diff --git a/.changeset/proud-elks-fly.md b/.changeset/proud-elks-fly.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0ef30363a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/proud-elks-fly.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+type: Fixed
+pr: 4810
+---
+**`/gsd-code-review --fix` now works on an existing REVIEW.md even when no source files changed** — incremental scoping (#3661) narrowed the review file set to empty for phases whose only post-review changes were planning artifacts, and the empty-scope check exited the whole workflow before the fix step, so standing findings could never be addressed. With `--fix` and an existing REVIEW.md, the empty scope now routes straight to the fix workflow instead of skipping. (#4665)
diff --git a/gsd-core/workflows/code-review.md b/gsd-core/workflows/code-review.md
index dc79b35ca..db8acacb2 100644
--- a/gsd-core/workflows/code-review.md
+++ b/gsd-core/workflows/code-review.md
@@ -533,11 +533,21 @@ This `if`/`else`/`fi` is the entire guard: when `DEPTH_OK` is not the literal st
 </step>
 
 <step name="check_empty_scope">
-If REVIEW_FILES is empty:
+An empty `REVIEW_FILES` (#3661) means nothing new to re-review — NOT a phase with no standing findings. #4665: with `--fix` + an existing REVIEW.md, route to `dispatch-fix` (the flag covers "if REVIEW.md already exists"):
+
+```bash
+REVIEW_PATH="${PHASE_DIR}/${PADDED_PHASE}-REVIEW.md"
+if [ "${#REVIEW_FILES[@]}" -ne 0 ]; then
+  # non-empty scope: no-op
+  true
+elif [ "$FIX_FLAG" != "true" ] || [ ! -f "${REVIEW_PATH}" ]; then
+  echo "No source files changed in phase ${PHASE_ARG}. Skipping review."
+  # Exit workflow. Do NOT spawn agent or create REVIEW.md.
+  exit 0
+fi
 ```
-No source files changed in phase ${PHASE_ARG}. Skipping review.
-```
-Exit workflow. Do NOT spawn agent or create REVIEW.md.
+
+**`--fix` recovery:** proceed DIRECTLY to `dispatch-fix`, skipping `structural_pre_pass`, `dispatch_reviewer_lanes`, `spawn_reviewer`, `commit_review` — no fresh review, nothing to commit; `code-review-fix.md` resolves the existing REVIEW.md and owns the fix logic. The reviewer agent is not dispatched here.
 </step>
 
 <step name="structural_pre_pass">
diff --git a/gsd-core/workflows/code-review/steps/dispatch-fix.md b/gsd-core/workflows/code-review/steps/dispatch-fix.md
index 7a2efb628..3dbaa339f 100644
--- a/gsd-core/workflows/code-review/steps/dispatch-fix.md
+++ b/gsd-core/workflows/code-review/steps/dispatch-fix.md
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 If the `--fix` flag was passed (`FIX_FLAG=true`), delegate to the `code-review-fix.md` workflow
 to auto-apply findings from the REVIEW.md that was just written (or that already existed).
 
-This step runs AFTER `commit_review` so REVIEW.md is guaranteed to be on disk before the fixer
-is invoked. If REVIEW.md was not created (agent failed, scope was empty, etc.), the `code-review-fix.md`
-workflow handles the missing-review error and exits cleanly.
+This step runs AFTER `commit_review` so a freshly-written REVIEW.md is guaranteed to be on disk
+before the fixer is invoked. Since #4665 there is a second route: `check_empty_scope` jumps here
+directly when the incremental scope is empty but `--fix` was passed and a REVIEW.md already exists
+— `code-review-fix.md` resolves it from the phase and owns the missing-review error either way.
 
 ```bash
 if [ "$FIX_FLAG" = "true" ]; then
diff --git a/tests/code-review-pipeline-regression.test.cjs b/tests/code-review-pipeline-regression.test.cjs
index dff9339c3..f5be4d2b6 100644
--- a/tests/code-review-pipeline-regression.test.cjs
+++ b/tests/code-review-pipeline-regression.test.cjs
@@ -1577,3 +1577,75 @@ describe('CONS-01..03 — external reviewer evidence consolidation (#4209)', ()
     }
   });
 });
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// #4665 — `--fix` must be able to act on an existing REVIEW.md even when the
+// incremental scope for a FRESH review is empty. check_empty_scope used to
+// exit the entire workflow whenever REVIEW_FILES was empty — before
+// dispatch-fix — so the documented contract ("after review completes (or if
+// REVIEW.md already exists), auto-apply findings found") was unreachable for
+// any phase whose post-review changes are planning artifacts only.
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('#4665 — check_empty_scope --fix recovery onto an existing REVIEW.md', () => {
+  const readWorkflow = () => fs.readFileSync(WORKFLOW_PATH, 'utf8');
+
+  test('check_empty_scope recovers --fix onto an existing REVIEW.md instead of exiting (#4665)', () => {
+    const src = readWorkflow();
+    const stepIdx = src.indexOf('<step name="check_empty_scope">');
+    const nextStepIdx = src.indexOf('<step name="structural_pre_pass">');
+    assert.ok(stepIdx !== -1, 'check_empty_scope step must exist');
+    assert.ok(nextStepIdx > stepIdx, 'structural_pre_pass must follow check_empty_scope');
+    const block = src.slice(stepIdx, nextStepIdx);
+
+    // The recovery computes the phase's REVIEW.md path with the same
+    // expression spawn_reviewer uses.
+    assert.ok(
+      block.includes('REVIEW_PATH="${PHASE_DIR}/${PADDED_PHASE}-REVIEW.md"'),
+      'check_empty_scope must compute REVIEW_PATH exactly as spawn_reviewer does'
+    );
+    // The skip is now guarded: it fires only when --fix is absent OR no
+    // REVIEW.md exists on disk.
+    assert.ok(
+      block.includes('FIX_FLAG') && block.includes('-f "${REVIEW_PATH}"'),
+      'the empty-scope skip must be guarded on FIX_FLAG and the existing REVIEW.md file check'
+    );
+    // The fence must be self-contained about its own precondition: an explicit
+    // emptiness check, so a literal-minded execution cannot read the recovery
+    // paragraph as skipping a needed fresh review on a non-empty scope.
+    assert.ok(
+      block.includes("\"${#REVIEW_FILES[@]}\" -ne 0"),
+      'check_empty_scope must assert REVIEW_FILES emptiness explicitly, not only in prose'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('the fix-recovery path routes to dispatch-fix past the fresh-review steps (#4665)', () => {
+    const src = readWorkflow();
+    const stepIdx = src.indexOf('<step name="check_empty_scope">');
+    const nextStepIdx = src.indexOf('<step name="structural_pre_pass">');
+    const block = src.slice(stepIdx, nextStepIdx);
+
+    assert.match(block, /dispatch-fix/, 'the recovery must route to dispatch-fix');
+    assert.match(
+      block, /structural_pre_pass[\s\S]*dispatch_reviewer_lanes[\s\S]*spawn_reviewer[\s\S]*commit_review/,
+      'the recovery must name the fresh-review steps it skips (no reviewer spawn, nothing to commit)'
+    );
+    assert.doesNotMatch(
+      block, /spawn the (reviewer|agent)|gsd-code-reviewer/,
+      'the recovery must not contain an instruction to spawn a fresh reviewer'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('the plain empty-scope skip survives for the non-fix path (#4665)', () => {
+    const src = readWorkflow();
+    const stepIdx = src.indexOf('<step name="check_empty_scope">');
+    const nextStepIdx = src.indexOf('<step name="structural_pre_pass">');
+    const block = src.slice(stepIdx, nextStepIdx);
+
+    assert.ok(
+      block.includes('No source files changed in phase ${PHASE_ARG}. Skipping review.'),
+      'the plain skip text must remain for invocations without --fix or without an existing REVIEW.md'
+    );
+    assert.match(block, /Exit workflow/i, 'the non-recovery path must still end the workflow');
+  });
+});