diff --git a/app/Controllers/PolicyController.php b/app/Controllers/PolicyController.php
index 6d24f23..d749f92 100644
--- a/app/Controllers/PolicyController.php
+++ b/app/Controllers/PolicyController.php
@@ -828,7 +828,7 @@ class PolicyController extends ResourceController
                 'pdf_local_path'=> $pdfFilePath,
             ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
 
-            $markdownResult = convert_policy_pdf_to_markdown($pdfFilePath);
+            $markdownResult = convert_policy_pdf_to_markdown($pdfFilePath, false, $pdfFileName);
             if ($markdownResult['status'] !== 'success') {
                 log_message('error', '[S3_FILE_GET][POLICY_READ][CONVERT][FAILED] PDF to markdown conversion failed | ' . json_encode(array_merge($s3LogCtx, [
                     'pdf_file_name' => $pdfFileName,
@@ -849,30 +849,7 @@ class PolicyController extends ResourceController
                 'content_bytes' => isset($markdownResult['content']) ? strlen($markdownResult['content']) : null,
             ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
 
-            log_message('error', '[S3_FILE_GET][POLICY_READ][EXISTS] checking markdown in storage | ' . json_encode(array_merge($s3LogCtx, [
-                'module'       => 'policy',
-                'sub_folder'   => 'policy_md',
-                'md_file_name' => $mdFileName,
-            ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
-
-            $mdExists = policy_md_exists($mdFileName);
-
-            log_message('error', '[S3_FILE_GET][POLICY_READ][EXISTS] markdown exists check complete | ' . json_encode(array_merge($s3LogCtx, [
-                'md_file_name' => $mdFileName,
-                'exists'       => $mdExists,
-            ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
-
-            if (!$mdExists) {
-                log_message('error', '[S3_FILE_GET][POLICY_READ][FAILED] markdown file not found in storage | ' . json_encode(array_merge($s3LogCtx, [
-                    'md_file_name' => $mdFileName,
-                ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
-                if($return == true)
-                {
-                    return $this->respond(['status'=>"failed", 'message'=> "Markdown file not found for {$mdFileName}"], 200);
-                }else{
-                    return ['status'=>"failed", 'message'=> "Markdown file not found for {$mdFileName}"];
-                }
-            }
+            $mdFileName = $markdownResult['md_file_name'] ?? $mdFileName;
 
             if (!empty($markdownResult['content'])) {
                 $fileContent = $markdownResult['content'];
@@ -882,6 +859,31 @@ class PolicyController extends ResourceController
                     'source'        => 'convert_result',
                 ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
             } else {
+                log_message('error', '[S3_FILE_GET][POLICY_READ][EXISTS] checking markdown in storage | ' . json_encode(array_merge($s3LogCtx, [
+                    'module'       => 'policy',
+                    'sub_folder'   => 'policy_md',
+                    'md_file_name' => $mdFileName,
+                ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
+
+                $mdExists = policy_md_exists($mdFileName);
+
+                log_message('error', '[S3_FILE_GET][POLICY_READ][EXISTS] markdown exists check complete | ' . json_encode(array_merge($s3LogCtx, [
+                    'md_file_name' => $mdFileName,
+                    'exists'       => $mdExists,
+                ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
+
+                if (!$mdExists) {
+                    log_message('error', '[S3_FILE_GET][POLICY_READ][FAILED] markdown file not found in storage | ' . json_encode(array_merge($s3LogCtx, [
+                        'md_file_name' => $mdFileName,
+                    ]), JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES));
+                    if($return == true)
+                    {
+                        return $this->respond(['status'=>"failed", 'message'=> "Markdown file not found for {$mdFileName}"], 200);
+                    }else{
+                        return ['status'=>"failed", 'message'=> "Markdown file not found for {$mdFileName}"];
+                    }
+                }
+
                 log_message('error', '[S3_FILE_GET][POLICY_READ][READ][START] reading markdown from storage | ' . json_encode(array_merge($s3LogCtx, [
                     'module'       => 'policy',
                     'sub_folder'   => 'policy_md',
diff --git a/app/Helpers/policy_pdf_helper.php b/app/Helpers/policy_pdf_helper.php
index 7e80a96..6a83dd6 100644
--- a/app/Helpers/policy_pdf_helper.php
+++ b/app/Helpers/policy_pdf_helper.php
@@ -98,11 +98,14 @@ if (!function_exists('policy_pdf_extract_text')) {
 
 if (!function_exists('convert_policy_pdf_to_markdown')) {
     /**
-     * Convert a policy PDF to markdown, save to policy_md/, then read back from disk.
+     * Convert a policy PDF to markdown, save to policy_md/, then read back from storage.
+     *
+     * Always pass $originalPdfFileName (DB/storage name) when $pdfPath is an S3 temp download
+     * like /tmp/s3_<uniqid>_original.pdf so the MD key matches the original PDF basename.
      *
      * @return array{status: string, message: string, content?: string, md_path?: string, md_file_name?: string}
      */
-    function convert_policy_pdf_to_markdown(string $pdfPath, bool $forceRefresh = false): array
+    function convert_policy_pdf_to_markdown(string $pdfPath, bool $forceRefresh = false, ?string $originalPdfFileName = null): array
     {
         if (!is_file($pdfPath)) {
             return [
@@ -122,15 +125,17 @@ if (!function_exists('convert_policy_pdf_to_markdown')) {
             ];
         }
 
-        $mdPath     = policy_pdf_md_path($pdfPath);
+        // Prefer the original storage/DB PDF name so S3 temp paths do not pollute the MD key.
+        $sourcePdfName = ($originalPdfFileName !== null && $originalPdfFileName !== '')
+            ? basename($originalPdfFileName)
+            : basename($pdfPath);
+
+        $mdPath     = policy_md_upload_path($sourcePdfName);
         $mdFileName = basename($mdPath);
         $mdDir      = dirname($mdPath);
 
         if (!is_dir($mdDir) && !mkdir($mdDir, 0777, true) && !is_dir($mdDir)) {
-            return [
-                'status'  => 'failed',
-                'message' => "Unable to create markdown directory at {$mdDir}",
-            ];
+            log_message('error', "Unable to create markdown directory at {$mdDir}; will rely on storage put only");
         }
 
         if (!$forceRefresh && policy_md_exists($mdFileName)) {
@@ -162,19 +167,23 @@ if (!function_exists('convert_policy_pdf_to_markdown')) {
 
         $markdown = "# Motor Policy Document\n\n" . $extractedText;
 
-        if (file_put_contents($mdPath, $markdown) === false) {
-            return [
-                'status'  => 'failed',
-                'message' => "Failed to write markdown file at {$mdPath}",
-            ];
+        // Local write is best-effort (S3 driver may not have write access under writable/).
+        $localWritten = false;
+        if (is_dir($mdDir) || (is_dir(dirname($mdDir)) && @mkdir($mdDir, 0777, true))) {
+            $localWritten = @file_put_contents($mdPath, $markdown) !== false;
+            if (!$localWritten) {
+                log_message('error', "Local markdown write failed (continuing with storage put): {$mdPath}");
+            }
         }
 
         policy_put_md($mdFileName, $markdown);
 
-        $savedContent = file_get_contents($mdPath);
+        $savedContent = $localWritten ? (file_get_contents($mdPath) ?: $markdown) : $markdown;
 
-        if ($savedContent === false || !policy_md_is_valid($savedContent)) {
-            @unlink($mdPath);
+        if (!policy_md_is_valid($savedContent)) {
+            if ($localWritten) {
+                @unlink($mdPath);
+            }
 
             return [
                 'status'  => 'failed',
@@ -182,11 +191,11 @@ if (!function_exists('convert_policy_pdf_to_markdown')) {
             ];
         }
 
-        log_message('info', "Policy PDF converted to markdown: {$mdPath}");
+        log_message('info', "Policy PDF converted to markdown: {$mdFileName} (local_written=" . ($localWritten ? '1' : '0') . ')');
 
         return [
             'status'       => 'success',
-            'message'      => 'PDF converted to markdown and saved to disk',
+            'message'      => 'PDF converted to markdown and saved to storage',
             'content'      => $savedContent,
             'md_path'      => $mdPath,
             'md_file_name' => $mdFileName,