diff --git a/changelog.d/fixes/6764-fusion-combo-ref.md b/changelog.d/fixes/6764-fusion-combo-ref.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..403336afae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/fixes/6764-fusion-combo-ref.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- **fix(routing):** fusion combos no longer silently drop `combo-ref` panel members — a referenced combo is now dispatched as one black-box panel voice instead of being dropped (#6764)
diff --git a/docs/routing/AUTO-COMBO.md b/docs/routing/AUTO-COMBO.md
index 6160420310..0130f5dd67 100644
--- a/docs/routing/AUTO-COMBO.md
+++ b/docs/routing/AUTO-COMBO.md
@@ -232,6 +232,11 @@ How it works:
 4. **Graceful degradation** — 0 panel answers → `503`; exactly 1 survivor → that answer
    is returned directly (nothing to fuse); a single-model panel answers directly.
 
+A panel member may also be a `combo-ref` step (`{kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "..."}`) referencing
+another combo — it resolves as **one black-box panel voice** (a full recursive dispatch into the
+referenced combo, not a fan-out of that combo's own targets), with the same depth/cycle protection
+every other combo-ref-consuming strategy already uses (#6764).
+
 ### Configuration
 
 Configured on the combo's `config` blob (no schema migration — it reuses the existing
diff --git a/open-sse/services/combo.ts b/open-sse/services/combo.ts
index 21735e31a4..a1f43236a6 100644
--- a/open-sse/services/combo.ts
+++ b/open-sse/services/combo.ts
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ import {
 } from "./combo/comboPredicates.ts";
 import { applyComboTargetExhaustion } from "./combo/targetExhaustion.ts";
 import { executeRuntimeUnitCombo } from "./combo/runtimeUnits.ts";
+import { extractFusionPanelSpec, buildFusionHandleSingleModel } from "./combo/fusionPanel.ts";
 import { isRecord } from "./combo/comboData.ts";
 import {
   expandProviderWildcardsInCombo,
@@ -818,20 +819,47 @@ export async function handleComboChat({
     );
   }
   if (strategy === "fusion") {
-    const fusionModels = (combo.models || [])
-      .map((m) => {
-        if (typeof m === "string") return m;
-        if (m && typeof m === "object") {
-          const obj = m as Record<string, unknown>;
-          if (typeof obj.model === "string") return obj.model;
-        }
-        return null;
-      })
-      .filter((m): m is string => Boolean(m));
+    const { panel: fusionModels, comboRefUnits } = extractFusionPanelSpec(
+      combo.models || [],
+      combo.name,
+      allCombos
+    );
+    // Untyped like the existing `nestingContext` further down — `nesting` is
+    // already `ComboNestingContext | null` per HandleComboChatOptions, no new
+    // import needed.
+    const fusionNesting = nesting || {
+      depth: 0,
+      maxDepth: clampComboDepth(config.maxComboDepth),
+      visitedComboNames: [combo.name],
+      rootComboName: combo.name,
+      attemptBudget: { count: 0, limit: MAX_GLOBAL_ATTEMPTS },
+    };
+    const fusionHandleSingleModel =
+      comboRefUnits.size > 0
+        ? buildFusionHandleSingleModel({
+            handleSingleModel: handleSingleModelWithTimeout,
+            comboRefUnits,
+            allCombos,
+            nesting: fusionNesting,
+            baseOptions: {
+              body,
+              combo,
+              handleSingleModel,
+              isModelAvailable,
+              log,
+              settings,
+              allCombos,
+              relayOptions,
+              signal,
+              apiKeyAllowedConnections,
+            },
+            runCombo: handleComboChat,
+          })
+        : handleSingleModelWithTimeout;
     return handleFusionChat({
       body,
       models: fusionModels,
-      handleSingleModel: handleSingleModelWithTimeout,
+      handleSingleModel: fusionHandleSingleModel,
       log,
       comboName: combo.name,
       judgeModel,
diff --git a/open-sse/services/combo/fusionPanel.ts b/open-sse/services/combo/fusionPanel.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6397c5120c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/open-sse/services/combo/fusionPanel.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/**
+ * Fusion panel member extraction — resolves combo.models entries for the
+ * fusion strategy, including nested `combo-ref` steps (#6764).
+ *
+ * A combo-ref panel member is dispatched as ONE black-box panel voice (a full
+ * recursive handleComboChat call for the referenced combo, reusing the same
+ * executeComboRefUnit + cycle/depth guards every other combo-ref-consuming
+ * strategy already uses) — NOT a fan-out of the referenced combo's own
+ * targets. This keeps panel sizing and cost predictable and matches how a
+ * literal `auto/*` string panel member already behaves via the single-
+ * dispatch safety net in src/sse/handlers/chat.ts.
+ */
+import { normalizeComboStep } from "../../../src/lib/combos/steps.ts";
+import { executeComboRefUnit } from "./runtimeUnits.ts";
+import type {
+  ComboCollectionLike,
+  ComboNestingContext,
+  HandleComboChatOptions,
+  HandleSingleModel,
+  ResolvedComboRefTarget,
+} from "./types.ts";
+
+export type FusionPanelSpec = {
+  /** Dispatch keys handed to fusion.ts's `models` — comboName for combo-ref members, plain model string otherwise. */
+  panel: string[];
+  /** comboName -> resolved combo-ref unit, consumed by buildFusionHandleSingleModel. */
+  comboRefUnits: Map<string, ResolvedComboRefTarget>;
+};
+
+export function extractFusionPanelSpec(
+  models: unknown[],
+  comboName: string,
+  allCombos: ComboCollectionLike
+): FusionPanelSpec {
+  const panel: string[] = [];
+  const comboRefUnits = new Map<string, ResolvedComboRefTarget>();
+  models.forEach((entry, index) => {
+    const step = normalizeComboStep(entry, { comboName, index, allCombos });
+    if (!step) return;
+    if (step.kind === "combo-ref") {
+      if (!comboRefUnits.has(step.comboName)) {
+        comboRefUnits.set(step.comboName, {
+          kind: "combo-ref",
+          stepId: step.id,
+          executionKey: step.id,
+          comboName: step.comboName,
+          weight: step.weight,
+          label: step.label ?? null,
+        });
+      }
+      panel.push(step.comboName);
+      return;
+    }
+    panel.push(step.model);
+  });
+  return { panel, comboRefUnits };
+}
+
+export function buildFusionHandleSingleModel(args: {
+  handleSingleModel: HandleSingleModel;
+  comboRefUnits: Map<string, ResolvedComboRefTarget>;
+  allCombos: ComboCollectionLike;
+  nesting: ComboNestingContext;
+  baseOptions: HandleComboChatOptions;
+  runCombo: (options: HandleComboChatOptions) => Promise<Response>;
+}): HandleSingleModel {
+  return (body, modelStr, target) => {
+    const unit = args.comboRefUnits.get(modelStr);
+    if (!unit) return args.handleSingleModel(body, modelStr, target);
+    return executeComboRefUnit({
+      body,
+      unit,
+      allCombos: args.allCombos,
+      runCombo: args.runCombo,
+      baseOptions: args.baseOptions,
+      nesting: args.nesting,
+    });
+  };
+}
diff --git a/open-sse/services/combo/runtimeUnits.ts b/open-sse/services/combo/runtimeUnits.ts
index d106ade336..e839fc01bb 100644
--- a/open-sse/services/combo/runtimeUnits.ts
+++ b/open-sse/services/combo/runtimeUnits.ts
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ function buildChildNestingContext(args: {
   };
 }
 
-async function executeComboRefUnit(args: {
+export async function executeComboRefUnit(args: {
   body: Record<string, unknown>;
   unit: ResolvedComboRefTarget;
   allCombos: ComboCollectionLike;
diff --git a/tests/unit/combo-fusion-strategy-comboref-6764.test.ts b/tests/unit/combo-fusion-strategy-comboref-6764.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..929ff8569a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/combo-fusion-strategy-comboref-6764.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+/**
+ * #6764 — fusion strategy silently dropped `combo-ref` panel members.
+ *
+ * Every other combo strategy resolves a `{kind:"combo-ref", comboName}` panel
+ * member through the shared execute-mode machinery (see
+ * `open-sse/services/combo/runtimeUnits.ts::executeComboRefUnit`); the fusion
+ * branch in `open-sse/services/combo.ts` only recognized plain `string` or
+ * `{model: string}` entries, so a combo-ref member had neither field and was
+ * filtered out (`.filter(Boolean)`) — no error, no warning. This suite proves
+ * the fix: a combo-ref fusion panel member is dispatched as ONE black-box
+ * panel voice (a recursive `handleComboChat` call into the referenced combo),
+ * not dropped, not fanned out into the referenced combo's own targets.
+ */
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+const TEST_DATA_DIR = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "omniroute-combo-fusion-ref-"));
+process.env.DATA_DIR = TEST_DATA_DIR;
+process.env.API_KEY_SECRET = process.env.API_KEY_SECRET || "combo-fusion-ref-test-secret";
+
+const { handleComboChat } = await import("../../open-sse/services/combo.ts");
+
+const noop = () => {};
+const log = { info: noop, warn: noop, debug: noop, error: noop };
+
+type Body = Record<string, unknown>;
+
+function okResponse(content: string): Response {
+  const body = JSON.stringify({ choices: [{ message: { role: "assistant", content } }] });
+  return new Response(body, { status: 200, headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" } });
+}
+
+function fusionCombo(models: unknown[], extra: Record<string, unknown> = {}) {
+  return {
+    name: "test-fusion-combo-ref",
+    strategy: "fusion",
+    models,
+    config: extra,
+  };
+}
+
+test("fusion: a combo-ref panel member is dispatched, not silently dropped", async () => {
+  const seen: string[] = [];
+  const handleSingleModel = async (_b: Body, m: string) => {
+    seen.push(m);
+    if (m === "p/judge") return okResponse("FINAL");
+    return okResponse(`ans-${m}`);
+  };
+  const nestedPriority = {
+    name: "nested-priority",
+    strategy: "priority",
+    models: ["openai/nested-a"],
+    config: { maxRetries: 0, retryDelayMs: 0 },
+  };
+  const combo = fusionCombo(
+    [{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "nested-priority" }, { model: "p/plain" }],
+    { judgeModel: "p/judge" }
+  );
+
+  const res = await handleComboChat({
+    body: { messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Q" }] },
+    combo,
+    handleSingleModel,
+    log,
+    settings: {},
+    allCombos: [combo, nestedPriority],
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(res.status, 200);
+  // Proves the combo-ref member was actually dispatched (its nested target
+  // model reached handleSingleModel) instead of being silently filtered out.
+  assert.ok(
+    seen.includes("openai/nested-a"),
+    `expected nested combo's target model to be dispatched, saw: ${seen.join(", ")}`
+  );
+  assert.ok(seen.includes("p/plain"), "plain panel member must still dispatch alongside combo-ref");
+});
+
+test("fusion: combo-ref-only panel resolves normally (not a 400 empty-panel error)", async () => {
+  const seen: string[] = [];
+  const handleSingleModel = async (_b: Body, m: string) => {
+    seen.push(m);
+    return okResponse(`ans-${m}`);
+  };
+  const nestedPriority = {
+    name: "solo-nested",
+    strategy: "priority",
+    models: ["openai/solo-target"],
+    config: { maxRetries: 0, retryDelayMs: 0 },
+  };
+  const combo = fusionCombo([{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "solo-nested" }]);
+
+  const res = await handleComboChat({
+    body: { messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Q" }] },
+    combo,
+    handleSingleModel,
+    log,
+    settings: {},
+    allCombos: [combo, nestedPriority],
+  });
+
+  assert.notEqual(res.status, 400);
+  assert.ok(seen.includes("openai/solo-target"));
+});
+
+test("fusion: self-referencing combo-ref fails that panel member gracefully, not an infinite loop", async () => {
+  const seen: string[] = [];
+  const handleSingleModel = async (_b: Body, m: string) => {
+    seen.push(m);
+    return okResponse(`ans-${m}`);
+  };
+  const combo = fusionCombo([
+    { kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "test-fusion-combo-ref" },
+    { model: "p/other" },
+  ]);
+
+  const res = await handleComboChat({
+    body: { messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Q" }] },
+    combo,
+    handleSingleModel,
+    log,
+    settings: {},
+    allCombos: [combo],
+  });
+
+  // Overall request still degrades gracefully because "p/other" survives.
+  assert.equal(res.status, 200);
+  assert.ok(seen.includes("p/other"));
+  assert.ok(!seen.includes("test-fusion-combo-ref"));
+});
+
+test("fusion: combo-ref pointing at a nonexistent combo fails only that panel member", async () => {
+  const seen: string[] = [];
+  const handleSingleModel = async (_b: Body, m: string) => {
+    seen.push(m);
+    return okResponse(`ans-${m}`);
+  };
+  const combo = fusionCombo([
+    { kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "does-not-exist" },
+    { model: "p/other" },
+  ]);
+
+  const res = await handleComboChat({
+    body: { messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Q" }] },
+    combo,
+    handleSingleModel,
+    log,
+    settings: {},
+    allCombos: [combo],
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(res.status, 200);
+  assert.ok(seen.includes("p/other"));
+});
+
+test("fusion: mixed plain string / auto-style / combo-ref panel members all dispatch together", async () => {
+  const seen: string[] = [];
+  const handleSingleModel = async (_b: Body, m: string) => {
+    seen.push(m);
+    return okResponse(`ans-${m}`);
+  };
+  const nestedPriority = {
+    name: "mixed-nested",
+    strategy: "priority",
+    models: ["openai/mixed-target"],
+    config: { maxRetries: 0, retryDelayMs: 0 },
+  };
+  const combo = fusionCombo([
+    "auto/best-coding",
+    { model: "p/direct" },
+    { kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "mixed-nested" },
+  ]);
+
+  const res = await handleComboChat({
+    body: { messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Q" }] },
+    combo,
+    handleSingleModel,
+    log,
+    settings: {},
+    allCombos: [combo, nestedPriority],
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(res.status, 200);
+  assert.ok(seen.includes("auto/best-coding"));
+  assert.ok(seen.includes("p/direct"));
+  assert.ok(seen.includes("openai/mixed-target"));
+});