diff --git a/docker/reproduce/entrypoint-reproduce.sh b/docker/reproduce/entrypoint-reproduce.sh
index 2715602..f2068ee 100644
--- a/docker/reproduce/entrypoint-reproduce.sh
+++ b/docker/reproduce/entrypoint-reproduce.sh
@@ -496,9 +496,11 @@ fi
 if [ "$AGENT_TYPE" = "triage" ]; then
   log "Triage post-processing: checking for created issues to label..."
 
-  # Extract issue numbers from Claude output that were created during triage
-  # Look for patterns like "Created issue #123" or "harb#123" or "#123" after "create"
-  CREATED_ISSUES=$(grep -oE '(Created|created) issue #[0-9]+|harb#[0-9]+|#[0-9]+' \
+  # Extract issue numbers from Claude output that were created during triage.
+  # Match unambiguous creation patterns: "Created issue #123", "Created #123",
+  # or "harb#123". Do NOT match bare #123 which would capture references in
+  # the triage summary (e.g., "Decomposed from #5", "cause 1 of 2", etc.).
+  CREATED_ISSUES=$(grep -oE '(Created|created) issue #[0-9]+|(Created|created) #[0-9]+|harb#[0-9]+' \
     "/tmp/reproduce-claude-output-${ISSUE_NUMBER}.txt" 2>/dev/null | \
     grep -oE '[0-9]+' | sort -u | head -10)
 
@@ -506,12 +508,14 @@ if [ "$AGENT_TYPE" = "triage" ]; then
     # Get backlog label ID
     BACKLOG_ID=$(_label_id "backlog" "#fef2c0")
 
-    for issue_num in $CREATED_ISSUES; do
-      if [ -n "$BACKLOG_ID" ]; then
+    if [ -z "$BACKLOG_ID" ]; then
+      log "WARNING: could not get backlog label ID — skipping label enforcement"
+    else
+      for issue_num in $CREATED_ISSUES; do
         _add_label "$issue_num" "$BACKLOG_ID"
         log "Added backlog label to created issue #${issue_num}"
-      fi
-    done
+      done
+    fi
   fi
 fi