diff --git a/extensions/telegram/src/bot/delivery.test.ts b/extensions/telegram/src/bot/delivery.test.ts
index a6de461a8e30..81ca014f3f6e 100644
--- a/extensions/telegram/src/bot/delivery.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/telegram/src/bot/delivery.test.ts
@@ -323,6 +323,25 @@ describe("deliverReplies", () => {
     expect(firstMockCallArg(sendMessage, 1)).toBe("hello");
   });
 
+  it("keeps native-command tables visible in non-rich block-mode replies", async () => {
+    const { runtime, sendMessage, bot } = createSendMessageHarness();
+    const table = "| A | B |\n| --- | --- |\n| 1 | 2 |";
+
+    await deliverWith({
+      replies: [{ text: `Before\n\n${table}\n\nAfter` }],
+      runtime,
+      bot,
+      tableMode: "block",
+    });
+
+    expect(sendMessage).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    const sent = firstSendText(sendMessage);
+    expect(sent).toContain("Before");
+    expect(sent).toContain(`<pre><code>${table}\n</code></pre>`);
+    expect(sent).toContain("After");
+    expectRecordFields(firstMockCallArg(sendMessage, 2), { parse_mode: "HTML" });
+  });
+
   it("delivers prepared HTML without reparsing visible syntax as Markdown", async () => {
     const runtime = createRuntime();
     const sendMessage = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ message_id: 1, chat: { id: "123" } });
diff --git a/extensions/telegram/src/format.test.ts b/extensions/telegram/src/format.test.ts
index 77fc0cb35d7e..e62abc150b4c 100644
--- a/extensions/telegram/src/format.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/telegram/src/format.test.ts
@@ -139,12 +139,24 @@ describe("markdownToTelegramHtml", () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it("renders block-mode tables as code in legacy Telegram HTML", () => {
+  it.each([
+    { name: "a table-only reply", before: "", after: "" },
+    { name: "a table between surrounding prose", before: "Before\n\n", after: "\n\nAfter" },
+  ])("keeps $name visible in one-shot and chunked legacy Telegram HTML", ({ before, after }) => {
     const table = "| A | B |\n| --- | --- |\n| 1 | 2 |";
+    const markdown = `${before}${table}${after}`;
+    const html = markdownToTelegramHtml(markdown, { tableMode: "block" });
+    const chunks = markdownToTelegramChunks(markdown, 4096, { tableMode: "block" });
 
-    expect(markdownToTelegramHtml(table, { tableMode: "block" })).toBe(
-      "<pre><code>| A | B |\n| --- | --- |\n| 1 | 2 |\n</code></pre>",
-    );
+    expect(html).toContain(`<pre><code>${table}\n</code></pre>`);
+    expect(chunks.map((chunk) => chunk.html)).toEqual([html]);
+    expect(chunks[0]?.text).toContain("| 1 | 2 |");
+    if (before) {
+      expect(html).toContain("Before");
+    }
+    if (after) {
+      expect(html).toContain("After");
+    }
   });
 
   it("normalizes raw code language HTML without leaking tags", () => {
diff --git a/extensions/telegram/src/format.ts b/extensions/telegram/src/format.ts
index 2670b60f9368..7efc4899ad79 100644
--- a/extensions/telegram/src/format.ts
+++ b/extensions/telegram/src/format.ts
@@ -147,19 +147,22 @@ function preserveTelegramListBoundarySpacing(markdown: string): string {
   return out.join("\n");
 }
 
-export function markdownToTelegramHtml(
-  markdown: string,
-  options: { tableMode?: MarkdownTableMode; wrapFileRefs?: boolean } = {},
-): string {
-  const tableMode = options.tableMode === "block" ? "code" : options.tableMode;
-  const ir = markdownToIR(preserveTelegramListBoundarySpacing(markdown ?? ""), {
+function parseTelegramLegacyMarkdown(markdown: string, tableMode?: MarkdownTableMode): MarkdownIR {
+  return markdownToIR(preserveTelegramListBoundarySpacing(markdown ?? ""), {
     assistantTranscriptRoleHeaders: true,
     linkify: true,
     enableSpoilers: true,
     headingStyle: "none",
     blockquotePrefix: "",
-    tableMode,
+    tableMode: tableMode === "block" ? "code" : tableMode,
   });
+}
+
+export function markdownToTelegramHtml(
+  markdown: string,
+  options: { tableMode?: MarkdownTableMode; wrapFileRefs?: boolean } = {},
+): string {
+  const ir = parseTelegramLegacyMarkdown(markdown, options.tableMode);
   const html = renderTelegramHtml(ir);
   const telegramHtml = renderSupportedTelegramHtml(html);
   // Apply file reference wrapping if requested (for chunked rendering)
@@ -910,14 +913,7 @@ export function markdownToTelegramChunks(
   limit: number,
   options: { tableMode?: MarkdownTableMode } = {},
 ): TelegramFormattedChunk[] {
-  const ir = markdownToIR(preserveTelegramListBoundarySpacing(markdown ?? ""), {
-    assistantTranscriptRoleHeaders: true,
-    linkify: true,
-    enableSpoilers: true,
-    headingStyle: "none",
-    blockquotePrefix: "",
-    tableMode: options.tableMode,
-  });
+  const ir = parseTelegramLegacyMarkdown(markdown, options.tableMode);
   return renderTelegramChunksWithinHtmlLimit(ir, limit);
 }