diff --git a/sqlmesh/integrations/github/cicd/controller.py b/sqlmesh/integrations/github/cicd/controller.py
index d7a9ef8eb8..b27be4070b 100644
--- a/sqlmesh/integrations/github/cicd/controller.py
+++ b/sqlmesh/integrations/github/cicd/controller.py
@@ -448,10 +448,9 @@ def prod_plan_with_gaps(self) -> Plan:
                 c.PROD,
                 # this is required to highlight any data gaps between this PR environment and prod (since PR environments may only contain a subset of data)
                 no_gaps=False,
-                # this works because the snapshots were already categorized when applying self.pr_plan so there are no uncategorized local snapshots to trigger a plan error
-                no_auto_categorization=True,
                 skip_tests=True,
                 skip_linter=True,
+                categorizer_config=self.bot_config.auto_categorize_changes,
                 run=self.bot_config.run_on_deploy_to_prod,
                 forward_only=self.forward_only_plan,
             )
diff --git a/tests/integrations/github/cicd/test_github_controller.py b/tests/integrations/github/cicd/test_github_controller.py
index 1e114171a3..baa0fb9ad2 100644
--- a/tests/integrations/github/cicd/test_github_controller.py
+++ b/tests/integrations/github/cicd/test_github_controller.py
@@ -339,7 +339,8 @@ def test_prod_plan_with_gaps(github_client, make_controller):
 
     assert controller.prod_plan_with_gaps.environment.name == c.PROD
     assert not controller.prod_plan_with_gaps.skip_backfill
-    assert not controller._prod_plan_with_gaps_builder._auto_categorization_enabled
+    # auto_categorization should now be enabled to prevent uncategorized snapshot errors
+    assert controller._prod_plan_with_gaps_builder._auto_categorization_enabled
     assert not controller.prod_plan_with_gaps.no_gaps
     assert not controller._context.apply.called
     assert controller._context._run_plan_tests.call_args == call(skip_tests=True)