diff --git a/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/config.h b/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/config.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..924e45b5ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/config.h
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+// Copyright 2024 rootiest
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+#pragma once
+
+// Always resolve combo keycodes from BASE (layer 0) so the
+// COMM+DOT+SLSH fallback combo fires regardless of the active layer.
+#define COMBO_ONLY_FROM_LAYER 0
diff --git a/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/keymap.c b/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/keymap.c
index c343a075ce..e4deb8e18d 100644
--- a/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/keymap.c
+++ b/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/keymap.c
@@ -108,6 +108,15 @@ const uint16_t PROGMEM encoder_map[][NUM_ENCODERS][2] = {
 
 // clang-format on
 
+// Combos -----------------------------------------------------------------
+// COMM + DOT + SLSH → TO(BASE): emergency fallback to base layer.
+// COMBO_ONLY_FROM_LAYER 0 (config.h) ensures these keycodes are always
+// resolved from BASE so the combo fires regardless of the active layer.
+const uint16_t PROGMEM fallback_combo[] = {KC_COMM, KC_DOT, KC_SLSH, COMBO_END};
+combo_t key_combos[] = {
+    COMBO(fallback_combo, TO(BASE)),
+};
+
 void keyboard_post_init_user(void) {
     chord_init();
     // Use the Linux unicode input method (Ctrl+Shift+U → hex → Enter).
diff --git a/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/rules.mk b/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/rules.mk
index d41444a388..889884d162 100644
--- a/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/rules.mk
+++ b/keyboards/keychron/q5_max/ansi_encoder/keymaps/via/rules.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 VIA_ENABLE = yes
 TAP_DANCE_ENABLE = yes
 UNICODE_ENABLE = yes
+COMBO_ENABLE = yes
 SRC += chord_unicode.c