diff --git a/src/auto-reply/reply/status-updates.ts b/src/auto-reply/reply/status-updates.ts
index bc704d2ae..1bed4ea20 100644
--- a/src/auto-reply/reply/status-updates.ts
+++ b/src/auto-reply/reply/status-updates.ts
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ const DEFAULT_CONFIG: Required<StatusUpdateConfig> = {
   updateIntervalMs: 5000,
   showPhases: true,
   showElapsedTime: true,
-  markFinalWithCheckmark: true,
+  markFinalWithCheckmark: false,
   elapsedTimeThresholdMs: 3000,
 };
 
@@ -200,14 +200,7 @@ export class StatusUpdateController {
 
     if (!this.isEnabled()) return finalText;
 
-    // If we have a final text and config says to mark with checkmark
-    if (finalText && this.config.markFinalWithCheckmark) {
-      // NOTE: We rely on Telegram delivery to do the edit/replacement, so we just format
-
-      const marked = `${finalText.trimEnd()} ✅`;
-
-      return marked;
-    }
+    // The final message is returned, relying on message deletion/cleanup.
 
     // Clean up status message if it exists and we're not editing
     if (this.state.statusMessageId && this.callbacks.deleteStatus) {
diff --git a/src/config/schema.ts b/src/config/schema.ts
index a529829f4..ea4c3f60b 100644
--- a/src/config/schema.ts
+++ b/src/config/schema.ts
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ const FIELD_LABELS: Record<string, string> = {
   "agents.defaults.statusUpdates.updateIntervalMs": "Status Update Interval (ms)",
   "agents.defaults.statusUpdates.showPhases": "Show Processing Phases",
   "agents.defaults.statusUpdates.showElapsedTime": "Show Elapsed Time",
-  "agents.defaults.statusUpdates.markFinalWithCheckmark": "Mark Final with ✅",
+
   "agents.defaults.statusUpdates.elapsedTimeThresholdMs": "Elapsed Time Threshold (ms)",
   "agents.defaults.cliBackends": "CLI Backends",
   "commands.native": "Native Commands",
diff --git a/src/config/types.base.ts b/src/config/types.base.ts
index 08cf78689..f5633ec3c 100644
--- a/src/config/types.base.ts
+++ b/src/config/types.base.ts
@@ -184,8 +184,7 @@ export type StatusUpdateConfig = {
   showPhases?: boolean;
   /** Show elapsed time in status messages (default: true). */
   showElapsedTime?: boolean;
-  /** Mark final responses with ✅ (default: true). */
-  markFinalWithCheckmark?: boolean;
+
   /** Minimum duration before showing elapsed time (ms, default: 3000). */
   elapsedTimeThresholdMs?: number;
 };
diff --git a/src/config/zod-schema.core.ts b/src/config/zod-schema.core.ts
index 897d146cc..23f25a272 100644
--- a/src/config/zod-schema.core.ts
+++ b/src/config/zod-schema.core.ts
@@ -525,8 +525,7 @@ export const StatusUpdateSchema = z
     showPhases: z.boolean().optional(),
     /** Show elapsed time in status messages (default: true). */
     showElapsedTime: z.boolean().optional(),
-    /** Mark final responses with ✅ (default: true). */
-    markFinalWithCheckmark: z.boolean().optional(),
+
     /** Minimum duration before showing elapsed time (ms, default: 3000). */
     elapsedTimeThresholdMs: z.number().int().nonnegative().optional(),
   })