diff --git a/orchestrator.py b/orchestrator.py
index e0c6d0e..4e48405 100644
--- a/orchestrator.py
+++ b/orchestrator.py
@@ -1865,7 +1865,12 @@ def run_issue(n, until=None):
                 r"NO\s+close\s+signal",
             ]
             keep_open = False
-            last_body = comments[-1].get("body", "") if comments else ""
+            # P7a (2026-05-26) — fetch comments fresh; `comments` is loop-local in stage block
+            # and not in scope at run_issue post-stage update. NameError fix.
+            try:
+                _cs = get_comments(n)
+                last_body = _cs[-1].get("body", "") if _cs else ""
+            except: last_body = ""
             for p in keep_open_patterns:
                 if re.search(p, last_body, re.IGNORECASE | re.MULTILINE):
                     keep_open = True; break