diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync-docs-discourse.yml b/.github/workflows/sync-docs-discourse.yml
index 0417b6b713..0be7cffbcc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync-docs-discourse.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync-docs-discourse.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
 
           # Append sync footer
           gh_url = f'https://github.com/sunnypilot/sunnypilot/blob/{GITHUB_BRANCH}/docs_sp/{DOC_PATH}'
-          body = body.rstrip('\n') + f'\n\n---\n<small>This document is version-controlled. Suggest changes [on GitHub]({gh_url}).</small>\n\n<!-- docs-sync-id: {DOC_PATH} -->\n'
+          body = body.rstrip('\n') + f'\n\n---\n<small>This document is version-controlled. Suggest changes [on GitHub]({gh_url}).</small>\n<small>docs-sync-id: {DOC_PATH}</small>\n'
 
           # Extract title from front matter or first heading
           title = None
diff --git a/docs_sp/tools/discourse_client.py b/docs_sp/tools/discourse_client.py
index f9ed6ce2a3..c0a031332d 100644
--- a/docs_sp/tools/discourse_client.py
+++ b/docs_sp/tools/discourse_client.py
@@ -98,9 +98,11 @@ class DiscourseClient:
     # ----- Public API -----
 
     def find_topic_by_sync_id(self, sync_id: str) -> dict[str, Any] | None:
-        """Find an existing topic by its embedded sync ID comment.
+        """Find an existing topic by its embedded sync ID marker.
 
-        Searches for topics containing <!-- docs-sync-id: {sync_id} -->.
+        Searches for topics containing the visible sync ID text
+        ``docs-sync-id: {sync_id}``.  The marker must be visible (not an
+        HTML comment) so that Discourse indexes it.
 
         Args:
             sync_id: The doc path used as sync identifier.
@@ -108,7 +110,7 @@ class DiscourseClient:
         Returns:
             Topic dict with at least 'id' key, or None if not found.
         """
-        query = f"<!-- docs-sync-id: {sync_id} -->"
+        query = f'"docs-sync-id: {sync_id}"'
         encoded = urllib.parse.urlencode({"q": query})
         data = self._get(f"/search.json?{encoded}")
         if data is None: