diff --git a/src/signals/engine.ts b/src/signals/engine.ts
index 939f852b3e..6fcbad5c2a 100644
--- a/src/signals/engine.ts
+++ b/src/signals/engine.ts
@@ -4977,8 +4977,9 @@ export function hasClearNoIssueRationale(pr: Pick<PullRequestRecord, "title" | "
   // `docs? only` missed the hyphen, so a docs-only PR with no linked issue was wrongly denied a clear
   // no-issue rationale and hard-blocked under `linkedIssueGateMode === "block"`.
   // `tests?[\s-]+only` extends the same rule to test-only PRs (regression/coverage-only diffs) — parallel
-  // to the docs-only hyphenation fix merged in #1905.
-  return /\b(?:no issue\s*(?:because\b|:)|no linked issue\s*(?:because\b|:)|no ticket\s*(?:because\b|:)|(?:maintenance|docs?[\s-]+only|tests?[\s-]+only|typo|chore|cleanup)\b)/i.test([pr.title, pr.body ?? ""].join(" "));
+  // to the docs-only hyphenation fix merged in #1905 and the test-only follow-up in #1993.
+  // `ci[\s-]+only` covers CI/workflow-only PRs using the same Conventional Commits spelling.
+  return /\b(?:no issue\s*(?:because\b|:)|no linked issue\s*(?:because\b|:)|no ticket\s*(?:because\b|:)|(?:maintenance|docs?[\s-]+only|tests?[\s-]+only|ci[\s-]+only|typo|chore|cleanup)\b)/i.test([pr.title, pr.body ?? ""].join(" "));
 }
 
 function hasValidationNote(value: string): boolean {
diff --git a/test/unit/signals-v2.test.ts b/test/unit/signals-v2.test.ts
index de337a19ff..0a96a86ada 100644
--- a/test/unit/signals-v2.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/signals-v2.test.ts
@@ -1774,6 +1774,19 @@ describe("hasClearNoIssueRationale test-only spelling", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("hasClearNoIssueRationale ci-only spelling", () => {
+  it("recognizes hyphenated and spaced ci-only rationales", () => {
+    expect(hasClearNoIssueRationale({ title: "ci only: tighten workflow cache", body: "" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(hasClearNoIssueRationale({ title: "ci-only: tighten workflow cache", body: "" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(hasClearNoIssueRationale({ title: "Tune deploy gate", body: "This is a ci only workflow tweak." })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("still rejects unrelated PR text that mentions CI without a rationale", () => {
+    expect(hasClearNoIssueRationale({ title: "Fix CI flake in queue tests", body: "Stabilizes a failing job." })).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasClearNoIssueRationale({ title: "Improve GitHub Actions setup", body: "" })).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
 function snapshot(
   id: string,
   repositories: Array<{