diff --git a/.github/helper/merge_po_files.py b/.github/helper/merge_po_files.py
index e5526208025..185afa160a2 100644
--- a/.github/helper/merge_po_files.py
+++ b/.github/helper/merge_po_files.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Merge rules:
   b. language not yet in hotfix → copy file as-is (bench will filter to main.pot)
   c. msgid present in both      → use develop's msgstr
 """
-import shutil
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from babel.messages.pofile import read_po, write_po
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ for src in sorted(DEVELOP.glob("*.po")):
         dev = read_po(f)
 
     if not dst.exists():
-        shutil.copy(src, dst)
+        dev.revision_date = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+        with dst.open("wb") as f:
+            write_po(f, dev)
         added += 1
         print(f"  [new]     {src.name}")
         continue
@@ -39,6 +41,7 @@ for src in sorted(DEVELOP.glob("*.po")):
             changes += 1
 
     if changes:
+        hf.revision_date = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
         with dst.open("wb") as f:
             write_po(f, hf)
         updated += 1
diff --git a/.github/helper/sync_hotfix_translations.sh b/.github/helper/sync_hotfix_translations.sh
index 73b9233ef81..36387b29ea5 100644
--- a/.github/helper/sync_hotfix_translations.sh
+++ b/.github/helper/sync_hotfix_translations.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 # Env: GH_TOKEN, PR_REVIEWER, GITHUB_WORKSPACE (all set by Actions).
 
 set -e
+
+HOTFIX_BRANCH="version-16-hotfix"
+
 cd ~ || exit
 
 echo "=== Setting up bench ==="
@@ -12,6 +15,23 @@ bench -v init frappe-bench --skip-assets --skip-redis-config-generation --python
 cd ./frappe-bench || exit
 bench get-app --skip-assets erpnext "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}"
 
+echo "=== Setting up translations_hotfix branch ==="
+cd ./apps/erpnext || exit
+git config user.email "developers@erpnext.com"
+git config user.name "frappe-pr-bot"
+git remote set-url upstream https://github.com/frappe/erpnext.git
+gh auth setup-git
+git fetch upstream "${HOTFIX_BRANCH}"
+git fetch upstream translations_hotfix 2>/dev/null || true
+
+if git rev-parse --verify "upstream/translations_hotfix" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  git checkout -b translations_hotfix "upstream/translations_hotfix"
+  git merge -X theirs "upstream/${HOTFIX_BRANCH}" --no-edit
+else
+  git checkout -b translations_hotfix "upstream/${HOTFIX_BRANCH}"
+fi
+cd ../.. || exit
+
 echo "=== Fetching develop's .po files ==="
 mkdir -p /tmp/develop-po
 git -C "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}" fetch origin develop
@@ -31,28 +51,37 @@ bench update-po-files --app erpnext
 
 cd ./apps/erpnext || exit
 
-git config user.email "developers@erpnext.com"
-git config user.name "frappe-pr-bot"
-git remote set-url upstream https://github.com/frappe/erpnext.git
-
-if git diff --quiet erpnext/locale/; then
+if git diff --quiet erpnext/locale/ && [ -z "$(git ls-files --others --exclude-standard erpnext/locale/)" ]; then
   echo "Translations are already up to date. No PR needed."
   exit 0
 fi
 
 echo "Changed files:"
 git diff --name-only erpnext/locale/
+git ls-files --others --exclude-standard erpnext/locale/
 
-echo "=== Committing and pushing ==="
-git checkout -B translations_hotfix
-git add erpnext/locale/
-git commit -m "fix: sync translations to version-16-hotfix"
-gh auth setup-git
-git push -u upstream translations_hotfix --force
+echo "=== Committing ==="
+while IFS= read -r file; do
+  git add "${file}"
+  lang=$(basename "${file}" .po)
+  git commit -m "fix: add ${lang} translation to ${HOTFIX_BRANCH}"
+done < <(git ls-files --others --exclude-standard erpnext/locale/ | grep '\.po$' | sort)
+
+while IFS= read -r file; do
+  git add "${file}"
+  if ! git diff --staged --quiet -- "${file}"; then
+    lang=$(basename "${file}" .po)
+    git commit -m "fix: sync ${lang} translation to ${HOTFIX_BRANCH}"
+  else
+    git restore --staged -- "${file}"
+  fi
+done < <(git diff --name-only erpnext/locale/ | grep '\.po$' | sort)
+
+git push -u upstream translations_hotfix
 
 echo "=== Opening PR (if not already open) ==="
 existing_pr=$(gh pr list \
-  --base "version-16-hotfix" \
+  --base "${HOTFIX_BRANCH}" \
   --head "translations_hotfix" \
   --state open \
   --json number \
@@ -65,10 +94,10 @@ if [ "${existing_pr}" -gt 0 ]; then
 fi
 
 gh pr create \
-  --base "version-16-hotfix" \
+  --base "${HOTFIX_BRANCH}" \
   --head "translations_hotfix" \
-  --title "fix: sync translations to version-16-hotfix" \
-  --body "Automated sync of Crowdin translations from \`develop\` to \`version-16-hotfix\`.
+  --title "fix: sync translations to ${HOTFIX_BRANCH}" \
+  --body "Automated sync of Crowdin translations from \`develop\` to \`${HOTFIX_BRANCH}\`.
 
 A 3-way merge is performed per language, then \`bench update-po-files\` reconciles each \`.po\` against hotfix's \`main.pot\`: