diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 1458c369..357b91b2 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.78.4
\ No newline at end of file
+0.78.5
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/app/routes/auth.py b/backend/app/routes/auth.py
index c0361fed..294a19ac 100644
--- a/backend/app/routes/auth.py
+++ b/backend/app/routes/auth.py
@@ -636,7 +636,14 @@ def _register_account(email: str, password: str) -> None:
             # no-op as the pre-check hit — roll back and stop.
             db.rollback()
             return
-        upsert_pending_invite(db, email)  # admin-approval gate (commits)
+        upsert_pending_invite(db, email)  # admin-approval gate (commits only when it writes a row)
+        # Persist the account ourselves. upsert_pending_invite commits only when it actually inserts
+        # (or revives) an invite row, and _issue_token below only runs with SMTP on — so for an email
+        # the admin had ALREADY approved, on an instance with no SMTP, nothing along this path
+        # committed and the flushed user was silently rolled back when the session closed. The
+        # would-be user got a uniform "ok" and no account. Commit unconditionally; it is a no-op
+        # when upsert already committed the same transaction.
+        db.commit()
         if email_ok:
             raw = _issue_token(db, user, "verify", VERIFY_TTL)
             # Fragment (#), not a query token: keeps the token out of proxy/access logs + Referer (SB3).
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py b/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
index 150f6ad9..652682aa 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
@@ -127,3 +127,72 @@ def test_activating_a_verified_account_keeps_its_password(db, make_user):
     _activate_user_by_email(db, "legit@example.com")
     assert user.is_active is True
     assert user.password_hash is not None
+
+
+def _register_and_fetch(db, email: str):
+    """Run the /register background worker, then read the users/invites rows back through a FRESH
+    query. The worker owns its own session, so anything it failed to commit is simply not there."""
+    from sqlalchemy import select as _select
+
+    from app.models import Invite, User
+    from app.routes.auth import _register_account
+
+    _register_account(email, _PW)
+    db.expire_all()
+    user = db.execute(_select(User).where(User.email == email)).scalar_one_or_none()
+    invite = db.execute(_select(Invite).where(Invite.email == email)).scalar_one_or_none()
+    return user, invite
+
+
+def test_registration_of_a_pre_approved_email_persists_the_account_without_smtp(db, monkeypatch):
+    # The regression: an admin pre-approves an address, the person then registers, and the account
+    # silently never existed. upsert_pending_invite returns early WITHOUT committing for an
+    # already-approved email, and the only other commit on this path (_issue_token) is gated on
+    # SMTP — so on a no-SMTP instance the flushed user was rolled back at session close.
+    from app.models import Invite
+    from app.routes import auth as auth_mod
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(auth_mod.email_mod, "email_enabled", lambda: False)
+    db.add(Invite(email="roland@example.com", status="approved", decided_by="admin@example.com"))
+    db.commit()
+
+    user, invite = _register_and_fetch(db, "roland@example.com")
+
+    assert user is not None, "pre-approved registration was rolled back — the account is gone"
+    assert user.is_active is False  # admin approval still gates sign-in
+    assert user.password_hash is not None
+    assert user.email_verified is True  # no SMTP => ownership can't be proven by link
+    assert invite.status == "approved"  # an existing approval is never disturbed
+
+
+def test_registration_of_an_unknown_email_still_persists_account_and_pending_invite(
+    db, monkeypatch
+):
+    # The branch that always worked (upsert INSERTs the invite and commits) must keep working.
+    from app.routes import auth as auth_mod
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(auth_mod.email_mod, "email_enabled", lambda: False)
+
+    user, invite = _register_and_fetch(db, "stranger@example.com")
+
+    assert user is not None
+    assert invite is not None and invite.status == "pending"
+
+
+def test_registration_of_a_pre_approved_email_persists_the_account_with_smtp(db, monkeypatch):
+    # Same pre-approved path with SMTP on: the account must persist AND get a verification link.
+    from app.models import Invite
+    from app.routes import auth as auth_mod
+
+    sent: list[str] = []
+    monkeypatch.setattr(auth_mod.email_mod, "email_enabled", lambda: True)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(auth_mod.email_mod, "send_verify_email", lambda to, link: sent.append(to))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(auth_mod.email_mod, "send_admin_new_request", lambda admins, to: True)
+    db.add(Invite(email="rita@example.com", status="approved", decided_by="admin@example.com"))
+    db.commit()
+
+    user, _ = _register_and_fetch(db, "rita@example.com")
+
+    assert user is not None
+    assert user.email_verified is False  # must confirm the address
+    assert sent == ["rita@example.com"]
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/releaseNotes.ts b/frontend/src/lib/releaseNotes.ts
index b09d95a6..d122adff 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/releaseNotes.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/releaseNotes.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,19 @@ export interface ReleaseEntry {
 }
 
 export const RELEASE_NOTES: ReleaseEntry[] = [
+  {
+    version: "0.78.5",
+    date: "2026-09-01",
+    summary:
+      "Account emails are being delivered again — and a sign-up by someone the admin had already approved no longer vanishes without a trace.",
+    fixes: [
+      "Email is going out again. Verification links, password-reset links, approval and denial notices, and the “new access request” alert to the admin were all being silently dropped because the mail settings were incomplete — the app skipped each message instead of sending it. Check Configuration → Email and use “Send test email” if yours has ever gone quiet.",
+      "Signing up with an address an admin had already approved now actually creates the account. The sign-up reported success but the account was discarded on the spot, so the person could neither sign in nor ask for access again — they simply had no account at all.",
+    ],
+    chores: [
+      "Registration now commits the new account explicitly. For an already-approved email, upsert_pending_invite() returns without committing, and the only other commit on that path is gated on working SMTP — so with mail unavailable the flushed user row was rolled back when the background task's session closed. Covered by three DB-lane regression tests: pre-approved without SMTP, unknown email, and pre-approved with SMTP.",
+    ],
+  },
   {
     version: "0.78.4",
     date: "2026-08-30",