diff --git a/dev/dev-poll.sh b/dev/dev-poll.sh
index dd58306..bd3e67d 100755
--- a/dev/dev-poll.sh
+++ b/dev/dev-poll.sh
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ open_pr_exists() {
 
 # Relabel a stale in-progress issue to blocked with diagnostic comment
 # Args: issue_number reason
-# Uses shared helpers from lib/issue-lifecycle.sh
+# Returns: 0 on success, 1 on failure
 relabel_stale_issue() {
   local issue="$1" reason="$2"
 
@@ -149,17 +149,25 @@ relabel_stale_issue() {
       -d "{\"labels\":[${bk_id}]}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
   fi
 
-  # Post diagnostic comment using shared helper
-  local comment_body
-  comment_body=$(
+  # Post diagnostic comment
+  local tmpfile
+  tmpfile=$(mktemp /tmp/stale-issue-XXXXXX.md)
+  {
     printf '### Stale in-progress issue detected\n\n'
     printf '| Field | Value |\n|---|---|\n'
     printf '| Detection reason | `%s` |\n' "$reason"
     printf '| Timestamp | `%s` |\n' "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
     printf '\n**Status:** This issue was labeled `in-progress` but no active tmux session exists.\n'
     printf '**Action required:** A maintainer should triage this issue.\n'
-  )
-  _ilc_post_comment "$issue" "$comment_body"
+  } > "$tmpfile"
+
+  jq -Rs '{body:.}' < "$tmpfile" > "${tmpfile}.json"
+  curl -sf -o /dev/null -X POST \
+    -H "Authorization: token ${FORGE_TOKEN}" \
+    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+    "${API}/issues/${issue}/comments" \
+    --data-binary @"${tmpfile}.json" 2>/dev/null || true
+  rm -f "$tmpfile" "${tmpfile}.json"
 
   _ilc_log "stale issue #${issue} relabeled to blocked: ${reason}"
 }
diff --git a/lib/issue-lifecycle.sh b/lib/issue-lifecycle.sh
index 6b14090..81586f9 100644
--- a/lib/issue-lifecycle.sh
+++ b/lib/issue-lifecycle.sh
@@ -161,27 +161,6 @@ issue_release() {
   _ilc_log "released issue #${issue}"
 }
 
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# _ilc_post_comment — Post a comment to an issue (internal helper)
-# Args: issue_number body_text
-# Uses a temp file to avoid large inline strings.
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-_ilc_post_comment() {
-  local issue="$1" body="$2"
-
-  local tmpfile tmpjson
-  tmpfile=$(mktemp /tmp/ilc-comment-XXXXXX.md)
-  tmpjson="${tmpfile}.json"
-  printf '%s' "$body" > "$tmpfile"
-  jq -Rs '{body:.}' < "$tmpfile" > "$tmpjson"
-  curl -sf -o /dev/null -X POST \
-    -H "Authorization: token ${FORGE_TOKEN}" \
-    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-    "${FORGE_API}/issues/${issue}/comments" \
-    --data-binary @"$tmpjson" 2>/dev/null || true
-  rm -f "$tmpfile" "$tmpjson"
-}
-
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # issue_block — add "blocked" label, post diagnostic comment, remove in-progress.
 # Args: issue_number reason [result_text]
@@ -208,9 +187,14 @@ issue_block() {
     fi
   } > "$tmpfile"
 
-  # Post comment using shared helper
-  _ilc_post_comment "$issue" "$(cat "$tmpfile")"
-  rm -f "$tmpfile"
+  # Post comment
+  jq -Rs '{body:.}' < "$tmpfile" > "${tmpfile}.json"
+  curl -sf -o /dev/null -X POST \
+    -H "Authorization: token ${FORGE_TOKEN}" \
+    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+    "${FORGE_API}/issues/${issue}/comments" \
+    --data-binary @"${tmpfile}.json" 2>/dev/null || true
+  rm -f "$tmpfile" "${tmpfile}.json"
 
   # Remove in-progress, add blocked
   local ip_id bk_id