diff --git a/app/plugins/builtins/forgejo_error_reporter/service.py b/app/plugins/builtins/forgejo_error_reporter/service.py
index 602d7a1..74e7eba 100644
--- a/app/plugins/builtins/forgejo_error_reporter/service.py
+++ b/app/plugins/builtins/forgejo_error_reporter/service.py
@@ -103,10 +103,11 @@ async def _check_rate_limit() -> bool:
         return True
 
 
-async def _ensure_labels_exist(client: httpx.AsyncClient, settings: dict[str, str]) -> None:
+async def _ensure_labels_exist(client: httpx.AsyncClient, settings: dict[str, str]) -> list[int]:
     """Ensure required labels exist in the Forgejo repository.
 
     Creates 'auto-reported' and 'bug' labels if they don't exist.
+    Returns the list of label IDs for use in issue creation.
     """
     url = f"{settings['url']}/api/v1/repos/{settings['owner']}/{settings['repo']}/labels"
     headers = {
@@ -114,33 +115,38 @@ async def _ensure_labels_exist(client: httpx.AsyncClient, settings: dict[str, st
         "Content-Type": "application/json",
     }
 
+    required_names = ["auto-reported", "bug"]
+    label_ids: list[int] = []
+
     try:
         response = await client.get(url, headers=headers)
         response.raise_for_status()
         existing_labels = response.json()
-        existing_names = {label.get("name", "") for label in existing_labels}
+        existing_map = {label.get("name", ""): label.get("id") for label in existing_labels}
 
-        required_labels = [
-            {"name": "auto-reported", "color": "0366d6", "description": "Automatically reported by error reporter"},
-            {"name": "bug", "color": "d73a4a", "description": "Bug report"},
-        ]
-
-        for label_data in required_labels:
-            if label_data["name"] not in existing_names:
+        for name in required_names:
+            if name in existing_map and existing_map[name] is not None:
+                label_ids.append(existing_map[name])
+            else:
+                label_data = {
+                    "name": name,
+                    "color": "0366d6" if name == "auto-reported" else "d73a4a",
+                    "description": "Automatically reported by error reporter" if name == "auto-reported" else "Bug report",
+                }
                 create_response = await client.post(url, headers=headers, json=label_data)
                 if create_response.status_code in (201, 200):
-                    logger.info("Created label '%s' in Forgejo repo", label_data["name"])
+                    new_label = create_response.json()
+                    label_ids.append(new_label.get("id"))
+                    logger.info("Created label '%s' (id=%s) in Forgejo repo", name, new_label.get("id"))
                 else:
-                    logger.warning(
-                        "Failed to create label '%s': %s",
-                        label_data["name"],
-                        create_response.text,
-                    )
+                    logger.warning("Failed to create label '%s': %s", name, create_response.text)
     except httpx.HTTPStatusError as exc:
         logger.warning("Failed to fetch/create labels: %s", exc)
     except httpx.RequestError as exc:
         logger.warning("Network error while managing labels: %s", exc)
 
+    return label_ids
+
 
 async def report_error_to_forgejo(entry: dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
     """Report an error to Forgejo as a new issue.
@@ -199,21 +205,21 @@ async def report_error_to_forgejo(entry: dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
     if len(title) > 255:
         title = title[:252] + "..."
 
-    issue_data = {
-        "title": title,
-        "body": body,
-        "labels": ["auto-reported", "bug"],
-    }
-
-    url = f"{settings['url']}/api/v1/repos/{settings['owner']}/{settings['repo']}/issues"
-    headers = {
-        "Authorization": f"token {settings['token']}",
-        "Content-Type": "application/json",
-    }
-
     async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=30.0) as client:
-        # Ensure labels exist first
-        await _ensure_labels_exist(client, settings)
+        # Ensure labels exist first and get their IDs
+        label_ids = await _ensure_labels_exist(client, settings)
+
+        issue_data = {
+            "title": title,
+            "body": body,
+            "labels": label_ids,
+        }
+
+        url = f"{settings['url']}/api/v1/repos/{settings['owner']}/{settings['repo']}/issues"
+        headers = {
+            "Authorization": f"token {settings['token']}",
+            "Content-Type": "application/json",
+        }
 
         try:
             response = await client.post(url, headers=headers, json=issue_data)
diff --git a/dump.rdb b/dump.rdb
index 9d21003..7d06d0b 100644
Binary files a/dump.rdb and b/dump.rdb differ