diff --git a/common/changes/@microsoft/rush/fix-pnpm-minimum-release-age_2026-05-08-18-41.json b/common/changes/@microsoft/rush/fix-pnpm-minimum-release-age_2026-05-08-18-41.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ccb653c3ce0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/changes/@microsoft/rush/fix-pnpm-minimum-release-age_2026-05-08-18-41.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "changes": [
+    {
+      "comment": "Fix minimumReleaseAge and minimumReleaseAgeExclude in pnpm-config.json being silently ignored because they were written to package.json instead of .npmrc",
+      "type": "none",
+      "packageName": "@microsoft/rush"
+    }
+  ],
+  "packageName": "@microsoft/rush",
+  "email": "will.porter@workos.com"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/libraries/rush-lib/src/logic/base/BaseInstallManager.ts b/libraries/rush-lib/src/logic/base/BaseInstallManager.ts
index a7016129ae6..052c182e589 100644
--- a/libraries/rush-lib/src/logic/base/BaseInstallManager.ts
+++ b/libraries/rush-lib/src/logic/base/BaseInstallManager.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ import { SetupPackageRegistry } from '../setup/SetupPackageRegistry';
 import { PnpmfileConfiguration } from '../pnpm/PnpmfileConfiguration';
 import type { IInstallManagerOptions } from './BaseInstallManagerTypes';
 import { isVariableSetInNpmrcFile } from '../../utilities/npmrcUtilities';
-import type { PnpmResolutionMode } from '../pnpm/PnpmOptionsConfiguration';
+import type { PnpmOptionsConfiguration, PnpmResolutionMode } from '../pnpm/PnpmOptionsConfiguration';
 import { SubspacePnpmfileConfiguration } from '../pnpm/SubspacePnpmfileConfiguration';
 import type { Subspace } from '../../api/Subspace';
 import { ProjectImpactGraphGenerator } from '../ProjectImpactGraphGenerator';
@@ -542,6 +542,53 @@ export abstract class BaseInstallManager {
       );
     }
 
+    // Build lines to append to the generated .npmrc so they take precedence over user-committed values.
+    // pnpm does not read minimumReleaseAge/minimumReleaseAgeExclude from package.json, so we inject
+    // them here as minimum-release-age / minimum-release-age-exclude .npmrc settings instead.
+    const pnpmNpmrcAppendLines: string[] = [];
+    if (this.rushConfiguration.isPnpm) {
+      const pnpmOptions: PnpmOptionsConfiguration =
+        subspace.getPnpmOptions() ?? this.rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions;
+
+      if (pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeMinutes !== undefined || pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeExclude) {
+        if (
+          this.rushConfiguration.rushConfigurationJson.pnpmVersion !== undefined &&
+          semver.lt(this.rushConfiguration.rushConfigurationJson.pnpmVersion, '10.16.0')
+        ) {
+          terminal.writeWarningLine(
+            Colorize.yellow(
+              `Your version of pnpm (${this.rushConfiguration.rushConfigurationJson.pnpmVersion}) ` +
+                `doesn't support the "minimumReleaseAgeMinutes" or "minimumReleaseAgeExclude" fields in ` +
+                `${this.rushConfiguration.commonRushConfigFolder}/${RushConstants.pnpmConfigFilename}. ` +
+                'Remove these fields or upgrade to pnpm 10.16.0 or newer.'
+            )
+          );
+        }
+
+        if (pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeMinutes !== undefined) {
+          if (
+            isVariableSetInNpmrcFile(
+              subspace.getSubspaceConfigFolderPath(),
+              'minimum-release-age',
+              this.rushConfiguration.isPnpm
+            )
+          ) {
+            terminal.writeWarningLine(
+              `Warning: PNPM's minimum-release-age is specified in both .npmrc and pnpm-config.json. ` +
+                `The value in pnpm-config.json will take precedence.`
+            );
+          }
+          pnpmNpmrcAppendLines.push(`minimum-release-age=${pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeMinutes}`);
+        }
+
+        if (pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeExclude) {
+          for (const packageName of pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeExclude) {
+            pnpmNpmrcAppendLines.push(`minimum-release-age-exclude[]=${packageName}`);
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     // Also copy down the committed .npmrc file, if there is one
     // "common\config\rush\.npmrc" --> "common\temp\.npmrc"
     // Also ensure that we remove any old one that may be hanging around
@@ -549,6 +596,7 @@ export abstract class BaseInstallManager {
       sourceNpmrcFolder: subspace.getSubspaceConfigFolderPath(),
       targetNpmrcFolder: subspace.getSubspaceTempFolderPath(),
       linesToPrepend: extraNpmrcLines,
+      linesToAppend: pnpmNpmrcAppendLines.length > 0 ? pnpmNpmrcAppendLines : undefined,
       createIfMissing: this.rushConfiguration.subspacesFeatureEnabled,
       supportEnvVarFallbackSyntax: this.rushConfiguration.isPnpm
     });
diff --git a/libraries/rush-lib/src/logic/installManager/InstallHelpers.ts b/libraries/rush-lib/src/logic/installManager/InstallHelpers.ts
index fd0ba621639..ddbf7704898 100644
--- a/libraries/rush-lib/src/logic/installManager/InstallHelpers.ts
+++ b/libraries/rush-lib/src/logic/installManager/InstallHelpers.ts
@@ -35,8 +35,6 @@ interface ICommonPackageJson extends IPackageJson {
     ignoredOptionalDependencies?: typeof PnpmOptionsConfiguration.prototype.globalIgnoredOptionalDependencies;
     allowedDeprecatedVersions?: typeof PnpmOptionsConfiguration.prototype.globalAllowedDeprecatedVersions;
     patchedDependencies?: typeof PnpmOptionsConfiguration.prototype.globalPatchedDependencies;
-    minimumReleaseAge?: typeof PnpmOptionsConfiguration.prototype.minimumReleaseAgeMinutes;
-    minimumReleaseAgeExclude?: typeof PnpmOptionsConfiguration.prototype.minimumReleaseAgeExclude;
     trustPolicy?: typeof PnpmOptionsConfiguration.prototype.trustPolicy;
     trustPolicyExclude?: typeof PnpmOptionsConfiguration.prototype.trustPolicyExclude;
     trustPolicyIgnoreAfter?: typeof PnpmOptionsConfiguration.prototype.trustPolicyIgnoreAfterMinutes;
@@ -124,31 +122,6 @@ export class InstallHelpers {
         commonPackageJson.pnpm.patchedDependencies = pnpmOptions.globalPatchedDependencies;
       }
 
-      if (pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeMinutes !== undefined || pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeExclude) {
-        if (
-          rushConfiguration.rushConfigurationJson.pnpmVersion !== undefined &&
-          semver.lt(rushConfiguration.rushConfigurationJson.pnpmVersion, '10.16.0')
-        ) {
-          terminal.writeWarningLine(
-            Colorize.yellow(
-              `Your version of pnpm (${rushConfiguration.rushConfigurationJson.pnpmVersion}) ` +
-                `doesn't support the "minimumReleaseAgeMinutes" or "minimumReleaseAgeExclude" fields in ` +
-                `${rushConfiguration.commonRushConfigFolder}/${RushConstants.pnpmConfigFilename}. ` +
-                'Remove these fields or upgrade to pnpm 10.16.0 or newer.'
-            )
-          );
-        }
-
-        if (pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeMinutes !== undefined) {
-          // NOTE: the pnpm setting is `minimumReleaseAge`, but the Rush setting is `minimumReleaseAgeMinutes`
-          commonPackageJson.pnpm.minimumReleaseAge = pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeMinutes;
-        }
-
-        if (pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeExclude) {
-          commonPackageJson.pnpm.minimumReleaseAgeExclude = pnpmOptions.minimumReleaseAgeExclude;
-        }
-      }
-
       if (pnpmOptions.trustPolicy !== undefined) {
         if (
           rushConfiguration.rushConfigurationJson.pnpmVersion !== undefined &&