diff --git a/server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/run.rs b/server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/run.rs
index 46df9ddf..2c9bdaf8 100644
--- a/server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/run.rs
+++ b/server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/run.rs
@@ -361,8 +361,23 @@ pub async fn run_bot(
     let notif_room_id_strings: Vec<String> = notif_room_ids.iter().map(|r| r.to_string()).collect();
     crate::service::notifications::spawn_notification_listener(
         Arc::clone(&transport),
-        move || notif_room_id_strings.clone(),
+        {
+            let notif_room_id_strings = notif_room_id_strings.clone();
+            move || notif_room_id_strings.clone()
+        },
         watcher_rx,
+        notif_project_root.clone(),
+    );
+
+    // Spawn the TransitionFired-driven stage-notification subscriber (story
+    // 995) here too — this was previously only wired for WhatsApp/Slack/Discord
+    // (`startup::bots::spawn_notification_listeners`), leaving Matrix
+    // deployments with no stage-transition chat notifications at all (story
+    // 1235). Spawned once here, before the sync loop below, so the task runs
+    // independently of Matrix sync reconnects/re-logins.
+    crate::service::notifications::spawn_stage_notification_subscriber(
+        Arc::clone(&transport),
+        move || notif_room_id_strings.clone(),
         notif_project_root,
     );
 
diff --git a/server/src/service/notifications/events.rs b/server/src/service/notifications/events.rs
index a8fbbdb6..b8c9a43b 100644
--- a/server/src/service/notifications/events.rs
+++ b/server/src/service/notifications/events.rs
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ pub enum EventAction {
 /// Classify a [`WatcherEvent`] into the action the notification listener should take.
 pub fn classify(event: &WatcherEvent) -> EventAction {
     match event {
-        // Stage-change notifications are now handled by the TransitionFired subscriber
-        // (story 995). WorkItem events are skipped regardless of from_stage.
-        WatcherEvent::WorkItem { .. } => EventAction::Skip,
+        // Stage-change notifications are handled by the TransitionFired
+        // subscriber (story 995/1235), not this watcher-event path — WorkItem
+        // falls through to the `_` catch-all below.
         WatcherEvent::MergeFailure { .. } => EventAction::MergeFailure,
         WatcherEvent::RateLimitWarning { .. } => EventAction::RateLimitWarning,
         WatcherEvent::StoryBlocked { .. } => EventAction::StoryBlocked,
@@ -79,30 +79,6 @@ pub fn classify(event: &WatcherEvent) -> EventAction {
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
-    fn work_item(from_stage: Option<&str>) -> WatcherEvent {
-        WatcherEvent::WorkItem {
-            stage: "3_qa".to_string(),
-            item_id: "1_story_foo".to_string(),
-            action: "qa".to_string(),
-            commit_msg: String::new(),
-            from_stage: from_stage.map(str::to_string),
-        }
-    }
-
-    // Stage-change notifications moved to TransitionFired subscriber (story 995).
-    // All WorkItem events are now classified as Skip regardless of from_stage.
-    #[test]
-    fn work_item_with_from_stage_is_skip() {
-        let event = work_item(Some("2_current"));
-        assert_eq!(classify(&event), EventAction::Skip);
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn work_item_without_from_stage_is_skip() {
-        let event = work_item(None);
-        assert_eq!(classify(&event), EventAction::Skip);
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn merge_failure_is_classified_correctly() {
         let event = WatcherEvent::MergeFailure {