diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index a50e07f6416..9ac4e60e2c6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -447,8 +447,8 @@ jobs:
           bearings_output=$(/bin/bash tests/fm-bearings-snapshot.test.sh)
           printf '%s\n' "$bearings_output"
           bearings_count=$(printf '%s\n' "$bearings_output" | grep -c '^ok - ')
-          [ "$bearings_count" -eq 71 ] || {
-            echo "::error::expected 71 Bearings tests, got $bearings_count"
+          [ "$bearings_count" -eq 72 ] || {
+            echo "::error::expected 72 Bearings tests, got $bearings_count"
             exit 1
           }
 
diff --git a/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh b/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh
index 1f0c6f0000d..1f7d6e113f1 100755
--- a/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh
+++ b/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh
@@ -1983,7 +1983,8 @@ contribution_tasks_json() {
 if [ "$OUTPUT_MODE" = contribution-input ]; then
   # Reuse the canonical backlog parser, without observing workers or other homes.
   contribution_tasks=$(contribution_tasks_json) || { echo "fm-fleet-snapshot: contribution task read failed" >&2; exit 1; }
-  jq -n --argjson backlog "$BACKLOG_JSON" --argjson tasks "$contribution_tasks" '{backlog:$backlog,tasks:$tasks}'
+  printf '%s\n' "$BACKLOG_JSON" "$contribution_tasks" | jq -n \
+    '[inputs] as [$backlog, $tasks] | {backlog:$backlog,tasks:$tasks}'
   exit 0
 fi
 prefetch_task_current_states || { echo "fm-fleet-snapshot: task observation failed" >&2; exit 1; }
diff --git a/tests/fm-bearings-snapshot.test.sh b/tests/fm-bearings-snapshot.test.sh
index 40b991b9d40..febb6811a39 100755
--- a/tests/fm-bearings-snapshot.test.sh
+++ b/tests/fm-bearings-snapshot.test.sh
@@ -3862,6 +3862,29 @@ test_a_remote_home_without_any_ledger_is_explicitly_unreadable_without_remote_co
   pass "a missing remote ledger stays explicitly unreadable without remote summary computation"
 }
 
+test_contribution_input_with_large_backlog() {
+  local home out
+  home=$(make_home contribution-large-backlog)
+  {
+    printf '## Queued\n'
+    awk 'BEGIN { for (i = 1; i <= 500; i++) printf "- [ ] queued-%d - Queued contribution %d (repo: sample) (kind: ship)\n", i, i }'
+  } > "$home/data/backlog.md"
+  fm_write_meta "$home/state/contribution.meta" "kind=ship"
+  out=$(FM_HOME="$home" "$ROOT/bin/fm-fleet-snapshot.sh" --contribution-input) \
+    || fail 'contribution input failed with a backlog exceeding the exec argument limit'
+  printf '%s\n' "$out" | jq -e --arg path "$home/data/backlog.md" '
+    keys == ["backlog", "tasks"]
+    and (.backlog | tojson | length) > 131072
+    and .backlog.path == $path and .backlog.present == true
+    and (.backlog.records | length) == 500
+    and [.backlog.records[].id] == [range(1;501) | "queued-\(.)"]
+    and all(.backlog.records[]; .state == "queued" and .kind == "ship")
+    and .tasks == [{id:"contribution",kind:"ship",pr:{url:"",head:""},merge_authority:"attended"}]
+  ' >/dev/null || fail 'large contribution input lost backlog records or changed the ownership pair shape'
+  pass 'contribution input preserves backlog larger than 128 KiB and task ownership'
+}
+
+test_contribution_input_with_large_backlog
 test_task_teardown_during_metadata_capture_does_not_abort_snapshot
 test_current_state_uses_captured_status_observation
 test_relaunched_task_does_not_inherit_reused_endpoint_state