diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_missing_data_issue.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_missing_data_issue.cjs
index b04fa7bad63..1276178e316 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_missing_data_issue.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_missing_data_issue.cjs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const HANDLER_TYPE = "create_missing_data_issue";
 const main = buildMissingIssueHandler({
   handlerType: HANDLER_TYPE,
   defaultTitlePrefix: "[missing data]",
+  defaultLabels: ["agentic-workflows"],
   itemsField: "missing_data",
   templatePath: "/opt/gh-aw/prompts/missing_data_issue.md",
   templateListKey: "missing_data_list",
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/create_missing_tool_issue.cjs b/actions/setup/js/create_missing_tool_issue.cjs
index 462dab32e01..2ca315be88b 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/create_missing_tool_issue.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/create_missing_tool_issue.cjs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const HANDLER_TYPE = "create_missing_tool_issue";
 const main = buildMissingIssueHandler({
   handlerType: HANDLER_TYPE,
   defaultTitlePrefix: "[missing tool]",
+  defaultLabels: ["agentic-workflows"],
   itemsField: "missing_tools",
   templatePath: "/opt/gh-aw/prompts/missing_tool_issue.md",
   templateListKey: "missing_tools_list",
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.cjs b/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.cjs
index 81c548cedc4..00b0c52929a 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.cjs
@@ -25,15 +25,17 @@ const { sanitizeContent } = require("./sanitize_content.cjs");
  * @param {function(string): string[]} options.buildCommentHeader - Returns header lines for the comment body given runUrl
  * @param {function(Object, number): string[]} options.renderCommentItem - Renders a single item for an existing-issue comment
  * @param {function(Object, number): string[]} options.renderIssueItem - Renders a single item for a new-issue body
+ * @param {string[]} [options.defaultLabels] - Labels always applied to created issues (merged with config.labels)
  * @returns {HandlerFactoryFunction}
  */
 function buildMissingIssueHandler(options) {
-  const { handlerType, defaultTitlePrefix, itemsField, templatePath, templateListKey, buildCommentHeader, renderCommentItem, renderIssueItem } = options;
+  const { handlerType, defaultTitlePrefix, itemsField, templatePath, templateListKey, buildCommentHeader, renderCommentItem, renderIssueItem, defaultLabels = [] } = options;
 
   return async function main(config = {}) {
     // Extract configuration
     const titlePrefix = config.title_prefix || defaultTitlePrefix;
-    const envLabels = config.labels ? (Array.isArray(config.labels) ? config.labels : config.labels.split(",")).map(label => String(label).trim()).filter(label => label) : [];
+    const userLabels = config.labels ? (Array.isArray(config.labels) ? config.labels : config.labels.split(",")).map(label => String(label).trim()).filter(label => label) : [];
+    const envLabels = [...new Set([...defaultLabels, ...userLabels])];
     const maxCount = config.max || 1; // Default to 1 to create only one issue per workflow run
 
     core.info(`Title prefix: ${titlePrefix}`);
diff --git a/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.test.cjs b/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.test.cjs
index a6ae5280d30..ce0b01de2ee 100644
--- a/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.test.cjs
+++ b/actions/setup/js/missing_issue_helpers.test.cjs
@@ -270,6 +270,48 @@ describe("missing_issue_helpers.cjs - buildMissingIssueHandler", () => {
 
       expect(mockGithub.rest.issues.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ labels: ["bug", "needs-triage"] }));
     });
+
+    it("should always apply defaultLabels from options even without config.labels", async () => {
+      mockGithub.rest.search.issuesAndPullRequests.mockResolvedValue({
+        data: { total_count: 0, items: [] },
+      });
+      mockGithub.rest.issues.create.mockResolvedValue({
+        data: { number: 77, html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/77" },
+      });
+
+      const handler = await buildMissingIssueHandler(makeOptions({ defaultLabels: ["agentic-workflows"] }))({});
+      await handler(defaultMessage);
+
+      expect(mockGithub.rest.issues.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ labels: ["agentic-workflows"] }));
+    });
+
+    it("should merge defaultLabels with config.labels", async () => {
+      mockGithub.rest.search.issuesAndPullRequests.mockResolvedValue({
+        data: { total_count: 0, items: [] },
+      });
+      mockGithub.rest.issues.create.mockResolvedValue({
+        data: { number: 77, html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/77" },
+      });
+
+      const handler = await buildMissingIssueHandler(makeOptions({ defaultLabels: ["agentic-workflows"] }))({ labels: ["bug"] });
+      await handler(defaultMessage);
+
+      expect(mockGithub.rest.issues.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ labels: ["agentic-workflows", "bug"] }));
+    });
+
+    it("should deduplicate labels when defaultLabels and config.labels overlap", async () => {
+      mockGithub.rest.search.issuesAndPullRequests.mockResolvedValue({
+        data: { total_count: 0, items: [] },
+      });
+      mockGithub.rest.issues.create.mockResolvedValue({
+        data: { number: 77, html_url: "https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/77" },
+      });
+
+      const handler = await buildMissingIssueHandler(makeOptions({ defaultLabels: ["agentic-workflows"] }))({ labels: ["agentic-workflows", "bug"] });
+      await handler(defaultMessage);
+
+      expect(mockGithub.rest.issues.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ labels: ["agentic-workflows", "bug"] }));
+    });
   });
 
   describe("error handling", () => {