diff --git a/.changeset/instruction-footer-output-last.md b/.changeset/instruction-footer-output-last.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a081494e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/instruction-footer-output-last.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@clack/prompts": patch
+---
+
+Restore the `formatInstructionFooter(instructions, hasGuide)` signature from 1.8. The `output` stream added in 1.9.0 is now an optional third argument instead of the first, so existing two-argument calls work again.
diff --git a/packages/prompts/src/common.ts b/packages/prompts/src/common.ts
index 730c448d..e5f791fd 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/src/common.ts
+++ b/packages/prompts/src/common.ts
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ export interface CommonOptions {
 }
 
 export function formatInstructionFooter(
-	output: Writable | undefined,
 	instructions: string[],
-	hasGuide: boolean
+	hasGuide: boolean,
+	output?: Writable
 ): string[] {
 	const guidePrefix = hasGuide ? `${styleText('cyan', S_BAR)}  ` : '';
 	const footerLines = wrapTextWithPrefix(output, instructions.join(' • '), guidePrefix).split('\n');
diff --git a/packages/prompts/src/group-multi-select.ts b/packages/prompts/src/group-multi-select.ts
index e53bc97f..2e5cbeb5 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/src/group-multi-select.ts
+++ b/packages/prompts/src/group-multi-select.ts
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ export const groupMultiselect = <Value>(opts: GroupMultiSelectOptions<Value>) =>
 					const guidePrefix = hasGuide ? `${styleText('cyan', S_BAR)}  ` : '';
 					const titleLineCount = title.split('\n').length;
 					const footerLines = showInstructions
-						? formatInstructionFooter(opts.output, MULTISELECT_INSTRUCTIONS, hasGuide)
+						? formatInstructionFooter(MULTISELECT_INSTRUCTIONS, hasGuide, opts.output)
 						: hasGuide
 							? [styleText('cyan', S_BAR_END)]
 							: [];
diff --git a/packages/prompts/src/multi-select.ts b/packages/prompts/src/multi-select.ts
index b20209af..68d73c31 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/src/multi-select.ts
+++ b/packages/prompts/src/multi-select.ts
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ export const multiselect = <Value>(opts: MultiSelectOptions<Value>) => {
 					const prefix = hasGuide ? `${styleText('cyan', S_BAR)}  ` : '';
 					const titleLineCount = title.split('\n').length;
 					const footerLines = showInstructions
-						? formatInstructionFooter(opts.output, MULTISELECT_INSTRUCTIONS, hasGuide)
+						? formatInstructionFooter(MULTISELECT_INSTRUCTIONS, hasGuide, opts.output)
 						: hasGuide
 							? [styleText('cyan', S_BAR_END)]
 							: [];
diff --git a/packages/prompts/src/select.ts b/packages/prompts/src/select.ts
index 804e5817..e4a012d5 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/src/select.ts
+++ b/packages/prompts/src/select.ts
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ export const select = <Value>(opts: SelectOptions<Value>) => {
 					const prefix = hasGuide ? `${styleText('cyan', S_BAR)}  ` : '';
 					const titleLineCount = title.split('\n').length;
 					const footerLines = showInstructions
-						? formatInstructionFooter(opts.output, SELECT_INSTRUCTIONS, hasGuide)
+						? formatInstructionFooter(SELECT_INSTRUCTIONS, hasGuide, opts.output)
 						: hasGuide
 							? [styleText('cyan', S_BAR_END)]
 							: [];