diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport/Export/BundleExporter.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport/Export/BundleExporter.cs
index 0f9c8b8d..b83825f6 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport/Export/BundleExporter.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport/Export/BundleExporter.cs
@@ -159,6 +159,10 @@ public sealed class BundleExporter : IBundleExporter
                 SaltB64: string.Empty,
                 IvB64: string.Empty);
 
+        // Review 2026-10-21 04/P8a: serialise the content graph ONCE — the same bytes
+        // seed the manifest hash and are what Pack writes (or encrypts).
+        var contentBytes = _bundleSerializer.SerializeContentBytes(contentDto);
+
         var templateManifest = _manifestBuilder.Build(
             sourceEnvironment: sourceEnvironment,
             exportedBy: user,
@@ -170,11 +174,11 @@ public sealed class BundleExporter : IBundleExporter
             // (either fresh ciphertext or the JSON it just serialized), so the
             // upstream hash here only matters for the plaintext path — Pack
             // trusts the supplied hash and the serializer is deterministic.
-            contentBytes: _bundleSerializer.SerializeContentBytes(contentDto));
+            contentBytes: contentBytes);
 
         // 5. Pack the zip; with a passphrase, Pack re-encrypts and re-stamps
         //    EncryptionMetadata (fresh salt/iv) + ContentHash.
-        var zipStream = _bundleSerializer.Pack(contentDto, templateManifest, passphrase, _encryptor);
+        var zipStream = _bundleSerializer.PackContentBytes(contentBytes, templateManifest, passphrase, _encryptor);
 
         // 6. Audit — entityId is the bundle's overall SHA-256 over the zip bytes
         //    (opaque to caller but uniquely identifies this export). Action
diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport/Serialization/BundleSerializer.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport/Serialization/BundleSerializer.cs
index b8e4b67f..86a1ba38 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport/Serialization/BundleSerializer.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport/Serialization/BundleSerializer.cs
@@ -57,6 +57,28 @@ public sealed class BundleSerializer
         BundleSecretEncryptor? encryptor)
     {
         ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(content);
+        return PackContentBytes(SerializeContentBytes(content), manifest, passphrase, encryptor);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Packs already-serialised content (the output of <see cref="SerializeContentBytes"/>)
+    /// and the manifest into a ZIP stream, optionally encrypting the content. Lets a caller
+    /// that has already serialised the DTO — e.g. to hash it for the manifest — pack those
+    /// same bytes instead of serialising the whole graph a second time (review 2026-10-21
+    /// 04/P8a).
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="contentBytes">The serialised bundle content JSON.</param>
+    /// <param name="manifest">The bundle manifest describing the content and encryption metadata.</param>
+    /// <param name="passphrase">Passphrase used for encryption; null produces a plaintext bundle.</param>
+    /// <param name="encryptor">Encryptor required when <paramref name="passphrase"/> is supplied.</param>
+    /// <returns>A seeked-to-start <see cref="MemoryStream"/> containing the bundle ZIP archive.</returns>
+    public Stream PackContentBytes(
+        byte[] contentBytes,
+        BundleManifest manifest,
+        string? passphrase,
+        BundleSecretEncryptor? encryptor)
+    {
+        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(contentBytes);
         ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(manifest);
 
         if (passphrase is not null && encryptor is null)
@@ -68,7 +90,6 @@ public sealed class BundleSerializer
             throw new ArgumentException("Manifest must carry EncryptionMetadata when packing an encrypted bundle.", nameof(manifest));
         }
 
-        var contentBytes = SerializeContentBytes(content);
         byte[] payload;
         string payloadEntryName;
         BundleManifest finalManifest;
diff --git a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport.Tests/Serialization/BundleSerializerTests.cs b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport.Tests/Serialization/BundleSerializerTests.cs
index 916961fa..c203dd98 100644
--- a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport.Tests/Serialization/BundleSerializerTests.cs
+++ b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Transport.Tests/Serialization/BundleSerializerTests.cs
@@ -50,6 +50,38 @@ public sealed class BundleSerializerTests
         Assert.Null(archive.GetEntry("content.enc"));
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Review 2026-10-21 04/P8a: the exporter serialises the content DTO once and packs
+    /// those bytes — the pre-serialised overload writes them verbatim as the plaintext
+    /// payload and they round-trip, encrypted or not.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="passphrase">Null for a plaintext bundle, otherwise the passphrase.</param>
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData(null)]
+    [InlineData("pass")]
+    public void PackContentBytes_packs_preserialised_content_verbatim(string? passphrase)
+    {
+        var sut = new BundleSerializer();
+        var encryptor = new BundleSecretEncryptor();
+        var contentJson = sut.SerializeContentBytes(SampleContent());
+        var manifest = passphrase is null
+            ? BuildManifestFor(contentJson)
+            : BuildManifestFor(contentJson, encryption: new EncryptionMetadata(
+                "AES-256-GCM", "PBKDF2-SHA256", TestIterations, string.Empty, string.Empty));
+
+        using var stream = sut.PackContentBytes(contentJson, manifest, passphrase, encryptor);
+
+        var readManifest = sut.ReadManifest(stream);
+        stream.Position = 0;
+        var payload = sut.ReadContentBytes(stream, readManifest);
+        if (passphrase is null)
+        {
+            Assert.Equal(contentJson, payload);
+        }
+        var unpacked = sut.UnpackContent(payload, readManifest, passphrase, encryptor);
+        Assert.Equal("util", Assert.Single(unpacked.SharedScripts).Name);
+    }
+
     /// <summary>Verifies that packing with a passphrase emits a manifest and encrypted content.</summary>
     [Fact]
     public void Pack_emits_manifest_and_content_enc_when_passphrase_supplied()