diff --git a/src/ui/ControlsPanel.cpp b/src/ui/ControlsPanel.cpp
index 7de9ed8..78f8898 100644
--- a/src/ui/ControlsPanel.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/ControlsPanel.cpp
@@ -239,27 +239,28 @@ void ControlsPanel::refit()
 {
     if (m_bandRect.isNull()) { return; }
 
-    // Both layouts, innermost first, and both invalidated before being re-run. Rows are
-    // created and destroyed wholesale, so the rows layout's cached size hint describes
-    // the previous context until it is discarded; asking the panel for its hint without
-    // this returns the size the last context needed, which is why a first selection
-    // used to draw a card one rebuild behind.
-    //
-    // The polish is part of the same problem: a freshly created label reports an
-    // unstyled size hint until the stylesheet has been applied to it, and the badge
-    // chips carry border and padding that change their width.
+    // Rows are torn down and rebuilt wholesale, and a widget added to a layout is only
+    // shown once that layout runs -- without this the new rows count for nothing and
+    // the card is measured for the context before it. The polish belongs to the same
+    // step: a freshly created label reports an unstyled size hint until the stylesheet
+    // has reached it, and the badge chips carry border and padding that change it.
     m_rows->ensurePolished();
     m_rowsLayout->invalidate();
     m_rowsLayout->activate();
+
+    // Deliberately not activating the panel's own layout here. That lays the heading
+    // and the rows out inside the geometry the panel still has from the previous
+    // context, which is the wrong frame of reference for choosing the new one.
+    // totalSizeHint answers "how big does this need to be" without reference to how big
+    // it currently is; setGeometry below then re-runs the outer layout on its own.
     layout()->invalidate();
-    layout()->activate();
+    const QSize needed = layout()->totalSizeHint();
 
     const QRect band = m_bandRect.adjusted(kMarginPx, kMarginPx, -kMarginPx, -kMarginPx);
     if (band.width() <= 0 || band.height() <= 0) { return; }
 
-    const QSize hint     = sizeHint();
-    const int   widthPx  = qMin(hint.width(), band.width());
-    const int   heightPx = qMin(hint.height(), band.height());
+    const int widthPx  = qMin(needed.width(), band.width());
+    const int heightPx = qMin(needed.height(), band.height());
 
     // Left edge of the band, sitting on its bottom edge, so the panel grows upward as
     // rows are added (REQ-UI-CONTROLS-PANEL).