diff --git a/middleware.go b/middleware.go
index f215187..32e5a94 100644
--- a/middleware.go
+++ b/middleware.go
@@ -110,12 +110,11 @@ func buildEngineConfig(cfg GuardConfig) (*guardcore.SecurityConfig, error) {
 		// accumulates every client's violations, so auto-banning by default
 		// would let a handful of flagged requests lock out all users behind
 		// a load balancer.
-		// NOTE: the engine exposes EnableRateLimitAutoBan, but its
-		// route-aware CheckRateLimit path (the one every adapter uses)
-		// never feeds the autoban counter, so the knob is inert through
-		// any middleware. It stays unmapped here until the engine wires
-		// it; advertising it would be a silent no-op.
+		// Rate-limit violations feed the same auto-ban counter as payload
+		// violations once the engine wires EnableRateLimitAutoBan through
+		// its route-aware rate limit check (guard-core-go after v4.3.2).
 		c.EnableIPBanning = cfg.AutoBan && !cfg.Passive
+		c.EnableRateLimitAutoBan = cfg.AutoBan && !cfg.Passive
 		if cfg.AutoBan {
 			c.AutoBanThreshold = cfg.AutoBanThreshold
 			c.AutoBanDuration = cfg.AutoBanDuration
diff --git a/middleware_test.go b/middleware_test.go
index c3a794f..94ddf36 100644
--- a/middleware_test.go
+++ b/middleware_test.go
@@ -368,3 +368,25 @@ func TestDeferredHandlerSwapsLiveGuardIn(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	t.Fatal("deferred handler never swapped the live guard in")
 }
+
+func TestBuildEngineConfigMapsRateLimitAutoBan(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name             string
+		autoBan, passive bool
+		want             bool
+	}{
+		{"auto ban on", true, false, true},
+		{"auto ban off", false, false, false},
+		{"passive never bans", true, true, false},
+	} {
+		cfg := baseEnabled(nil)
+		cfg.AutoBan, cfg.Passive = tc.autoBan, tc.passive
+		got, err := buildEngineConfig(cfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: %v", tc.name, err)
+		}
+		if got.EnableRateLimitAutoBan != tc.want {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: EnableRateLimitAutoBan = %v, want %v", tc.name, got.EnableRateLimitAutoBan, tc.want)
+		}
+	}
+}