diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/sf/auto/phases-finalize.js b/src/resources/extensions/sf/auto/phases-finalize.js
index ada0a96b4..e82782cba 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/sf/auto/phases-finalize.js
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/sf/auto/phases-finalize.js
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import {
 import { resumeAutoAfterProviderDelay } from "../bootstrap/provider-error-resume.js";
 import { debugLog } from "../debug-logger.js";
 import { PROJECT_FILES } from "../detection.js";
+import { getErrorMessage } from "../error-utils.js";
 import { MergeConflictError } from "../git-service.js";
 import { recordLearnedOutcome } from "../learning/runtime.js";
 import { sfRoot } from "../paths.js";
@@ -115,14 +116,16 @@ import {
 	FINALIZE_PRE_TIMEOUT_MS,
 	withTimeout,
 } from "./finalize-timeout.js";
+import {
+	recordLearningOutcomeForUnit,
+	shouldSkipArtifactVerification,
+} from "./phases-helpers.js";
 import { runUnit } from "./run-unit.js";
-import { getErrorMessage } from "../error-utils.js";
 import {
 	BUDGET_THRESHOLDS,
 	MAX_FINALIZE_TIMEOUTS,
 	MAX_RECOVERY_CHARS,
 } from "./types.js";
-import { recordLearningOutcomeForUnit, shouldSkipArtifactVerification } from "./phases-helpers.js";
 
 // ─── runFinalize ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 /**
@@ -426,6 +429,16 @@ export async function runFinalize(ic, iterData, loopState, sidecarItem) {
 					return { action: "continue" };
 				}
 			}
+			if (verificationResult === "continue") {
+				// Verification was auto-deferred (low-risk findings) — proceed normally.
+				// The defer logic in runPostUnitVerification already notified the user
+				// and wrote deferred evidence; we just need to avoid the break/retry
+				// paths above and fall through to post-verification processing.
+				debugLog("autoLoop", {
+					phase: "verification-deferred",
+					iteration: ic.iteration,
+				});
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	// Post-verification processing (DB dual-write, hooks, triage, quick-tasks)