diff --git a/packages/loopover-engine/src/portfolio/queue.ts b/packages/loopover-engine/src/portfolio/queue.ts
index 50fa1fef7c..bd77ad67cd 100644
--- a/packages/loopover-engine/src/portfolio/queue.ts
+++ b/packages/loopover-engine/src/portfolio/queue.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ function normalizeItem(item: PortfolioQueueItem): PortfolioQueueItem {
 }
 
 function finiteNonNegativeInt(value: number): number {
+  // Infinity means "uncapped" (this codebase's own convention -- portfolio-queue-cli.ts documents it), NOT
+  // "collapse to 0", which would make nextEligibleItems return [] for globalWipCap: Infinity (#8861).
+  if (value === Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY) return Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
   if (!Number.isFinite(value)) return 0;
   return Math.max(0, Math.trunc(value));
 }
diff --git a/packages/loopover-miner/lib/portfolio-queue-manager.ts b/packages/loopover-miner/lib/portfolio-queue-manager.ts
index a71e76917b..086c08c930 100644
--- a/packages/loopover-miner/lib/portfolio-queue-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/loopover-miner/lib/portfolio-queue-manager.ts
@@ -48,11 +48,13 @@ export function parseQueueItemId(id: unknown): PortfolioQueueClaimTarget {
   return { apiBaseUrl, repoFullName, identifier };
 }
 
-/** Coerce caps to finite non-negative integers (mirrors the engine's normalizeCaps posture). */
+/** Coerce caps to finite non-negative integers (mirrors the engine's normalizeCaps posture), preserving an
+ *  explicit `Infinity` as "uncapped" -- the codebase convention portfolio-queue-cli.ts documents -- rather than
+ *  collapsing it to 0 (which the engine would read as a full-exclusion cap; #8861). */
 export function normalizePortfolioCaps(caps: Partial<PortfolioCaps> = {}): PortfolioCaps {
-  const globalWipCap = Number.isFinite(caps.globalWipCap) ? Math.max(0, Math.trunc(caps.globalWipCap as number)) : 0;
-  const perRepoWipCap = Number.isFinite(caps.perRepoWipCap) ? Math.max(0, Math.trunc(caps.perRepoWipCap as number)) : 0;
-  return { globalWipCap, perRepoWipCap };
+  const normalize = (value: number | undefined): number =>
+    value === Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY ? Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY : Number.isFinite(value) ? Math.max(0, Math.trunc(value as number)) : 0;
+  return { globalWipCap: normalize(caps.globalWipCap), perRepoWipCap: normalize(caps.perRepoWipCap) };
 }
 
 /** Project persisted queue rows into the engine's in-memory PortfolioQueue (done rows omitted). Pure. */
diff --git a/test/unit/miner-portfolio-queue-manager.test.ts b/test/unit/miner-portfolio-queue-manager.test.ts
index 2ecb880e50..1e7f200742 100644
--- a/test/unit/miner-portfolio-queue-manager.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/miner-portfolio-queue-manager.test.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,18 @@ describe("normalizePortfolioCaps() (#4285)", () => {
     });
     expect(normalizePortfolioCaps()).toEqual({ globalWipCap: 0, perRepoWipCap: 0 });
   });
+
+  it("preserves an explicit Infinity cap as uncapped, not collapsed to 0 (#8861)", () => {
+    // The engine's nextEligibleItems reads globalWipCap: 0 as a full-exclusion cap; collapsing Infinity to 0
+    // here would silently exclude everything. Infinity must survive as "uncapped" (the engine-side behavior is
+    // pinned in test/unit/portfolio-queue.test.ts).
+    expect(normalizePortfolioCaps({ globalWipCap: Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY, perRepoWipCap: 3 })).toEqual({
+      globalWipCap: Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY,
+      perRepoWipCap: 3,
+    });
+    // A finite/absent cap is still coerced exactly as before.
+    expect(normalizePortfolioCaps({ globalWipCap: 4.9, perRepoWipCap: -2 })).toEqual({ globalWipCap: 4, perRepoWipCap: 0 });
+  });
 });
 
 describe("entriesToPortfolioQueue() / selectEligibleBatch() (#4285)", () => {
diff --git a/test/unit/portfolio-queue.test.ts b/test/unit/portfolio-queue.test.ts
index 353d796f78..88572d5217 100644
--- a/test/unit/portfolio-queue.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/portfolio-queue.test.ts
@@ -104,10 +104,22 @@ describe("portfolio queue primitives", () => {
   it("returns no eligible items when either cap normalizes to zero", () => {
     const queue = queueOf(item("a-queued-1", "acme/alpha"));
 
-    expect(nextEligibleItems(queue, { globalWipCap: Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY, perRepoWipCap: 1 })).toEqual([]);
+    expect(nextEligibleItems(queue, { globalWipCap: 0, perRepoWipCap: 1 })).toEqual([]);
     expect(nextEligibleItems(queue, { globalWipCap: 2, perRepoWipCap: -1 })).toEqual([]);
   });
 
+  it("treats an Infinity cap as uncapped, returning eligible items instead of an empty batch (#8861)", () => {
+    const queue = queueOf(item("a-queued-1", "acme/alpha"), item("b-queued-1", "acme/beta"));
+
+    // Before the fix, Infinity collapsed to 0 and excluded EVERY item -- the opposite of the "uncapped"
+    // convention portfolio-queue-cli.ts documents.
+    expect(
+      nextEligibleItems(queue, { globalWipCap: Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY, perRepoWipCap: Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY })
+        .map((entry) => entry.id)
+        .sort(),
+    ).toEqual(["a-queued-1", "b-queued-1"]);
+  });
+
   it("truncates fractional caps and treats NaN as zero", () => {
     const queue = queueOf(
       item("a-queued-1", "acme/alpha"),