diff --git a/codex-rs/core/src/context_manager/history_tests.rs b/codex-rs/core/src/context_manager/history_tests.rs
index cb59c972317..d121b7dc634 100644
--- a/codex-rs/core/src/context_manager/history_tests.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/core/src/context_manager/history_tests.rs
@@ -699,11 +699,8 @@ fn normalize_mixed_inserts_and_removals() {
     );
 }
 
-// In debug builds we panic on normalization errors instead of silently fixing them.
-#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
 #[test]
-#[should_panic]
-fn normalize_adds_missing_output_for_function_call_panics_in_debug() {
+fn normalize_adds_missing_output_for_function_call_inserts_output() {
     let items = vec![ResponseItem::FunctionCall {
         id: None,
         name: "do_it".to_string(),
@@ -712,6 +709,24 @@ fn normalize_adds_missing_output_for_function_call_panics_in_debug() {
     }];
     let mut h = create_history_with_items(items);
     h.normalize_history();
+    assert_eq!(
+        h.contents(),
+        vec![
+            ResponseItem::FunctionCall {
+                id: None,
+                name: "do_it".to_string(),
+                arguments: "{}".to_string(),
+                call_id: "call-x".to_string(),
+            },
+            ResponseItem::FunctionCallOutput {
+                call_id: "call-x".to_string(),
+                output: FunctionCallOutputPayload {
+                    content: "aborted".to_string(),
+                    ..Default::default()
+                },
+            },
+        ]
+    );
 }
 
 #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
diff --git a/codex-rs/core/src/context_manager/normalize.rs b/codex-rs/core/src/context_manager/normalize.rs
index ea38989c903..85e25e32aa8 100644
--- a/codex-rs/core/src/context_manager/normalize.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/core/src/context_manager/normalize.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use codex_protocol::models::FunctionCallOutputPayload;
 use codex_protocol::models::ResponseItem;
 
 use crate::util::error_or_panic;
+use tracing::info;
 
 pub(crate) fn ensure_call_outputs_present(items: &mut Vec<ResponseItem>) {
     // Collect synthetic outputs to insert immediately after their calls.
@@ -22,9 +23,7 @@ pub(crate) fn ensure_call_outputs_present(items: &mut Vec<ResponseItem>) {
                 });
 
                 if !has_output {
-                    error_or_panic(format!(
-                        "Function call output is missing for call id: {call_id}"
-                    ));
+                    info!("Function call output is missing for call id: {call_id}");
                     missing_outputs_to_insert.push((
                         idx,
                         ResponseItem::FunctionCallOutput {