diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/issue-attachment-routes.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/issue-attachment-routes.test.ts
index 32e2ffefb6b..552e6b90c08 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/issue-attachment-routes.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/issue-attachment-routes.test.ts
@@ -170,6 +170,25 @@ function makeAttachment(contentType: string, originalFilename: string) {
   };
 }
 
+describe("normalizeIssueAttachmentMaxBytes", () => {
+  it("keeps the process-level attachment cap as the fallback for missing company limits", async () => {
+    const previous = process.env.PAPERCLIP_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES;
+    process.env.PAPERCLIP_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES = "5";
+    vi.resetModules();
+    try {
+      const { normalizeIssueAttachmentMaxBytes } = await import("../attachment-types.js");
+      expect(normalizeIssueAttachmentMaxBytes(null)).toBe(5);
+    } finally {
+      if (previous === undefined) {
+        delete process.env.PAPERCLIP_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES;
+      } else {
+        process.env.PAPERCLIP_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES = previous;
+      }
+      vi.resetModules();
+    }
+  });
+});
+
 describe("issue attachment routes", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     vi.resetModules();
diff --git a/server/src/attachment-types.ts b/server/src/attachment-types.ts
index a62165a7dc0..f983e6469b3 100644
--- a/server/src/attachment-types.ts
+++ b/server/src/attachment-types.ts
@@ -14,10 +14,7 @@
  *   - Exact types:   "application/pdf"
  *   - Wildcards:     "image/*"  or  "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.*"
  */
-import {
-  DEFAULT_COMPANY_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES,
-  MAX_COMPANY_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES,
-} from "@paperclipai/shared";
+import { MAX_COMPANY_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES } from "@paperclipai/shared";
 
 export const DEFAULT_ALLOWED_TYPES: readonly string[] = [
   "image/png",
@@ -99,7 +96,7 @@ export const MAX_ATTACHMENT_BYTES =
 
 export function normalizeIssueAttachmentMaxBytes(value: number | null | undefined): number {
   if (typeof value !== "number" || !Number.isFinite(value) || value <= 0) {
-    return DEFAULT_COMPANY_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES;
+    return MAX_ATTACHMENT_BYTES;
   }
   return Math.min(Math.floor(value), MAX_COMPANY_ATTACHMENT_MAX_BYTES);
 }