diff --git a/hyperfleet-operator/internal/render/nodepool.go b/hyperfleet-operator/internal/render/nodepool.go
index 880f6134..08537e8b 100644
--- a/hyperfleet-operator/internal/render/nodepool.go
+++ b/hyperfleet-operator/internal/render/nodepool.go
@@ -33,9 +33,7 @@ func NodePoolResource(nodePool *hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePool, cluster *hyperfleet
 		npSpec.Management.AutoRepair = true
 	}
 
-	if len(nodePool.Spec.Labels) > 0 {
-		npSpec.NodeLabels = nodePool.Spec.Labels
-	}
+	npSpec.NodeLabels = nodePool.Spec.Labels
 
 	if npSpec.Replicas == nil {
 		npSpec.Replicas = ptr.To(int32(2))
diff --git a/platform-api/go.mod b/platform-api/go.mod
index b1e7808f..2336fd9d 100644
--- a/platform-api/go.mod
+++ b/platform-api/go.mod
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ require (
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 	k8s.io/api v0.36.0
 	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.36.0
+	k8s.io/utils v0.0.0-20260707023825-cf1189d6abe3
 	sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime v0.24.1
 )
 
@@ -117,7 +118,6 @@ require (
 	k8s.io/client-go v0.36.0 // indirect
 	k8s.io/klog/v2 v2.140.0 // indirect
 	k8s.io/kube-openapi v0.0.0-20260706235625-cdb1db5517a0 // indirect
-	k8s.io/utils v0.0.0-20260707023825-cf1189d6abe3 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20250730193827-2d320260d730 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/randfill v1.0.0 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.4.1 // indirect
diff --git a/platform-api/pkg/clients/hyperfleetdb/convert.go b/platform-api/pkg/clients/hyperfleetdb/convert.go
index 7685777d..92074724 100644
--- a/platform-api/pkg/clients/hyperfleetdb/convert.go
+++ b/platform-api/pkg/clients/hyperfleetdb/convert.go
@@ -124,6 +124,18 @@ func NodePoolCRToPlatform(cr *hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePool) *types.NodePool {
 		UpdatedAt:       metaTime(cr),
 	}
 
+	// Sync top-level autoRepair → passthrough management.autoRepair so the
+	// response is internally consistent. The operator defaults to true when
+	// autoRepair is unset, so we mirror that here.
+	if np.Spec.AutoRepair != nil {
+		np.Spec.NodePool.Management.AutoRepair = *np.Spec.AutoRepair
+	} else {
+		np.Spec.NodePool.Management.AutoRepair = true
+	}
+
+	// Sync top-level labels → passthrough nodeLabels (unconditional to clear stale values).
+	np.Spec.NodePool.NodeLabels = np.Spec.Labels
+
 	if phase := cr.Status.Phase; phase != "" {
 		np.Status = &types.NodePoolStatusInfo{
 			ObservedGeneration: cr.Status.ObservedGeneration,
diff --git a/platform-api/pkg/clients/hyperfleetdb/convert_test.go b/platform-api/pkg/clients/hyperfleetdb/convert_test.go
index c6497aea..e1a12e78 100644
--- a/platform-api/pkg/clients/hyperfleetdb/convert_test.go
+++ b/platform-api/pkg/clients/hyperfleetdb/convert_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 
 	hyperfleetv1alpha1 "github.com/openshift-online/rosa-hyperfleet-api/api/v1alpha1"
 	hypershiftv1beta1 "github.com/openshift/hypershift/api/hypershift/v1beta1"
+	"k8s.io/utils/ptr"
 
 	"github.com/openshift-online/rosa-hyperfleet-api/platform-api/pkg/types"
 )
@@ -47,6 +48,99 @@ func TestPlatformCreateToNodePoolCR_SetsAccountLabel(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestNodePoolCRToPlatform_AutoRepair(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		autoRepair *bool
+		wantTop    *bool
+		wantMgmt   bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:       "nil defaults to true in passthrough",
+			autoRepair: nil,
+			wantTop:    nil,
+			wantMgmt:   true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "explicit true propagates to passthrough",
+			autoRepair: ptr.To(true),
+			wantTop:    ptr.To(true),
+			wantMgmt:   true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "explicit false propagates to passthrough",
+			autoRepair: ptr.To(false),
+			wantTop:    ptr.To(false),
+			wantMgmt:   false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			cr := &hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePool{
+				Spec: hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePoolSpec{
+					AutoRepair: tt.autoRepair,
+				},
+			}
+			np := NodePoolCRToPlatform(cr)
+
+			if tt.wantTop == nil {
+				if np.Spec.AutoRepair != nil {
+					t.Errorf("Spec.AutoRepair = %v, want nil", *np.Spec.AutoRepair)
+				}
+			} else {
+				if np.Spec.AutoRepair == nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Spec.AutoRepair = nil, want %v", *tt.wantTop)
+				}
+				if *np.Spec.AutoRepair != *tt.wantTop {
+					t.Errorf("Spec.AutoRepair = %v, want %v", *np.Spec.AutoRepair, *tt.wantTop)
+				}
+			}
+
+			if np.Spec.NodePool.Management.AutoRepair != tt.wantMgmt {
+				t.Errorf("Spec.NodePool.Management.AutoRepair = %v, want %v",
+					np.Spec.NodePool.Management.AutoRepair, tt.wantMgmt)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNodePoolCRToPlatform_Labels(t *testing.T) {
+	labels := map[string]string{"env": "staging", "team": "platform"}
+
+	cr := &hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePool{
+		Spec: hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePoolSpec{
+			Labels: labels,
+		},
+	}
+	np := NodePoolCRToPlatform(cr)
+
+	if len(np.Spec.NodePool.NodeLabels) != len(labels) {
+		t.Fatalf("NodeLabels len = %d, want %d", len(np.Spec.NodePool.NodeLabels), len(labels))
+	}
+	for k, v := range labels {
+		if np.Spec.NodePool.NodeLabels[k] != v {
+			t.Errorf("NodeLabels[%q] = %q, want %q", k, np.Spec.NodePool.NodeLabels[k], v)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNodePoolCRToPlatform_LabelsEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	cr := &hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePool{
+		Spec: hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePoolSpec{
+			Labels: nil,
+			NodePool: hyperfleetv1alpha1.NodePoolSpecPassthrough{
+				NodeLabels: map[string]string{"stale": "value"},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	np := NodePoolCRToPlatform(cr)
+
+	if len(np.Spec.NodePool.NodeLabels) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("NodeLabels = %v, want empty", np.Spec.NodePool.NodeLabels)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestPlatformCreateToClusterCR_SetsAccountLabel(t *testing.T) {
 	req := &types.ClusterCreateRequest{
 		Name: "my-cluster",