diff --git a/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.js b/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.js
index 38371f8cdcb..9b7fe91a03a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.js
+++ b/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.js
@@ -57,6 +57,44 @@ async function findGroupApprover(owners, approverLogins, github, org, core) {
   return null;
 }
 
+const OPINIONATED_REVIEW_STATES = new Set(["APPROVED", "CHANGES_REQUESTED"]);
+
+// GitHub returns all reviews, but only opinionated reviews affect approval.
+function latestReviewsByUser(reviews) {
+  const latest = new Map();
+
+  for (const [index, review] of reviews.entries()) {
+    if (!OPINIONATED_REVIEW_STATES.has(review.state)) continue;
+
+    const login = review.user?.login?.toLowerCase();
+    if (!login) continue;
+
+    const previous = latest.get(login);
+    if (!previous) {
+      latest.set(login, { index, review });
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const submittedAt = Date.parse(review.submitted_at || "");
+    const previousSubmittedAt = Date.parse(previous.review.submitted_at || "");
+    const useSubmittedAt =
+      !Number.isNaN(submittedAt) &&
+      !Number.isNaN(previousSubmittedAt) &&
+      submittedAt !== previousSubmittedAt;
+
+    if (
+      (useSubmittedAt && submittedAt > previousSubmittedAt) ||
+      (!useSubmittedAt && index > previous.index)
+    ) {
+      latest.set(login, { index, review });
+    }
+  }
+
+  return Array.from(latest.values())
+    .sort((a, b) => a.index - b.index)
+    .map(({ review }) => review);
+}
+
 /**
  * Per-path approval check. Each ownership group needs at least one
  * approval from its owners. Files matching only "*" require a maintainer.
@@ -465,9 +503,10 @@ module.exports = async ({ github, context, core }) => {
     repo: context.repo.repo,
     pull_number: context.issue.number,
   });
+  const latestReviews = latestReviewsByUser(reviews);
 
   // Maintainer approval -> success with simple comment
-  const maintainerApproval = reviews.find(
+  const maintainerApproval = latestReviews.find(
     ({ state, user }) =>
       state === "APPROVED" && user && maintainers.includes(user.login)
   );
@@ -486,7 +525,7 @@ module.exports = async ({ github, context, core }) => {
 
   // Maintainer-authored PR with any approval -> success
   if (authorLogin && maintainers.includes(authorLogin)) {
-    const hasAnyApproval = reviews.some(
+    const hasAnyApproval = latestReviews.some(
       ({ state, user }) =>
         state === "APPROVED" && user && user.login !== authorLogin
     );
@@ -503,8 +542,8 @@ module.exports = async ({ github, context, core }) => {
     }
   }
 
-  // Gather approved logins (excluding the PR author).
-  const approverLogins = reviews
+  // Gather currently approved logins (excluding the PR author).
+  const approverLogins = latestReviews
     .filter(
       ({ state, user }) =>
         state === "APPROVED" && user && user.login !== authorLogin
diff --git a/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.test.js b/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.test.js
index 2866dc9d3d7..3c18e7e9618 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.test.js
+++ b/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.test.js
@@ -334,6 +334,155 @@ describe("maintainer-approval", () => {
     assert.equal(github._checkRuns.length, 0);
   });
 
+  it("keeps maintainer approval after the same maintainer leaves a comment", async () => {
+    const github = makeGithub({
+      reviews: [
+        {
+          state: "APPROVED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "maintainer1" },
+        },
+        {
+          state: "COMMENTED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "maintainer1" },
+        },
+      ],
+      files: [{ filename: "cmd/pipelines/foo.go" }],
+    });
+    const core = makeCore();
+    const context = makeContext();
+
+    await runModule({ github, context, core });
+
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns.length, 1);
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns[0].conclusion, "success");
+    assert.ok(github._checkRuns[0].output.summary.includes("maintainer1"));
+  });
+
+  it("keeps approval on a maintainer-authored PR after the same reviewer leaves a comment", async () => {
+    const github = makeGithub({
+      reviews: [
+        {
+          state: "APPROVED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "randomreviewer" },
+        },
+        {
+          state: "COMMENTED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "randomreviewer" },
+        },
+      ],
+      files: [{ filename: "cmd/pipelines/foo.go" }],
+    });
+    const core = makeCore();
+    const context = makeContext({ author: "maintainer1" });
+
+    await runModule({ github, context, core });
+
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns.length, 1);
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns[0].conclusion, "success");
+    assert.ok(github._checkRuns[0].output.summary.includes("maintainer-authored"));
+  });
+
+  it("keeps path-owner approval after the same owner leaves a comment", async () => {
+    const github = makeGithub({
+      reviews: [
+        {
+          state: "APPROVED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "jefferycheng1" },
+        },
+        {
+          state: "COMMENTED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "jefferycheng1" },
+        },
+      ],
+      files: [{ filename: "cmd/pipelines/foo.go" }],
+    });
+    const core = makeCore();
+    const context = makeContext();
+
+    await runModule({ github, context, core });
+
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns.length, 1);
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns[0].conclusion, "success");
+  });
+
+  it("ignores an older maintainer approval after the same maintainer requests changes", async () => {
+    const github = makeGithub({
+      reviews: [
+        {
+          state: "APPROVED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "maintainer1" },
+        },
+        {
+          state: "CHANGES_REQUESTED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "maintainer1" },
+        },
+      ],
+      files: [{ filename: "cmd/pipelines/foo.go" }],
+    });
+    const core = makeCore();
+    const context = makeContext();
+
+    await runModule({ github, context, core });
+
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns.length, 0);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores an older approval on a maintainer-authored PR after the same reviewer requests changes", async () => {
+    const github = makeGithub({
+      reviews: [
+        {
+          state: "APPROVED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "randomreviewer" },
+        },
+        {
+          state: "CHANGES_REQUESTED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "randomreviewer" },
+        },
+      ],
+      files: [{ filename: "cmd/pipelines/foo.go" }],
+    });
+    const core = makeCore();
+    const context = makeContext({ author: "maintainer1" });
+
+    await runModule({ github, context, core });
+
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns.length, 0);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores an older path-owner approval after the same owner requests changes", async () => {
+    const github = makeGithub({
+      reviews: [
+        {
+          state: "APPROVED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "jefferycheng1" },
+        },
+        {
+          state: "CHANGES_REQUESTED",
+          submitted_at: "2026-01-02T00:00:00Z",
+          user: { login: "jefferycheng1" },
+        },
+      ],
+      files: [{ filename: "cmd/pipelines/foo.go" }],
+    });
+    const core = makeCore();
+    const context = makeContext();
+
+    await runModule({ github, context, core });
+
+    assert.equal(github._checkRuns.length, 0);
+  });
+
   it("self-approval by PR author is excluded", async () => {
     const github = makeGithub({
       reviews: [