diff --git a/pkg/cli/compile_integration_test.go b/pkg/cli/compile_integration_test.go
index 5138b086743..755182bf19e 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/compile_integration_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/compile_integration_test.go
@@ -2247,3 +2247,65 @@ func TestCompileWithActionsRepoDefaultFallback(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Logf("Default actions repo test passed - default repo baked into lock file: %s", lockFilePath)
 }
+
+func TestCompileWithActionRefOverrideIncludesCompilerVersionMetadata(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "action-tag",
+			args: []string{"--action-tag", "v9.9.9"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "gh-aw-ref",
+			args: []string{"--gh-aw-ref", "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			setup := setupIntegrationTest(t)
+			defer setup.cleanup()
+
+			srcPath := filepath.Join(projectRoot, "pkg/cli/workflows/test-actions-repo.md")
+			dstPath := filepath.Join(setup.workflowsDir, "test-actions-repo.md")
+
+			srcContent, err := os.ReadFile(srcPath)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Failed to read source workflow file %s: %v", srcPath, err)
+			}
+			if err := os.WriteFile(dstPath, srcContent, 0o644); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Failed to write workflow to test dir: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			cmdArgs := append([]string{"compile"}, tt.args...)
+			cmdArgs = append(cmdArgs, dstPath)
+			cmd := exec.Command(setup.binaryPath, cmdArgs...)
+			output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("CLI compile command failed: %v\nOutput: %s", err, string(output))
+			}
+
+			lockFilePath := filepath.Join(setup.workflowsDir, "test-actions-repo.lock.yml")
+			lockContent, err := os.ReadFile(lockFilePath)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Failed to read lock file: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			metadataLine := ""
+			for line := range strings.SplitSeq(string(lockContent), "\n") {
+				if strings.Contains(line, "gh-aw-metadata:") {
+					metadataLine = line
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if metadataLine == "" {
+				t.Fatal("Could not find gh-aw-metadata in lock file")
+			}
+			if !strings.Contains(metadataLine, `"compiler_version":"`) || strings.Contains(metadataLine, `"compiler_version":""`) {
+				t.Fatalf("Expected non-empty compiler_version in metadata, got: %s", metadataLine)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml.go b/pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml.go
index 2975827fbc6..56961b56c71 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml.go
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ func (c *Compiler) generateWorkflowHeader(yaml *strings.Builder, data *WorkflowD
 		agentInfo.EngineVersions = collectEngineVersionsForMetadata(data)
 		agentInfo.AgentImageRunner = resolveAgentImageRunnerIdentifier(data.RawFrontmatter)
 		metadata := GenerateLockMetadata(LockHashInfo{FrontmatterHash: frontmatterHash, BodyHash: bodyHash}, data.StopTime, c.effectiveStrictMode(data.RawFrontmatter), agentInfo)
+		if metadata.CompilerVersion == "" && c.GetActionTag() != "" {
+			metadata.CompilerVersion = c.GetVersion()
+		}
 		metadataJSON, err := metadata.ToJSON()
 		if err != nil {
 			// Fallback to legacy format if JSON serialization fails
diff --git a/pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml_test.go b/pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml_test.go
index 2ddc202bb11..43f969c6dcf 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml_test.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml_test.go
@@ -1399,18 +1399,28 @@ func TestLockMetadataVersionInReleaseBuilds(t *testing.T) {
 		name          string
 		isRelease     bool
 		version       string
+		actionTag     string
 		expectVersion bool
 	}{
 		{
 			name:          "dev build should not include version",
 			isRelease:     false,
 			version:       "dev",
+			actionTag:     "",
 			expectVersion: false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:          "release build should include version",
 			isRelease:     true,
 			version:       "v0.1.2",
+			actionTag:     "",
+			expectVersion: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "action-tag compile should include current ref",
+			isRelease:     false,
+			version:       "401bd13",
+			actionTag:     "v9.9.9",
 			expectVersion: true,
 		},
 	}
@@ -1437,6 +1447,7 @@ Test prompt.
 
 			// Compile the workflow
 			compiler := NewCompiler()
+			compiler.SetActionTag(tt.actionTag)
 			err := compiler.CompileWorkflow(workflowPath)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("Failed to compile workflow: %v", err)