diff --git a/docs/fork-governance.md b/docs/fork-governance.md
index a42bfa2d41..2d69dda5dd 100644
--- a/docs/fork-governance.md
+++ b/docs/fork-governance.md
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ Internal pull requests targeting `internal/main` use one of three mutually exclu
 
 - **Upstream import** (default): identifies its upstream issue, pull request, head repository, and upstream pull-request head SHA. The **Upstream provenance** check verifies that metadata against the public upstream API, confirms the base repository, actual head repository, and SHA, compares every upstream and fork pull-request patch ID in order, and uploads reconciliation evidence. Direct imports need no human approval; reconciled imports (with `Fork main:` and `Reconciliation merge:` metadata) retain one human approval because conflict resolution requires review.
 - **Downstream governance**: uses the exact body marker `Downstream governance: true` and is restricted to the governance allowlist below. It does not assert upstream patch equivalence and does not require a pull-request review.
-- **Downstream feature**: uses exactly `Downstream feature: true` plus one non-empty `Downstream rationale:` line. It is fork-only, requires one non-author human `APPROVED` review of the current pull-request head, and cannot change governance-allowlisted files or any `.github/workflows/` file.
+- **Downstream feature**: uses exactly `Downstream feature: true` plus one non-empty `Downstream rationale:` line. It is fork-only, requires one human `APPROVED` review of the current pull-request head (self-approval counts — this is a single-maintainer fork), and cannot change governance-allowlisted files or any `.github/workflows/` file.
 
-Feature and governance markers cannot coexist with each other or with upstream-provenance metadata. For a downstream feature, a review on an older head, a dismissed review, an author review, or a bot review does not satisfy the exception. Any new commit invalidates prior feature approval until a reviewer approves the new head.
+Feature and governance markers cannot coexist with each other or with upstream-provenance metadata. For a downstream feature, a review on an older head, a dismissed review, or a bot review does not satisfy the exception. Any new commit invalidates prior feature approval until a reviewer approves the new head.
 
 ### Approval phases
 
-Downstream feature exceptions have two approval phases. Before merge, the **pre-merge** phase requires one non-author human `APPROVED` review whose commit SHA exactly matches the pull-request head. After merge, the **post-merge** phase accepts the human actor recorded in `merged_by` as approval evidence only when the pull request is both `closed` and `merged`. Missing or bot merger data, and a closed-but-unmerged pull request, fail provenance; closure alone never bypasses review. Downstream governance exceptions do not require approval in either phase.
+Downstream feature exceptions have two approval phases. Before merge, the **pre-merge** phase requires one human `APPROVED` review whose commit SHA exactly matches the pull-request head. After merge, the **post-merge** phase accepts the human actor recorded in `merged_by` as approval evidence only when the pull request is both `closed` and `merged`. Missing or bot merger data, and a closed-but-unmerged pull request, fail provenance; closure alone never bypasses review. Downstream governance exceptions do not require approval in either phase.
 
 The provenance evidence for feature exceptions records the phase and evidence type that qualified: an exact-head review before merge or a human merger after merge. Manual provenance dispatch selects the same phase from current pull-request state. Governance exceptions record their downstream-governance outcome without approval evidence.
 
diff --git a/scripts/check-upstream-provenance.mjs b/scripts/check-upstream-provenance.mjs
index 39f90898c3..78922fe069 100755
--- a/scripts/check-upstream-provenance.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-upstream-provenance.mjs
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ function changedFiles(current, repository, pullRequest, mode) {
   return { currentHead, changedFiles: validateChangedPaths(changed, mode) };
 }
 
-function resolveApproval(reviews, currentHead, authorLogin) {
+function resolveApproval(reviews, currentHead) {
   const latestByReviewer = new Map();
   for (const review of reviews) {
     const login = review?.user?.login;
@@ -195,14 +195,12 @@ function resolveApproval(reviews, currentHead, authorLogin) {
     (review) =>
       review.state?.toUpperCase() === "APPROVED" &&
       review.user?.type === "User" &&
-      authorLogin &&
-      review.user.login.toLowerCase() !== authorLogin.toLowerCase() &&
       typeof review.commit_id === "string" &&
       review.commit_id.toLowerCase() === currentHead,
   );
   if (!approval) {
     throw new Error(
-      "Downstream feature exception requires a non-author human approval of the current pull request head",
+      "Downstream feature exception requires a human APPROVED review of the current pull request head",
     );
   }
   return {
@@ -252,7 +250,6 @@ function effectiveApproval(current, repository, pullRequest) {
     ...resolveApproval(
       paginatedJson(`repos/${repository}/pulls/${pullRequest}/reviews`),
       currentHead,
-      current.user?.login ?? "",
     ),
   };
 }
diff --git a/scripts/check-upstream-provenance.test.mjs b/scripts/check-upstream-provenance.test.mjs
index 3e74de6409..9c5664189e 100644
--- a/scripts/check-upstream-provenance.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-upstream-provenance.test.mjs
@@ -93,51 +93,50 @@ test("forbids governance and workflow paths in feature mode", () => {
   );
 });
 
-test("requires a current-head approval from a non-author human", () => {
-  assert.deepEqual(resolveApproval([review()], currentHead, "author"), {
+test("requires a current-head APPROVED human review, author or not", () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(resolveApproval([review()], currentHead), {
     id: 1,
     authorLogin: "reviewer",
     authorType: "User",
     state: "APPROVED",
     commitOid: currentHead,
   });
+  // A solo maintainer is their own only reviewer, so self-approval counts.
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    resolveApproval([review({ user: { login: "author", type: "User" } })], currentHead),
+    {
+      id: 1,
+      authorLogin: "author",
+      authorType: "User",
+      state: "APPROVED",
+      commitOid: currentHead,
+    },
+  );
   for (const candidate of [
     review({ commit_id: otherHead }),
-    review({ user: { login: "author", type: "User" } }),
     review({ user: { login: "automation", type: "Bot" } }),
     review({ state: "DISMISSED" }),
   ]) {
-    assert.throws(
-      () => resolveApproval([candidate], currentHead, "author"),
-      /current pull request head/,
-    );
+    assert.throws(() => resolveApproval([candidate], currentHead), /current pull request head/);
   }
 });
 
 test("latest review state replaces an older approval", () => {
   assert.throws(
-    () =>
-      resolveApproval(
-        [review({ id: 1 }), review({ id: 2, state: "DISMISSED" })],
-        currentHead,
-        "author",
-      ),
+    () => resolveApproval([review({ id: 1 }), review({ id: 2, state: "DISMISSED" })], currentHead),
     /current pull request head/,
   );
 });
 
 test("preserves current-head approval across later comment-only reviews", () => {
   for (const state of ["COMMENTED", "PENDING"]) {
-    assert.deepEqual(
-      resolveApproval([review({ id: 1 }), review({ id: 2, state })], currentHead, "author"),
-      {
-        id: 1,
-        authorLogin: "reviewer",
-        authorType: "User",
-        state: "APPROVED",
-        commitOid: currentHead,
-      },
-    );
+    assert.deepEqual(resolveApproval([review({ id: 1 }), review({ id: 2, state })], currentHead), {
+      id: 1,
+      authorLogin: "reviewer",
+      authorType: "User",
+      state: "APPROVED",
+      commitOid: currentHead,
+    });
   }
 });
 
@@ -182,7 +181,7 @@ test("governance evidence does not require review approval", () => {
 });
 
 test("feature evidence retains effective approval", () => {
-  const approval = resolveApproval([review()], currentHead, "author");
+  const approval = resolveApproval([review()], currentHead);
   const evidence = exceptionEvidence(
     "fork/project",
     7,
diff --git a/scripts/ci-workflow.test.mjs b/scripts/ci-workflow.test.mjs
index 4a91229f36..4c76bbb1f4 100644
--- a/scripts/ci-workflow.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/ci-workflow.test.mjs
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ test("feature exceptions enforce phase-specific human approval evidence", () =>
   assert.match(provenance, /evidenceType: "exact-head-review"/);
   assert.match(provenance, /phase: "post-merge"/);
   assert.match(provenance, /evidenceType: "human-merger"/);
-  assert.match(provenance, /non-author human approval of the current pull request head/);
+  assert.match(provenance, /human APPROVED review of the current pull request head/);
 });
 
 test("governance exceptions do not require human approval", () => {