diff --git a/apps/portal/src/app/router.tsx b/apps/portal/src/app/router.tsx
index a877f4cea..292950be2 100644
--- a/apps/portal/src/app/router.tsx
+++ b/apps/portal/src/app/router.tsx
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ export const router = createBrowserRouter([
   { path: "/set-password", element: <SetPasswordPage /> },
   { path: "/reset-password", element: <SetPasswordPage /> },
 
+  // Reached from the login page by a logged-out user, so it must stay
+  // public — ProtectedRoute would bounce them straight to the landing page.
+  { path: "/forgot-password", element: <ForgotPasswordPage /> },
+
   // Protected auth pages
   {
     element: (
@@ -79,14 +83,6 @@ export const router = createBrowserRouter([
     ),
     path: "/otp-verify",
   },
-  {
-    element: (
-      <ProtectedRoute>
-        <ForgotPasswordPage />
-      </ProtectedRoute>
-    ),
-    path: "/forgot-password",
-  },
   // The two-step setup wizard is gone. Signing up lands on the dashboard, and
   // profile details are collected where they are actually needed: on /profile,
   // via the dashboard nudge, or inline in an application flow. The path stays
diff --git a/libs/auth/src/lib/pages/ForgotPasswordPage.tsx b/libs/auth/src/lib/pages/ForgotPasswordPage.tsx
index e8b1eec06..2894c354f 100644
--- a/libs/auth/src/lib/pages/ForgotPasswordPage.tsx
+++ b/libs/auth/src/lib/pages/ForgotPasswordPage.tsx
@@ -23,11 +23,25 @@ import { z } from 'zod';
 import { Link } from 'react-router-dom';
 import { useApiMutation } from '@ema-platform/api';
 import { notify, useErrorHandler } from '@ema-platform/ui';
+import { isValidPhoneNumber, parsePhoneNumberFromString } from 'libphonenumber-js';
 import { AuthShell } from '../components/AuthShell';
 import { useAuthConfig } from '../AuthConfig';
 
+// Same email-or-phone rule as LoginPage: a phone-looking value normalizes to
+// E.164 (bare Ethiopian national numbers default to +251) so the backend
+// always gets a value it can look the account up by, under the `email` key.
+const emailRegex = /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/;
 const schema = z.object({
-  email: z.string().email({ message: 'Enter a valid email' }),
+  email: z
+    .string()
+    .trim()
+    .transform((value) => {
+      if (emailRegex.test(value)) return value;
+      return parsePhoneNumberFromString(value, 'ET')?.number ?? value;
+    })
+    .refine((value) => emailRegex.test(value) || isValidPhoneNumber(value), {
+      message: 'Enter a valid email or phone number',
+    }),
 });
 
 type FormValues = z.infer<typeof schema>;
@@ -156,8 +170,8 @@ export function ForgotPasswordPage() {
             Forgot your password?
           </Title>
           <Text c="dimmed" mt={6}>
-            Enter the email linked to your account and we&apos;ll send you a link
-            to reset your password.
+            Enter the email or phone number linked to your account and
+            we&apos;ll send you a link to reset your password.
           </Text>
         </div>
 
@@ -170,7 +184,7 @@ export function ForgotPasswordPage() {
         <form onSubmit={handleSubmit(onSubmit)}>
           <Stack gap="md">
             <TextInput
-              label="Email address"
+              label="Email or phone"
               placeholder="you@example.com"
               size="md"
               leftSection={<IconMail size={18} />}