diff --git a/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Core/Builders/WorkflowBuilder.cs b/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Core/Builders/WorkflowBuilder.cs
index fd5608325..2076e2f8f 100644
--- a/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Core/Builders/WorkflowBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Core/Builders/WorkflowBuilder.cs
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ public class WorkflowBuilder(IActivityVisitor activityVisitor, IIdentityGraphSer
     {
         var variable = new Variable<T>(name, value);
         Variables.Add(variable);
+        variable.WithWorkflowStorage();
         return variable;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Core/Contracts/IWorkflowBuilder.cs b/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Core/Contracts/IWorkflowBuilder.cs
index 3d7c3cb8a..3b6cea396 100644
--- a/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Core/Contracts/IWorkflowBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Core/Contracts/IWorkflowBuilder.cs
@@ -116,7 +116,8 @@ public interface IWorkflowBuilder
     Variable<T> WithVariable<T>();
     
     /// <summary>
-    /// A fluent method for adding a variable to <see cref="Variables"/>.
+    /// A fluent method for adding a named variable to <see cref="Variables"/>.
+    /// The variable uses workflow instance storage by default so its value survives suspend and resume.
     /// </summary>
     Variable<T> WithVariable<T>(string name, T value);
     
diff --git a/test/integration/Elsa.Workflows.IntegrationTests/Scenarios/NamedVariablePersistence/Tests.cs b/test/integration/Elsa.Workflows.IntegrationTests/Scenarios/NamedVariablePersistence/Tests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4eec53b1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/Elsa.Workflows.IntegrationTests/Scenarios/NamedVariablePersistence/Tests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+using Elsa.Extensions;
+using Elsa.Testing.Shared;
+using Elsa.Workflows.Options;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
+using Xunit.Abstractions;
+
+namespace Elsa.Workflows.IntegrationTests.Scenarios.NamedVariablePersistence;
+
+public class Tests
+{
+    private readonly IWorkflowRunner _workflowRunner;
+    private readonly CapturingTextWriter _capturingTextWriter = new();
+    private readonly IWorkflowBuilderFactory _workflowBuilderFactory;
+    private readonly IServiceProvider _services;
+
+    public Tests(ITestOutputHelper testOutputHelper)
+    {
+        _services = new TestApplicationBuilder(testOutputHelper).WithCapturingTextWriter(_capturingTextWriter).Build();
+        _workflowBuilderFactory = _services.GetRequiredService<IWorkflowBuilderFactory>();
+        _workflowRunner = _services.GetRequiredService<IWorkflowRunner>();
+    }
+
+    [Fact(DisplayName = "Named WithVariable value survives suspend and resume")]
+    public async Task NamedWithVariable_ValueSurvivesSuspendAndResume()
+    {
+        // Arrange
+        await _services.PopulateRegistriesAsync();
+        var workflow = await _workflowBuilderFactory.CreateBuilder().BuildWorkflowAsync<NamedVariableSurvivesSuspendWorkflow>();
+
+        // Act
+        var started = await _workflowRunner.RunAsync(workflow);
+        var bookmark = started.WorkflowState.Bookmarks.Single(x => x.ActivityId == "Resume");
+        var runOptions = new RunWorkflowOptions { BookmarkId = bookmark.Id };
+        var resumed = await _workflowRunner.RunAsync(workflow, started.WorkflowState, runOptions);
+
+        // Assert
+        Assert.Equal(WorkflowStatus.Running, started.WorkflowState.Status);
+        Assert.Equal(WorkflowSubStatus.Suspended, started.WorkflowState.SubStatus);
+        Assert.Equal(WorkflowStatus.Finished, resumed.WorkflowState.Status);
+        Assert.Equal(
+            [
+                "before suspend: hello",
+                "after resume: hello"
+            ],
+            _capturingTextWriter.Lines.ToList());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/integration/Elsa.Workflows.IntegrationTests/Scenarios/NamedVariablePersistence/Workflows.cs b/test/integration/Elsa.Workflows.IntegrationTests/Scenarios/NamedVariablePersistence/Workflows.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bec5fd97f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/Elsa.Workflows.IntegrationTests/Scenarios/NamedVariablePersistence/Workflows.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+using Elsa.Workflows.Activities;
+using Elsa.Workflows.Runtime.Activities;
+
+namespace Elsa.Workflows.IntegrationTests.Scenarios.NamedVariablePersistence;
+
+class NamedVariableSurvivesSuspendWorkflow : WorkflowBase
+{
+    protected override void Build(IWorkflowBuilder builder)
+    {
+        var message = builder.WithVariable<string>("message", null!);
+
+        builder.Root = new Sequence
+        {
+            Activities =
+            {
+                new SetVariable<string>(message, "hello"),
+                new WriteLine(context => $"before suspend: {message.Get(context) ?? "<null>"}"),
+                new Event("Resume") { Id = "Resume" },
+                new WriteLine(context => $"after resume: {message.Get(context) ?? "<null>"}")
+            }
+        };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/unit/Elsa.Workflows.Core.UnitTests/Builders/WorkflowBuilderTests.cs b/test/unit/Elsa.Workflows.Core.UnitTests/Builders/WorkflowBuilderTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ab4c9de9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/Elsa.Workflows.Core.UnitTests/Builders/WorkflowBuilderTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+using Elsa.Workflows.Builders;
+using Elsa.Workflows.Memory;
+using NSubstitute;
+
+namespace Elsa.Workflows.Core.UnitTests.Builders;
+
+public class WorkflowBuilderTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public void WithVariable_NameAndValue_UsesWorkflowInstanceStorage()
+    {
+        // Arrange
+        var builder = CreateBuilder();
+
+        // Act
+        var variable = builder.WithVariable("message", "hello");
+
+        // Assert
+        Assert.Equal("message", variable.Name);
+        Assert.Equal("hello", variable.Value);
+        Assert.Equal(typeof(WorkflowInstanceStorageDriver), variable.StorageDriverType);
+        Assert.Contains(variable, builder.Variables);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void WithVariable_NameAndValue_UsesSameStorageAsParameterlessOverload()
+    {
+        // Arrange
+        var builder = CreateBuilder();
+
+        // Act
+#pragma warning disable CS0618 // Parameterless overload is obsolete but remains the persistence baseline.
+        var unnamed = builder.WithVariable<string>();
+#pragma warning restore CS0618
+        var named = builder.WithVariable("message", "hello");
+
+        // Assert
+        Assert.Equal(typeof(WorkflowInstanceStorageDriver), unnamed.StorageDriverType);
+        Assert.Equal(unnamed.StorageDriverType, named.StorageDriverType);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void WithVariable_ExistingVariable_DoesNotOverrideStorageDriver()
+    {
+        // Arrange
+        var builder = CreateBuilder();
+        var variable = new Variable<string>("message", "hello");
+
+        // Act
+        builder.WithVariable(variable);
+
+        // Assert
+        Assert.Null(variable.StorageDriverType);
+        Assert.Contains(variable, builder.Variables);
+    }
+
+    private static WorkflowBuilder CreateBuilder() =>
+        new(
+            Substitute.For<IActivityVisitor>(),
+            Substitute.For<IIdentityGraphService>(),
+            Substitute.For<IActivityRegistry>());
+}