GHEOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+case "$1" in
+  copilot) echo "rate limit exceeded"; exit 1 ;;
+esac
+ARGS="$*"
+case "$ARGS" in
+  *"graphql"*)
+    echo '{"data":{"repository":{"pullRequest":{"reviewThreads":{"nodes":[]}}}}}' ;;
+  *"api"*"repos/"*"issues/"*)
+    echo "[]" ;;
+  *"api"*"repos/"*"pulls/"*)
+    echo '{}' ;;
+  *"pr merge"*)
+    echo "AUTO_MERGE_CALLED: $ARGS"; exit 0 ;;
+  *"pr comment"*)
+    echo "COMMENT_POSTED: $ARGS"; exit 0 ;;
+  *) echo "{}" ;;
+esac
+GHEOF
+  chmod +x "$STUB_BIN_DIR/gh"
+
+  run bash "$FIX_REVIEWS_SCRIPT"
+
+  [ "$status" -eq 2 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"rate-limited"* ]]
+  # try_enable_auto_merge is called by handle_rate_limit — either "already enabled"
+  # or "enabling auto-merge" appears depending on stub state; both prove the call happened.
+  [[ "$output" == *"auto-merge"* ]]
+}
+
 @test "fix-reviews: terminal marker written after successful fix-reviews run" {
   export INTENT_TYPE="fix-reviews"
   export DEV_LEAD_DRY_RUN="true"