diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/issues-service.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/issues-service.test.ts
index 44ac15e6..077332c6 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/issues-service.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/issues-service.test.ts
@@ -1222,6 +1222,72 @@ describeEmbeddedPostgres("issueService.list participantAgentId", () => {
     expect(comments[0]?.body).toBe("Comment should be visible");
   });
 
+  it("lists user comments when a candidate attribution run log is missing", async () => {
+    const companyId = randomUUID();
+    const agentId = randomUUID();
+    const issueId = randomUUID();
+    const commentId = randomUUID();
+
+    await db.insert(companies).values({
+      id: companyId,
+      name: "Paperclip",
+      issuePrefix: `T${companyId.replace(/-/g, "").slice(0, 6).toUpperCase()}`,
+      requireBoardApprovalForNewAgents: false,
+    });
+
+    await db.insert(agents).values({
+      id: agentId,
+      companyId,
+      name: "CodexCoder",
+      role: "engineer",
+      status: "active",
+      adapterType: "codex_local",
+      adapterConfig: {},
+      runtimeConfig: {},
+      permissions: {},
+    });
+
+    await db.insert(issues).values({
+      id: issueId,
+      companyId,
+      title: "Comments issue with missing run log",
+      status: "todo",
+      priority: "medium",
+    });
+
+    await db.insert(heartbeatRuns).values({
+      id: randomUUID(),
+      companyId,
+      agentId,
+      contextSnapshot: { issueId },
+      createdAt: new Date("2026-05-12T22:58:00.000Z"),
+      startedAt: new Date("2026-05-12T22:58:00.000Z"),
+      finishedAt: new Date("2026-05-12T23:14:00.000Z"),
+      logStore: "local_file",
+      logRef: "missing/run-log.ndjson",
+      logBytes: 128,
+    });
+
+    await db.insert(issueComments).values({
+      id: commentId,
+      companyId,
+      issueId,
+      authorUserId: "user-1",
+      body: "Comment should still be visible",
+      createdAt: new Date("2026-05-12T23:00:00.000Z"),
+      updatedAt: new Date("2026-05-12T23:00:00.000Z"),
+    });
+
+    const comments = await svc.listComments(issueId, {
+      order: "desc",
+      limit: 50,
+    });
+
+    expect(comments.map((comment) => comment.id)).toEqual([commentId]);
+    expect(comments[0]?.body).toBe("Comment should still be visible");
+    expect(comments[0]?.metadata).toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it("includes blockedBy summaries on list rows in one batched pass", async () => {
     const companyId = randomUUID();
     const blockerId = randomUUID();
diff --git a/server/src/services/issues.ts b/server/src/services/issues.ts
index e0a3f1a5..fb47582f 100644
--- a/server/src/services/issues.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/issues.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ import {
   isUuidLike,
   normalizeIssueIdentifier as normalizeIssueReferenceIdentifier,
 } from "@paperclipai/shared";
-import { conflict, notFound, unprocessable } from "../errors.js";
+import { conflict, HttpError, notFound, unprocessable } from "../errors.js";
+import { logger } from "../middleware/logger.js";
 import { parseObject } from "../adapters/utils.js";
 import {
   defaultIssueExecutionWorkspaceSettingsForProject,
@@ -2804,6 +2805,7 @@ export function issueService(db: Db) {
   }
 
   async function readRunLogText(run: {
+    runId?: string | null;
     logStore: string | null;
     logRef: string | null;
     logBytes: number | null;
@@ -2817,19 +2819,30 @@ export function issueService(db: Db) {
     let content = "";
     let nextOffset: number | undefined = 0;
 
-    while (nextOffset !== undefined) {
-      const remainingBytes = ISSUE_COMMENT_RUN_LOG_DERIVATION_MAX_LOG_BYTES - Buffer.byteLength(content, "utf8");
-      if (remainingBytes <= 0) break;
-      const chunk = await store.read(
-        { store: "local_file", logRef: run.logRef },
-        {
-          offset,
-          limitBytes: Math.min(ISSUE_COMMENT_RUN_LOG_DERIVATION_CHUNK_BYTES, remainingBytes),
-        },
-      );
-      content += chunk.content;
-      nextOffset = chunk.nextOffset;
-      offset = chunk.nextOffset ?? 0;
+    try {
+      while (nextOffset !== undefined) {
+        const remainingBytes = ISSUE_COMMENT_RUN_LOG_DERIVATION_MAX_LOG_BYTES - Buffer.byteLength(content, "utf8");
+        if (remainingBytes <= 0) break;
+        const chunk = await store.read(
+          { store: "local_file", logRef: run.logRef },
+          {
+            offset,
+            limitBytes: Math.min(ISSUE_COMMENT_RUN_LOG_DERIVATION_CHUNK_BYTES, remainingBytes),
+          },
+        );
+        content += chunk.content;
+        nextOffset = chunk.nextOffset;
+        offset = chunk.nextOffset ?? 0;
+      }
+    } catch (err) {
+      if (err instanceof HttpError && err.status === 404) {
+        logger.warn(
+          { err, runId: run.runId ?? undefined, logRef: run.logRef },
+          "missing heartbeat run log while deriving issue comment metadata",
+        );
+        return content;
+      }
+      throw err;
     }
 
     return content;