diff --git a/dincli/cli/task.py b/dincli/cli/task.py
index 7fe82e0..ce0faa5 100644
--- a/dincli/cli/task.py
+++ b/dincli/cli/task.py
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ def register_request(
     effective_network, w3, account, console = ctx.obj.get_en_w3_account_console()
     console.print(f"[bold green]Submitting model registration request to DINRegistry ...[/bold green]")
 
+    dinregistry_contract = ctx.obj.get_deployed_din_registry_contract()
+
     if not taskCoordinator:
         taskCoordinator = resolve_task_coordinator_address(
             effective_network, None, console, verbose=True
@@ -231,8 +233,6 @@ def register_request(
 
         manifestCID = upload_to_ipfs(str(manifestpath), "manifest")
 
-        dinregistry_contract = ctx.obj.get_deployed_din_registry_contract()
-
     console.print(f"[green]Requesting model registration in DINRegistry[/green]")
     console.print(f"[gray]Manifest CID: {manifestCID}[/gray]")
     console.print(f"[gray]Task Coordinator: {taskCoordinator}[/gray]")
diff --git a/tests/test_register_request_cid.py b/tests/test_register_request_cid.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c99e13f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_register_request_cid.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+"""`task model-owner register-request --manifestCID` must work on the CID route
+(issue #295).
+
+The registry-contract lookup used to sit inside the `if not manifestCID:`
+branch, so a caller who passed `--manifestCID` reached the fee lookup
+(`openSourceFee()` / `proprietaryFee()`) with `dinregistry_contract` unbound
+and died with an UnboundLocalError before any transaction was sent.
+`update-manifest-request` already resolved the contract before the branch;
+`register-request` now does the same.
+"""
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+from web3 import Web3
+
+from dincli.cli import task as task_mod
+from dincli.cli.task import register_request
+
+ACCOUNT = "0x" + "11" * 20
+TASK_COORDINATOR = "0x" + "22" * 20
+TASK_AUDITOR = "0x" + "33" * 20
+CID = "bafybeib3nshqhlrzqxyjfnyiarww7y7rwjprestcdtvukzgevv5g2mdlvm"
+CID_BYTES32 = "0x" + "ab" * 32
+FEE_WEI = 10 ** 17
+
+
+class _Console:
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.lines = []
+
+    def print(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.lines.append(" ".join(str(a) for a in args))
+
+    def input(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        return "y"  # answer the on-chain submission confirm
+
+
+def _ctx(contract):
+    w3 = SimpleNamespace(
+        eth=SimpleNamespace(get_balance=lambda _addr: 10 ** 18),
+        from_wei=lambda value, unit: Web3.from_wei(value, unit),
+    )
+    obj = SimpleNamespace(
+        get_en_w3_account_console=lambda *a, **k: (
+            "sepolia_devnet", w3, SimpleNamespace(address=ACCOUNT), _Console(),
+        ),
+        get_deployed_din_registry_contract=MagicMock(return_value=contract),
+    )
+    return SimpleNamespace(obj=obj)
+
+
+def test_register_request_with_manifest_cid_sends_the_request_tx():
+    contract = MagicMock()
+    contract.functions.proprietaryFee().call.return_value = FEE_WEI
+    contract.events.ModelRegistrationRequested().process_receipt.return_value = []
+    ctx = _ctx(contract)
+
+    with patch.object(task_mod, "get_bytes32_from_cid", return_value=CID_BYTES32), \
+         patch.object(task_mod, "build_and_send_tx", return_value=MagicMock()) as send:
+        register_request(ctx, TASK_COORDINATOR, TASK_AUDITOR, None, CID, False)
+
+    # The CID route must initialise the registry contract itself (issue #295).
+    ctx.obj.get_deployed_din_registry_contract.assert_called_once()
+    send.assert_called_once()
+    assert send.call_args.kwargs["tx_params"]["value"] == FEE_WEI