diff --git a/.github/workflows/bug-fix.md b/.github/workflows/bug-fix.md
index 01eb6af5bf..d73be52724 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bug-fix.md
+++ b/.github/workflows/bug-fix.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ---
 description: "Apply the remediation from a prior bug assessment to a bug-fix-labeled issue and open a draft PR for human review"
 emoji: "🛠️"
+max-ai-credits: 2000
 
 on:
   issues:
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ on:
 
 tools:
   edit:
-  bash: ["echo", "cat", "head", "tail", "grep", "wc", "sort", "uniq", "python3", "jq", "date", "ls", "find", "pytest", "npm", "go", "cargo", "dotnet"]
+  bash: ["echo", "cat", "head", "tail", "grep", "wc", "sort", "uniq", "python", "python3", "jq", "date", "ls", "find", "pytest", "npm", "go", "cargo", "dotnet"]
   github:
     toolsets: [issues, repos]
     min-integrity: none
@@ -187,6 +188,11 @@ changed paths (e.g. `pytest <path>`, `npm test`, `go test ./...` when modules
 are already present, `cargo test` when crates are already present), run the
 **narrowest** relevant subset and capture pass/fail plus the key output.
 
+- Prefer `python3 -m pytest` or `pytest` from PATH. Do not invoke
+  `.venv/bin/python`, `venv/bin/python`, or any project-local interpreter:
+  the harness cannot grant execute permission on those binaries and fails
+  with "Permission denied". `python` is allowed when that is what PATH
+  provides.
 - Run only the project's **own** test/lint commands. Never run destructive,
   network-dependent, or repo-wide expensive suites. Do not fetch or install
   dependencies (for example `go mod download`, `go get`, `cargo fetch`,
diff --git a/tests/test_bug_fix_workflow.py b/tests/test_bug_fix_workflow.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..33d3441468
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_bug_fix_workflow.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+"""Pin bug-fix workflow credits and pytest PATH rules (#4472)."""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+BUG_FIX = Path(__file__).parent.parent / ".github" / "workflows" / "bug-fix.md"
+
+
+def test_bug_fix_workflow_has_credit_headroom_and_pytest_path() -> None:
+    text = BUG_FIX.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "max-ai-credits: 2000" in text
+    assert '"python"' in text or "python3" in text
+    # Allowlist must include both python and python3 (harness argv[0] matching).
+    assert "python3" in text
+    assert '"python"' in text or ", \"python\"" in text or '["python"' in text or '"python",' in text
+    assert ".venv/bin/python" in text
+    assert "Permission denied" in text