diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-api/src/common/validators/is-phone-number.validator.ts b/apps/edr-freight-api/src/common/validators/is-phone-number.validator.ts
index 4f8dac4c7..4f060ca11 100644
--- a/apps/edr-freight-api/src/common/validators/is-phone-number.validator.ts
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-api/src/common/validators/is-phone-number.validator.ts
@@ -43,11 +43,17 @@ export function IsValidPhone(validationOptions?: ValidationOptions) {
  * Normalize a phone string to canonical E.164. Returns the canonical form when
  * parseable, otherwise the trimmed original (tolerant — never throws), or the
  * value unchanged when empty/nullish.
+ *
+ * Defaults the country to Ethiopia so bare local numbers (no "+", e.g. eTrade's
+ * "0355235416") resolve the same way the frontend's own toEthiopianE164 already
+ * assumes — without this hint, libphonenumber can't infer a country for a
+ * number with no "+" prefix and silently falls through to the untouched local
+ * string, which then never matches the "+251…" form submitted by the client.
  */
 export function normalizeE164(
   value: string | null | undefined,
 ): string | null | undefined {
   if (value === undefined || value === null || value === '') return value;
-  const parsed = parsePhoneNumberFromString(value);
+  const parsed = parsePhoneNumberFromString(value, 'ET');
   return parsed?.isValid() ? parsed.number : value.trim();
 }