diff --git a/actions/release-please/README.md b/actions/release-please/README.md
index 593f622..f30e8e1 100644
--- a/actions/release-please/README.md
+++ b/actions/release-please/README.md
@@ -99,17 +99,25 @@ resolve to `false`:
 - `draft-pull-request`
 - `prerelease`
 
-`include-v-in-tag` must resolve to `true` for every package.
+`bump-minor-pre-major` and `include-v-in-tag` must resolve to `true` for every
+package.
+
+Together these settings give every repository the same versioning while it is
+below 1.0.0: a fix bumps the patch version, and a feature or a breaking change
+bumps the minor version. Moving to 1.0.0 is a deliberate `Release-As` decision,
+never a side effect of a breaking change.
 
 Package overrides take precedence over top-level settings. Validation checks
 each package's effective value, so an override can satisfy the policy even
 when the top-level value differs. Omitted settings use release-please's native
-defaults: `false` for the settings above and `true` for `include-v-in-tag`.
+defaults: `false` for every setting above except `include-v-in-tag`, which
+defaults to `true`. Because `bump-minor-pre-major` defaults to `false`, it must
+be set explicitly.
 Explicit values must be booleans; `null` and strings are rejected. A top-level,
 nonempty `signoff` is required.
 
 Other boolean settings are checked for their types, without forcing a shared
-value. Settings such as `bump-minor-pre-major`, tag formatting, `release-type`
+value. Settings such as tag formatting, `release-type`
 and plugins remain repository-specific. `versioning` must be a string when
 provided, and its effective value must not be `always-bump-patch`, which would
 override the required feature-bump behavior.
diff --git a/actions/release-please/lib/index.mjs b/actions/release-please/lib/index.mjs
index ac8f8c7..6407196 100644
--- a/actions/release-please/lib/index.mjs
+++ b/actions/release-please/lib/index.mjs
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@ export const CONFIG_FILE = ".github/release-please-config.json";
 
 // Policy changes must not alter upstream's behavior for omitted settings.
 const releaseRules = Object.freeze({
+  "bump-minor-pre-major": { required: true, fallback: false },
   "bump-patch-for-minor-pre-major": { required: false, fallback: false },
   draft: { required: false, fallback: false },
   "draft-pull-request": { required: false, fallback: false },
   prerelease: { required: false, fallback: false },
   "include-v-in-tag": { required: true, fallback: true },
-  "bump-minor-pre-major": {},
   "include-component-in-tag": {},
   "separate-pull-requests": {},
 });
diff --git a/tests/node/release-please/cli.test.mjs b/tests/node/release-please/cli.test.mjs
index 7c94702..036bec8 100644
--- a/tests/node/release-please/cli.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/node/release-please/cli.test.mjs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ function config(overrides = {}) {
   return {
     signoff: "Release contributor",
     "initial-version": "0.0.1",
+    "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
     packages: { ".": {} },
     ...overrides,
   };
@@ -49,8 +50,10 @@ test("CLI rejects forbidden root and package policy flags", (t) => {
     rejected(run(t, config({ [flag]: true })), new RegExp(flag));
     rejected(run(t, config({ packages: { ".": { [flag]: true } } })), new RegExp(flag));
   }
-  rejected(run(t, config({ "include-v-in-tag": false })), /include-v-in-tag/);
-  rejected(run(t, config({ packages: { ".": { "include-v-in-tag": false } } })), /include-v-in-tag/);
+  for (const flag of ["bump-minor-pre-major", "include-v-in-tag"]) {
+    rejected(run(t, config({ [flag]: false })), new RegExp(flag));
+    rejected(run(t, config({ packages: { ".": { [flag]: false } } })), new RegExp(flag));
+  }
 });
 
 test("disabling initial-version validation preserves policy and signoff validation", (t) => {
@@ -73,7 +76,7 @@ test("CLI accepts native defaults and package release-type variation", (t) => {
 });
 
 test("initial-version opt-out accepts missing initial versions when mandatory guards pass", (t) => {
-  const result = run(t, { signoff: "Release contributor", packages: { ".": {} } }, "false");
+  const result = run(t, { signoff: "Release contributor", "bump-minor-pre-major": true, packages: { ".": {} } }, "false");
   assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stdout + result.stderr);
   assert.match(result.stdout, /not checked/);
 });
diff --git a/tests/node/release-please/index.test.mjs b/tests/node/release-please/index.test.mjs
index 4552a67..15e39ac 100644
--- a/tests/node/release-please/index.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/node/release-please/index.test.mjs
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ test("the repository's own configuration passes", () => {
 });
 
 const defaults = {
+  "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
   "bump-patch-for-minor-pre-major": false,
   draft: false,
   "draft-pull-request": false,
@@ -143,17 +144,24 @@ const defaults = {
 };
 
 test("omitted policy settings use compatible native defaults", () => {
-  validateReleaseDefaults({ packages: { ".": {} } });
+  validateReleaseDefaults({ "bump-minor-pre-major": true, packages: { ".": {} } });
+});
+
+test("omitted bump-minor-pre-major is rejected because the native default releases 1.0.0 on a breaking change", () => {
+  const error = failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ packages: { ".": {} } }));
+  assert.ok(error.message.includes("bump-minor-pre-major: true"));
 });
 
 test("effective policy settings inherit root or native defaults", () => {
   validateReleaseDefaults({ ...defaults, packages: { ".": {}, other: { ...defaults } } });
   for (const [key, expected] of Object.entries(defaults)) {
     validateReleaseDefaults({
+      ...defaults,
       [key]: !expected,
       packages: { ".": { [key]: expected }, other: { [key]: expected } },
     });
     const error = failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({
+      ...defaults,
       [key]: !expected,
       packages: { compliant: { [key]: expected }, inherited: {} },
     }));
@@ -179,30 +187,32 @@ test("explicit package null and strings are not rescued by root policy defaults"
   for (const [key, expected] of Object.entries(defaults)) {
     for (const value of [null, "false", 0, undefined, [], {}]) {
       const error = failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({
+        ...defaults,
         [key]: expected,
         packages: { malformed: { [key]: value } },
       }));
       assert.match(error.message, /Package 'malformed'/);
       assert.match(error.message, /to a boolean/);
     }
-    validateReleaseDefaults({ [key]: expected, packages: { ".": { [key]: expected } } });
+    validateReleaseDefaults({ ...defaults, [key]: expected, packages: { ".": { [key]: expected } } });
   }
 });
 
 test("strategy booleans may vary but must actually be booleans", () => {
-  for (const key of ["bump-minor-pre-major", "include-component-in-tag", "separate-pull-requests"]) {
+  for (const key of ["include-component-in-tag", "separate-pull-requests"]) {
     for (const value of [true, false]) {
-      validateReleaseDefaults({ [key]: value, packages: { ".": {}, opposite: { [key]: !value } } });
+      validateReleaseDefaults({ ...defaults, [key]: value, packages: { ".": {}, opposite: { [key]: !value } } });
     }
     for (const value of [null, "true", 1]) {
-      failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ [key]: value, packages: { ".": {} } }));
-      failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ packages: { ".": { [key]: value } } }));
+      failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ ...defaults, [key]: value, packages: { ".": {} } }));
+      failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ ...defaults, packages: { ".": { [key]: value } } }));
     }
   }
 });
 
 test("release strategies and unknown extra settings remain caller-owned", () => {
   validateReleaseDefaults({
+    "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
     "release-type": "simple",
     "tag-separator": "@",
     plugins: [{ type: "cargo-workspace", "merge": false }],
@@ -244,14 +254,16 @@ test("the repository's own configuration satisfies mandatory release validation"
 });
 
 test("always-bump-patch versioning is rejected at its effective package value", () => {
-  failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ versioning: "always-bump-patch", packages: { ".": {} } }));
-  failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ packages: { ".": { versioning: "always-bump-patch" } } }));
+  failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ "bump-minor-pre-major": true, versioning: "always-bump-patch", packages: { ".": {} } }));
+  failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ "bump-minor-pre-major": true, packages: { ".": { versioning: "always-bump-patch" } } }));
   const error = failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({
+    "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
     versioning: "always-bump-patch",
     packages: { compliant: { versioning: "default" }, inherited: {} },
   }));
   assert.match(error.message, /Package 'inherited'.*versioning: always-bump-patch/);
   validateReleaseDefaults({
+    "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
     versioning: "always-bump-patch",
     packages: { ".": { versioning: "default" } },
   });
@@ -259,8 +271,8 @@ test("always-bump-patch versioning is rejected at its effective package value",
 
 test("versioning preserves valid strings and own-property overrides", () => {
   for (const versioning of ["default", "always-bump-minor", "always-bump-major", "service-pack", "prerelease", "custom-strategy", ""]) {
-    validateReleaseDefaults({ versioning, packages: { ".": {} } });
-    validateReleaseDefaults({ versioning: "always-bump-patch", packages: { ".": { versioning } } });
+    validateReleaseDefaults({ "bump-minor-pre-major": true, versioning, packages: { ".": {} } });
+    validateReleaseDefaults({ "bump-minor-pre-major": true, versioning: "always-bump-patch", packages: { ".": { versioning } } });
   }
   for (const versioning of [null, false, 1, undefined, [], {}]) {
     failure(() => validateReleaseDefaults({ versioning, packages: { ".": { versioning: "default" } } }));
diff --git a/tests/node/release-please/runtime-guard.test.mjs b/tests/node/release-please/runtime-guard.test.mjs
index 64cd9b8..04b4604 100644
--- a/tests/node/release-please/runtime-guard.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/node/release-please/runtime-guard.test.mjs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ test("upstream release execution loads the config response guard", () => {
 const snapshot = JSON.stringify({
   signoff: "Release contributor",
   "initial-version": "0.0.1",
+  "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
   packages: { ".": {} },
 });
 const jsonResponse = (value) => new Response(JSON.stringify(value), {
@@ -76,9 +77,9 @@ test("unrelated blobs, repositories, and API hosts pass through", async () => {
 });
 
 test("preload policy always checks signoff and supports initial-version opt-out", () => {
-  assert.throws(() => makeGuard({}, { snapshot: JSON.stringify({ signoff: "", packages: { ".": {} } }), requireInitialVersion: false }), /signoff/);
-  assert.throws(() => makeGuard({}, { snapshot: JSON.stringify({ signoff: "Release contributor", packages: { ".": {} } }) }), /initial-version/);
-  assert.doesNotThrow(() => makeGuard({}, { snapshot: JSON.stringify({ signoff: "Release contributor", packages: { ".": {} } }), requireInitialVersion: false }));
+  assert.throws(() => makeGuard({}, { snapshot: JSON.stringify({ signoff: "", "bump-minor-pre-major": true, packages: { ".": {} } }), requireInitialVersion: false }), /signoff/);
+  assert.throws(() => makeGuard({}, { snapshot: JSON.stringify({ signoff: "Release contributor", "bump-minor-pre-major": true, packages: { ".": {} } }) }), /initial-version/);
+  assert.doesNotThrow(() => makeGuard({}, { snapshot: JSON.stringify({ signoff: "Release contributor", "bump-minor-pre-major": true, packages: { ".": {} } }), requireInitialVersion: false }));
 });
 
 test("Node preload guards fetch before the action entry point executes", () => {