diff --git a/server/internal/handler/issue_child_done.go b/server/internal/handler/issue_child_done.go
index 87b950db8f..806a7d210f 100644
--- a/server/internal/handler/issue_child_done.go
+++ b/server/internal/handler/issue_child_done.go
@@ -144,15 +144,7 @@ func (h *Handler) notifyParentOfChildDone(ctx context.Context, prev, issue db.Is
 	if staged {
 		closedStage := issue.Stage.Int32
 		summary, nextStage := stageProgressSummary(children, closedStage)
-		var advance string
-		if nextStage > 0 {
-			advance = fmt.Sprintf(
-				" Stage %d is next. Review the full layout with `multica issue children %s`, and if Stage %d's dependencies are satisfied promote its `backlog` sub-issues to `todo` to continue. Read each sub-issue's description first and only promote items whose stated dependencies are already met — do not rely on this parent's higher-level breakdown alone. If a description conflicts with that breakdown, leave it `backlog` and post a comment to confirm first.",
-				nextStage, parentID, nextStage,
-			)
-		} else {
-			advance = " This was the final stage. Wrap up the parent — synthesize the results and move it forward, or close it out if nothing remains."
-		}
+		advance := stageAdvanceInstruction(nextStage, parentID)
 		content = fmt.Sprintf(
 			"%sStage %d of this issue is complete — its last sub-issue [%s](mention://issue/%s) — \"%s\" — just finished. Stage progress — %s.%s",
 			mentionPrefix, closedStage, identifier, childID, title, summary, advance,
@@ -300,6 +292,32 @@ func stageProgressSummary(children []db.Issue, closedStage int32) (summary strin
 	return strings.Join(parts, "; "), nextStage
 }
 
+// stageAdvanceInstruction returns the trailing instruction appended to a
+// staged child-done system comment, given the next stage with pending work
+// among the sub-issues that currently exist (nextStage, 0 = none).
+//
+//   - nextStage > 0: a later stage with unfinished work already exists, so
+//     point the leader at it.
+//   - nextStage == 0: no later stage exists *among the sub-issues created so
+//     far*. This deliberately does NOT assert that the workflow is finished.
+//     The server has no declarative workflow model — stages are agent-driven
+//     and often created lazily (stage N+1's sub-issues are only written after
+//     stage N produces the inputs they depend on), so an intermediate stage in
+//     such a pipeline reaches nextStage == 0 exactly like a true final stage
+//     does. The old wording ("This was the final stage. Wrap up the parent")
+//     asserted a finality the server cannot know and pushed leaders to wrap up
+//     mid-workflow (MUL-4062 / #4927). The message now names both possibilities
+//     and hands the create-next-vs-wrap-up decision back to the leader.
+func stageAdvanceInstruction(nextStage int32, parentID string) string {
+	if nextStage > 0 {
+		return fmt.Sprintf(
+			" Stage %d is next. Review the full layout with `multica issue children %s`, and if Stage %d's dependencies are satisfied promote its `backlog` sub-issues to `todo` to continue. Read each sub-issue's description first and only promote items whose stated dependencies are already met — do not rely on this parent's higher-level breakdown alone. If a description conflicts with that breakdown, leave it `backlog` and post a comment to confirm first.",
+			nextStage, parentID, nextStage,
+		)
+	}
+	return " Completing this stage does not mean the whole issue is done. Decide whether the issue is actually complete — if so, wrap up the parent (synthesize the results and move it forward, or close it out) — or whether the next stage still needs to be created, in which case create that stage and its sub-issues now."
+}
+
 // sanitizeChildTitleForSystemComment removes mention-style markdown from a
 // child issue's title before it is embedded into the parent's system
 // comment. Smuggled mentions are already harmless on the listener path
diff --git a/server/internal/handler/issue_child_done_stage_test.go b/server/internal/handler/issue_child_done_stage_test.go
index 0666ebd1b6..d32c099547 100644
--- a/server/internal/handler/issue_child_done_stage_test.go
+++ b/server/internal/handler/issue_child_done_stage_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package handler
 
 import (
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/pgtype"
@@ -146,6 +147,40 @@ func TestStageProgressSummary_SkipsUnstaged(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// stageAdvanceInstruction must point at a known next stage when one exists,
+// and — the core of MUL-4062 — must NOT assert finality when no later stage
+// exists yet, because a lazily-created intermediate stage reaches nextStage==0
+// exactly like a true final stage does.
+func TestStageAdvanceInstruction(t *testing.T) {
+	const parentID = "parent-uuid"
+
+	t.Run("a known next stage points the leader at it", func(t *testing.T) {
+		got := stageAdvanceInstruction(3, parentID)
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "Stage 3 is next") {
+			t.Fatalf("expected next-stage instruction, got %q", got)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("no created next stage does not assert finality", func(t *testing.T) {
+		got := stageAdvanceInstruction(0, parentID)
+		// Regression guard for MUL-4062: an intermediate stage in a lazily
+		// created workflow also reaches nextStage==0, so the message must not
+		// claim this was definitively the final stage.
+		if strings.Contains(got, "This was the final stage") {
+			t.Fatalf("must not assert finality when the workflow shape is unknown, got %q", got)
+		}
+		// It must make clear that finishing the stage != the whole issue is
+		// done, and hand both paths (wrap up / create the next stage) to the
+		// leader.
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "does not mean the whole issue is done") {
+			t.Fatalf("expected stage-done != issue-done framing, got %q", got)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(got, "next stage") {
+			t.Fatalf("expected create-next-stage guidance, got %q", got)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
 // A stage can close because its last open child is *cancelled*, not only
 // done — a cancelled sibling never finishes, so it must not hold the stage open.
 func TestStageBarrierClosed_CancelledClosesStage(t *testing.T) {