diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/view/ImportantForInteractionHelper.kt b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/view/ImportantForInteractionHelper.kt
index 016706fb3adf8b..c20972602fa985 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/view/ImportantForInteractionHelper.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/views/view/ImportantForInteractionHelper.kt
@@ -14,12 +14,6 @@ import com.facebook.react.uimanager.PointerEvents
 /**
  * Helper class for managing the important_for_interaction view tag. This tag determines how a view
  * participates in interaction handling.
- *
- * The important_for_interaction value is a bitfield that can contain combinations of:
- * - [IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_YES]: The view is important for interaction
- * - [IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_NO]: The view is not important for interaction
- * - [IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_EXCLUDE_DESCENDANTS]: Descendants should be excluded from
- *   interaction
  */
 internal object ImportantForInteractionHelper {
   /** The view is important for interaction. */
@@ -31,21 +25,15 @@ internal object ImportantForInteractionHelper {
   /** Descendants of this view should be excluded from interaction handling. */
   const val IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_EXCLUDE_DESCENDANTS: Int = 0x4
 
+  /** CSS pointer-events: auto heuristics. */
+  const val IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_AUTO_CSSPOINTEREVENTSAUTO: Int = 0x8
+
   /**
    * Sets the important_for_interaction tag on a view based on the given [PointerEvents] value.
    *
    * Note: The pointer events value alone does not determine if a view is important for interaction.
-   * A view with pointerEvents=auto or pointerEvents=box-only is only important for interaction if
-   * it is also clickable. Therefore, for these cases we let the view's own state determine whether
-   * it's important for interaction rather than setting the tag.
-   *
-   * The mapping is as follows:
-   * - [PointerEvents.AUTO] -> Tag removed (i.e. the view's own state determines importance)
-   * - [PointerEvents.NONE] -> [IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_NO] |
-   *   [IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_EXCLUDE_DESCENDANTS]
-   * - [PointerEvents.BOX_ONLY] -> [IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_EXCLUDE_DESCENDANTS] (i.e. the view's
-   *   own state determines importance but its descendants are excluded)
-   * - [PointerEvents.BOX_NONE] -> [IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_NO]
+   * A view with pointerEvents=auto or pointerEvents=box-only can be important for interaction if
+   * none of its ancestors is blocking pointer events with pointerEvents=none or box-none.
    *
    * @param view The view to set the tag on
    * @param pointerEvents The pointer events value to convert and set
@@ -54,10 +42,12 @@ internal object ImportantForInteractionHelper {
   fun setImportantForInteraction(view: View, pointerEvents: PointerEvents) {
     val value =
         when (pointerEvents) {
-          PointerEvents.AUTO -> null
+          PointerEvents.AUTO -> IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_AUTO_CSSPOINTEREVENTSAUTO
           PointerEvents.NONE ->
               IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_NO or IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_EXCLUDE_DESCENDANTS
-          PointerEvents.BOX_ONLY -> IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_EXCLUDE_DESCENDANTS
+          PointerEvents.BOX_ONLY ->
+              IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_AUTO_CSSPOINTEREVENTSAUTO or
+                  IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_EXCLUDE_DESCENDANTS
           PointerEvents.BOX_NONE -> IMPORTANT_FOR_INTERACTION_NO
         }
     view.setTag(R.id.important_for_interaction, value)