diff --git a/src/ir/lower/decl.zig b/src/ir/lower/decl.zig
index 8457fb36..109dcc2e 100644
--- a/src/ir/lower/decl.zig
+++ b/src/ir/lower/decl.zig
@@ -2094,7 +2094,12 @@ pub fn declareFunction(self: *Lowering, fd: *const ast.FnDecl, name: []const u8)
     const is_extern_decl = fd.extern_export == .extern_;
     var is_variadic = false;
     var effective_params = fd.params;
-    if (is_foreign and fd.params.len > 0 and fd.params[fd.params.len - 1].is_variadic) {
+    // The C-variadic `...` tail applies to BOTH lib-less C-import spellings:
+    // the legacy `#foreign` (foreign_expr body) and the new `extern` keyword.
+    // A migrated variadic `extern` must drop the trailing slice param and set
+    // the flag exactly as its `#foreign` twin did (mirrored at the call site
+    // by `packVariadicCallArgs`).
+    if ((is_foreign or is_extern_decl) and fd.params.len > 0 and fd.params[fd.params.len - 1].is_variadic) {
         is_variadic = true;
         effective_params = fd.params[0 .. fd.params.len - 1];
     }
diff --git a/src/ir/lower/pack.zig b/src/ir/lower/pack.zig
index 80a3da50..d08c3b3e 100644
--- a/src/ir/lower/pack.zig
+++ b/src/ir/lower/pack.zig
@@ -296,10 +296,14 @@ pub fn lowerVariadicArgs(self: *Lowering, param_name: []const u8, call_args: []c
 /// Detects variadic params in the function decl, packs remaining args into a typed slice,
 /// and replaces the args list with [fixed_args..., slice_ref].
 pub fn packVariadicCallArgs(self: *Lowering, fd: *const ast.FnDecl, c: *const ast.Call, args: *std.ArrayList(Ref)) void {
-    // `#foreign` variadic uses the C calling convention's `...` tail —
-    // extras are passed through directly with default argument promotion
-    // (handled at the call site), not packed into an sx slice.
-    if (fd.body.data == .foreign_expr and fd.params.len > 0 and fd.params[fd.params.len - 1].is_variadic) {
+    // A lib-less C-import variadic — `#foreign` (foreign_expr body) OR the new
+    // `extern` keyword — uses the C calling convention's `...` tail: extras are
+    // passed through directly with default argument promotion (handled at the
+    // call site), not packed into an sx slice. Mirrors the `is_variadic` drop
+    // in `declareFunction`.
+    if ((fd.body.data == .foreign_expr or fd.extern_export == .extern_) and
+        fd.params.len > 0 and fd.params[fd.params.len - 1].is_variadic)
+    {
         return;
     }
     // Find variadic param index. The two surface forms differ in