diff --git a/backend/main.py b/backend/main.py
index 4aae7ed4..1b2b6802 100644
--- a/backend/main.py
+++ b/backend/main.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from fastapi import FastAPI, UploadFile, File, Form, HTTPException, Query, Request
+from fastapi import FastAPI, UploadFile, File, Form, HTTPException, Query, Request, Response
 from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
 from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
 from fastapi.middleware.gzip import GZipMiddleware
@@ -293,9 +293,10 @@ async def chat_endpoint(request: ChatRequest):
 def get_recent_issues(db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
     cached_data = recent_issues_cache.get()
     if cached_data:
-        # Check if cached data is already serialized (list of dicts)
-        # We return JSONResponse directly to bypass FastAPI's Pydantic validation/serialization
-        # which is redundant for cached data that was already validated when stored.
+        # Check if cached data is already serialized (string)
+        if isinstance(cached_data, str):
+            return Response(content=cached_data, media_type="application/json")
+        # Fallback for legacy format (list of dicts) or if cache implementation changes
         return JSONResponse(content=cached_data)
 
     # Fetch last 10 issues
@@ -328,11 +329,13 @@ def get_recent_issues(db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
             latitude=i.latitude,
             longitude=i.longitude,
             action_plan=action_plan_val
-        ).model_dump(mode='json')) # Store as JSON-compatible dict in cache
+        ).model_dump(mode='json')) # Store as JSON-compatible dict
 
-    recent_issues_cache.set(data)
+    # Serialize to JSON string and cache
+    json_data = json.dumps(data)
+    recent_issues_cache.set(json_data)
 
-    return data
+    return Response(content=json_data, media_type="application/json")
 
 @app.post("/api/detect-pothole")
 async def detect_pothole_endpoint(image: UploadFile = File(...)):
diff --git a/tests/test_recent_issues.py b/tests/test_recent_issues.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fa41d305
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_recent_issues.py
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+import sys
+import os
+import json
+from datetime import datetime
+import pytest
+
+# Adjust path to import backend
+sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'backend'))
+
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+from sqlalchemy.pool import StaticPool
+
+# Import app and dependencies
+from main import app, get_db
+from database import Base
+from models import Issue
+from cache import recent_issues_cache
+
+# Setup in-memory DB for testing
+SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL = "sqlite:///:memory:"
+
+engine = create_engine(
+    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URL,
+    connect_args={"check_same_thread": False},
+    poolclass=StaticPool,
+)
+TestingSessionLocal = sessionmaker(autocommit=False, autoflush=False, bind=engine)
+
+def override_get_db():
+    try:
+        db = TestingSessionLocal()
+        yield db
+    finally:
+        db.close()
+
+app.dependency_overrides[get_db] = override_get_db
+
+def test_recent_issues_caching():
+    # Clear cache
+    recent_issues_cache.invalidate()
+
+    # Create tables
+    Base.metadata.create_all(bind=engine)
+
+    # Add dummy data
+    db = TestingSessionLocal()
+    issue1 = Issue(
+        description="Test Issue 1",
+        category="Road",
+        status="open",
+        created_at=datetime(2023, 1, 1, 12, 0, 0),
+        action_plan=json.dumps({"step": "1"})
+    )
+    db.add(issue1)
+    db.commit()
+    db.close()
+
+    with TestClient(app) as client:
+        # First call - Cache Miss
+        response1 = client.get("/api/issues/recent")
+        assert response1.status_code == 200
+        data1 = response1.json()
+        assert len(data1) == 1
+        assert data1[0]["description"] == "Test Issue 1"
+
+        # Verify cache is populated
+        assert recent_issues_cache.get() is not None
+
+        # Second call - Cache Hit (String format)
+        response2 = client.get("/api/issues/recent")
+        assert response2.status_code == 200
+        data2 = response2.json()
+        assert data2 == data1
+        assert response2.headers["content-type"] == "application/json"
+
+        # Verify robustness with legacy format (List of dicts)
+        # Manually inject list into cache
+        recent_issues_cache.set([{"id": 999, "description": "Legacy", "category": "Road", "created_at": "2023-01-01T12:00:00", "status": "open", "upvotes": 0}])
+
+        response3 = client.get("/api/issues/recent")
+        assert response3.status_code == 200
+        data3 = response3.json()
+        assert len(data3) == 1
+        assert data3[0]["description"] == "Legacy"
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    test_recent_issues_caching()