diff --git a/src/core/auto-approval/__tests__/mcp.spec.ts b/src/core/auto-approval/__tests__/mcp.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4d41cbacf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/auto-approval/__tests__/mcp.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+import { isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed } from "../mcp"
+import type { McpServerUse, McpServer, McpTool } from "@roo-code/types"
+
+function makeServerUse(serverName: string, toolName: string): McpServerUse {
+	return { type: "use_mcp_tool", serverName, toolName }
+}
+
+function makeTool(name: string, alwaysAllow: boolean): McpTool {
+	return { name, description: "test", inputSchema: {}, alwaysAllow } as McpTool
+}
+
+function makeServer(name: string, tools: McpTool[], config: string): McpServer {
+	return { name, config, tools } as McpServer
+}
+
+describe("isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed", () => {
+	describe("primary check: tool-level alwaysAllow flag", () => {
+		it("returns true when tool has alwaysAllow set", () => {
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [makeTool("my-tool", true)], "{}")
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), [server])).toBe(true)
+		})
+
+		it("returns false when tool has alwaysAllow unset", () => {
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [makeTool("my-tool", false)], "{}")
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), [server])).toBe(false)
+		})
+
+		it("returns false when server not found", () => {
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("missing-server", "my-tool"), [])).toBe(false)
+		})
+
+		it("returns false when mcpServers is undefined", () => {
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), undefined)).toBe(false)
+		})
+
+		it("returns false for non use_mcp_tool type", () => {
+			const serverUse = { type: "access_mcp_resource", serverName: "s", toolName: "t" } as unknown as McpServerUse
+			const server = makeServer("s", [makeTool("t", true)], "{}")
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(serverUse, [server])).toBe(false)
+		})
+	})
+
+	describe("fallback: server config alwaysAllow", () => {
+		it("returns true when tool missing alwaysAllow but server config has wildcard", () => {
+			const config = JSON.stringify({ alwaysAllow: ["*"] })
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [makeTool("my-tool", false)], config)
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), [server])).toBe(true)
+		})
+
+		it("returns true when tool missing alwaysAllow but server config has tool name", () => {
+			const config = JSON.stringify({ alwaysAllow: ["my-tool"] })
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [makeTool("my-tool", false)], config)
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), [server])).toBe(true)
+		})
+
+		it("returns false when tool missing alwaysAllow and config has different tools", () => {
+			const config = JSON.stringify({ alwaysAllow: ["other-tool"] })
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [makeTool("my-tool", false)], config)
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), [server])).toBe(false)
+		})
+
+		it("returns false when config has empty alwaysAllow", () => {
+			const config = JSON.stringify({ alwaysAllow: [] })
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [makeTool("my-tool", false)], config)
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), [server])).toBe(false)
+		})
+
+		it("returns false when config has no alwaysAllow field", () => {
+			const config = JSON.stringify({ command: "node", args: ["server.js"] })
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [makeTool("my-tool", false)], config)
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), [server])).toBe(false)
+		})
+
+		it("returns false when config is invalid JSON", () => {
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [makeTool("my-tool", false)], "not-json")
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "my-tool"), [server])).toBe(false)
+		})
+
+		it("returns true with wildcard when tool is not in tools list at all", () => {
+			const config = JSON.stringify({ alwaysAllow: ["*"] })
+			const server = makeServer("my-server", [], config)
+			expect(isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(makeServerUse("my-server", "unlisted-tool"), [server])).toBe(true)
+		})
+	})
+})
diff --git a/src/core/auto-approval/mcp.ts b/src/core/auto-approval/mcp.ts
index 4e576f4e38..ffe8a25417 100644
--- a/src/core/auto-approval/mcp.ts
+++ b/src/core/auto-approval/mcp.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,24 @@ import type { McpServerUse, McpServer, McpTool } from "@roo-code/types"
 export function isMcpToolAlwaysAllowed(mcpServerUse: McpServerUse, mcpServers: McpServer[] | undefined): boolean {
 	if (mcpServerUse.type === "use_mcp_tool" && mcpServerUse.toolName) {
 		const server = mcpServers?.find((s: McpServer) => s.name === mcpServerUse.serverName)
-		const tool = server?.tools?.find((t: McpTool) => t.name === mcpServerUse.toolName)
-		return tool?.alwaysAllow || false
+		if (!server) return false
+
+		// Primary check: tool-level flag set by fetchToolsList()
+		const tool = server.tools?.find((t: McpTool) => t.name === mcpServerUse.toolName)
+		if (tool?.alwaysAllow) return true
+
+		// Fallback: check the server's stored config directly.
+		// server.config is the JSON-stringified validated config set at connection
+		// creation time. It includes the alwaysAllow array from mcp_settings.json.
+		// This handles race conditions where fetchToolsList() hasn't completed or
+		// its config file read failed silently.
+		try {
+			const config = JSON.parse(server.config)
+			const alwaysAllowConfig: string[] = config.alwaysAllow || []
+			return alwaysAllowConfig.includes("*") || alwaysAllowConfig.includes(mcpServerUse.toolName)
+		} catch {
+			return false
+		}
 	}
 
 	return false