diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index 7a3a573..1bab836 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -9401,18 +9401,15 @@ function run(context) {
             console.error('Can\'t find the bot comment where the voting is taking place');
             return;
         }
-        const deadlineMatch = (_a = voteComment.body) === null || _a === void 0 ? void 0 : _a.match(/<!-- ##bot-vote-deadline## (\S+) -->/);
-        if (deadlineMatch) {
-            const deadline = new Date(deadlineMatch[1]);
-            if (deadline > new Date()) {
-                yield octokit_1.default.issues.createComment({
-                    owner,
-                    repo,
-                    issue_number: number,
-                    body: `The vote is still open until ${deadline.toUTCString()}.`,
-                });
-                return;
-            }
+        const deadline = (0, voteSync_1.resolveDeadline)((_a = voteComment.body) !== null && _a !== void 0 ? _a : '', voteComment.created_at);
+        if (deadline > new Date()) {
+            yield octokit_1.default.issues.createComment({
+                owner,
+                repo,
+                issue_number: number,
+                body: `The vote is still open until ${deadline.toUTCString()}.`,
+            });
+            return;
         }
         yield (0, voteSync_1.syncIssueVoteLog)(owner, repo, number);
         const reactions = yield octokit_1.default.reactions.listForIssueComment({
@@ -9558,10 +9555,20 @@ var __importDefault = (this && this.__importDefault) || function (mod) {
     return (mod && mod.__esModule) ? mod : { "default": mod };
 };
 Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", ({ value: true }));
-exports.syncIssueVoteLog = exports.buildUpdatedComment = exports.diffVotes = exports.parseStateMarker = void 0;
+exports.syncIssueVoteLog = exports.buildUpdatedComment = exports.diffVotes = exports.parseStateMarker = exports.resolveDeadline = void 0;
 const config_1 = __nccwpck_require__(6373);
 const octokit_1 = __importDefault(__nccwpck_require__(6161));
 const STATE_MARKER_RE = /<!-- ##bot-vote-log-state## ({.*?}) -->/;
+const DEADLINE_MARKER_RE = /<!-- ##bot-vote-deadline## (\S+) -->/;
+function resolveDeadline(body, commentCreatedAt) {
+    const match = body.match(DEADLINE_MARKER_RE);
+    if (match)
+        return new Date(match[1]);
+    const deadline = new Date(commentCreatedAt);
+    deadline.setDate(deadline.getDate() + config_1.VOTE_PERIOD_DAYS);
+    return deadline;
+}
+exports.resolveDeadline = resolveDeadline;
 function parseStateMarker(body) {
     const match = body.match(STATE_MARKER_RE);
     if (!match || !match[1])
@@ -9646,8 +9653,7 @@ function syncIssueVoteLog(owner, repo, issueNumber, members) {
         }));
         const body = (_a = voteComment.body) !== null && _a !== void 0 ? _a : '';
         const state = parseStateMarker(body);
-        const deadlineMatch = body.match(/<!-- ##bot-vote-deadline## (\S+) -->/);
-        const deadline = deadlineMatch ? new Date(deadlineMatch[1]) : null;
+        const deadline = resolveDeadline(body, voteComment.created_at);
         const now = new Date();
         const newLines = diffVotes(state, liveReactions, deadline, now);
         if (newLines.length === 0)
diff --git a/src/commands/voteEnd.ts b/src/commands/voteEnd.ts
index 0d161d0..b87b45f 100644
--- a/src/commands/voteEnd.ts
+++ b/src/commands/voteEnd.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { BOT_USERNAME, MAINTAINERS_TEAM } from '../config';
 import {
   reactToComment, commentToIssue, addLabels, removeLabel, hasLabel,
 } from '../bot';
-import { syncIssueVoteLog } from './voteSync';
+import { syncIssueVoteLog, resolveDeadline } from './voteSync';
 import { LabelName } from '../labels';
 import octokit from '../octokit';
 
@@ -116,19 +116,15 @@ export default async function run(context: Context) {
     return;
   }
 
-  const deadlineMatch = voteComment.body?.match(/<!-- ##bot-vote-deadline## (\S+) -->/);
-  if (deadlineMatch) {
-    const deadline = new Date(deadlineMatch[1]!);
-    if (deadline > new Date()) {
-      await octokit.issues.createComment({
-        owner,
-        repo,
-        issue_number: number,
-        body: `The vote is still open until ${deadline.toUTCString()}.`,
-      });
-
-      return;
-    }
+  const deadline = resolveDeadline(voteComment.body ?? '', voteComment.created_at);
+  if (deadline > new Date()) {
+    await octokit.issues.createComment({
+      owner,
+      repo,
+      issue_number: number,
+      body: `The vote is still open until ${deadline.toUTCString()}.`,
+    });
+    return;
   }
 
   await syncIssueVoteLog(owner, repo, number);
diff --git a/src/commands/voteSync.test.ts b/src/commands/voteSync.test.ts
index cb1e50b..0c18de8 100644
--- a/src/commands/voteSync.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/voteSync.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,17 @@
-import { parseStateMarker, diffVotes, buildUpdatedComment } from './voteSync';
+import {
+  parseStateMarker, diffVotes, buildUpdatedComment, resolveDeadline,
+} from './voteSync';
+
+test('resolveDeadline reads the marker when present', () => {
+  const body = 'body\n\n<!-- ##bot-vote-deadline## 2026-06-25T07:00:00.000Z -->';
+  expect(resolveDeadline(body, '2026-06-11T07:00:00Z'))
+    .toEqual(new Date('2026-06-25T07:00:00.000Z'));
+});
+
+test('resolveDeadline falls back to comment date plus the vote period', () => {
+  expect(resolveDeadline('no marker here', '2026-06-11T07:00:00Z'))
+    .toEqual(new Date('2026-06-25T07:00:00Z'));
+});
 
 test('parseStateMarker returns empty object when marker is absent', () => {
   expect(parseStateMarker('<!-- ##bot-voting-marker## -->\nsome body')).toEqual({});
diff --git a/src/commands/voteSync.ts b/src/commands/voteSync.ts
index 12efbc5..50e98e7 100644
--- a/src/commands/voteSync.ts
+++ b/src/commands/voteSync.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { GetResponseDataTypeFromEndpointMethod } from '@octokit/types';
-import { BOT_USERNAME } from '../config';
+import { BOT_USERNAME, VOTE_PERIOD_DAYS } from '../config';
 import octokit from '../octokit';
 
 type Comment = GetResponseDataTypeFromEndpointMethod<
@@ -15,6 +15,16 @@ export interface LiveReaction {
 }
 
 const STATE_MARKER_RE = /<!-- ##bot-vote-log-state## ({.*?}) -->/;
+const DEADLINE_MARKER_RE = /<!-- ##bot-vote-deadline## (\S+) -->/;
+
+export function resolveDeadline(body: string, commentCreatedAt: string): Date {
+  const match = body.match(DEADLINE_MARKER_RE);
+  if (match) return new Date(match[1]!);
+
+  const deadline = new Date(commentCreatedAt);
+  deadline.setDate(deadline.getDate() + VOTE_PERIOD_DAYS);
+  return deadline;
+}
 
 export function parseStateMarker(body: string): VoteState {
   const match = body.match(STATE_MARKER_RE);
@@ -128,8 +138,7 @@ export async function syncIssueVoteLog(
   const body = voteComment.body ?? '';
   const state = parseStateMarker(body);
 
-  const deadlineMatch = body.match(/<!-- ##bot-vote-deadline## (\S+) -->/);
-  const deadline = deadlineMatch ? new Date(deadlineMatch[1]!) : null;
+  const deadline = resolveDeadline(body, voteComment.created_at);
 
   const now = new Date();
   const newLines = diffVotes(state, liveReactions, deadline, now);