diff --git a/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/helpers.py b/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/helpers.py
index 4a5a0da0..0fd686cd 100644
--- a/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/helpers.py
+++ b/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/helpers.py
@@ -625,13 +625,17 @@ def resolve_network(network: Optional[str] = None, rpc_url: Optional[str] = None
     # override a user who set `network: finney` to point at mainnet.
     config = load_config()
 
-    config_network = config.get('network', '').lower()
+    # `or ''` guards a null/absent `network` value (e.g. `"network": null` in a
+    # hand-edited config) — `config.get('network', '')` returns None when the
+    # key is present but null, and None.lower() would crash every issue
+    # command. Mirrors the guard in miner_commands.helpers._resolve_endpoint.
+    config_network = (config.get('network') or '').lower()
     if config_network and config_network in NETWORK_MAP:
         return NETWORK_MAP[config_network], config_network
 
     if config.get('ws_endpoint'):
         endpoint = config['ws_endpoint']
-        name = _URL_TO_NETWORK.get(endpoint, config.get('network', 'custom'))
+        name = _URL_TO_NETWORK.get(endpoint, config.get('network') or 'custom')
         return endpoint, name
 
     # Default: finney (mainnet)
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_cli_helpers.py b/tests/cli/test_cli_helpers.py
index 71aa5db5..597dcd71 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_cli_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_cli_helpers.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     STATUS_COLORS,
     colorize_status,
     format_alpha,
+    resolve_network,
     validate_bounty_amount,
     validate_github_issue,
     validate_repository,
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@
 )
 from gittensor.cli.issue_commands.vote import parse_pr_number
 from gittensor.cli.json_output import emit_json
+from gittensor.constants import NETWORK_MAP
 
 # =============================================================================
 # format_alpha
@@ -919,3 +921,37 @@ def test_non_native_types_serialized_via_default(self, value, capsys):
         captured = capsys.readouterr()
         parsed = json.loads(captured.out)
         assert parsed['field'] == str(value)
+
+
+class TestResolveNetwork:
+    """resolve_network config-file fallback, including a null `network` value.
+
+    A hand-edited or externally-written ~/.gittensor/config.json can carry
+    `"network": null`; `config.get('network', '')` returns None for that (the
+    key exists, so the default is unused) and must not crash every issue
+    command with `AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'lower'`.
+    """
+
+    def _resolve_with_config(self, config):
+        with patch('gittensor.cli.issue_commands.helpers.load_config', return_value=config):
+            return resolve_network()
+
+    def test_null_network_falls_back_to_default(self):
+        endpoint, name = self._resolve_with_config({'network': None})
+        assert endpoint == NETWORK_MAP['finney']
+        assert name == 'finney'
+
+    def test_null_network_with_ws_endpoint_uses_endpoint(self):
+        endpoint, name = self._resolve_with_config({'network': None, 'ws_endpoint': 'ws://localhost:9944'})
+        assert endpoint == 'ws://localhost:9944'
+        assert name == 'custom'
+
+    def test_recognized_config_network(self):
+        endpoint, name = self._resolve_with_config({'network': 'test'})
+        assert endpoint == NETWORK_MAP['test']
+        assert name == 'test'
+
+    def test_empty_config_falls_back_to_default(self):
+        endpoint, name = self._resolve_with_config({})
+        assert endpoint == NETWORK_MAP['finney']
+        assert name == 'finney'