diff --git a/src/heartbeat/runner.test.ts b/src/heartbeat/runner.test.ts
index 8a3570a3..1a04bc5f 100644
--- a/src/heartbeat/runner.test.ts
+++ b/src/heartbeat/runner.test.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,18 @@ describe("heartbeat runner", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("bypasses empty-heartbeat-file check for cron-triggered wakes", async () => {
+    const dir = await mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "heartbeat-test-"));
+    try {
+      await writeFile(path.join(dir, "heartbeat.md"), "# keep empty\n", "utf-8");
+      const agent = createStubAgent({ profileDir: dir, replyText: "HEARTBEAT_OK" });
+      const result = await runHeartbeatOnce({ agent: agent as any, reason: "cron:test-job-id" });
+      expect(result.status).toBe("ran");
+    } finally {
+      await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it("runs and returns ran for heartbeat acknowledgements", async () => {
     const agent = createStubAgent({ replyText: "HEARTBEAT_OK" });
     const result = await runHeartbeatOnce({ agent: agent as any, reason: "manual" });
diff --git a/src/heartbeat/runner.ts b/src/heartbeat/runner.ts
index f9ba6bfa..7e6dab53 100644
--- a/src/heartbeat/runner.ts
+++ b/src/heartbeat/runner.ts
@@ -156,8 +156,8 @@ export async function runHeartbeatOnce(opts: {
   }
 
   try {
-    const isExecEvent = opts.reason === "exec-event";
-    if (!isExecEvent && (await isHeartbeatFileEmpty(agent))) {
+    const isForcedWake = opts.reason === "exec-event" || opts.reason?.startsWith("cron:");
+    if (!isForcedWake && (await isHeartbeatFileEmpty(agent))) {
       emitHeartbeatEvent({
         status: "skipped",
         reason: "empty-heartbeat-file",