diff --git a/src/ui/BlueprintSelectionDialog.cpp b/src/ui/BlueprintSelectionDialog.cpp
index bc5a321..3f21aaa 100644
--- a/src/ui/BlueprintSelectionDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/BlueprintSelectionDialog.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 #include "Blueprint.h"
 #include "BlueprintLibrary.h"
+#include "DialogDismiss.h"
 #include "IconCaption.h"
 #include "ItemIconCache.h"
 
@@ -236,6 +237,19 @@ std::optional<int> BlueprintSelectionDialog::getChosenIndex() const
     return m_chosenIndex;
 }
 
+void BlueprintSelectionDialog::keyPressEvent(QKeyEvent* event)
+{
+    // Q closes with no card picked, exactly as the close button does. A build mode
+    // running underneath is left alone: the dialog took the key, not the world
+    // (REQ-UI-DIALOG-DISMISS, REQ-UI-BLUEPRINT-DIALOG).
+    if (isDialogDismissKey(*event))
+    {
+        reject();
+        return;
+    }
+    QDialog::keyPressEvent(event);
+}
+
 void BlueprintSelectionDialog::rebuildGrid()
 {
     // deleteLater, not delete: this runs from a delete button's own clicked signal, and
diff --git a/src/ui/BlueprintSelectionDialog.h b/src/ui/BlueprintSelectionDialog.h
index 04528fd..d53041b 100644
--- a/src/ui/BlueprintSelectionDialog.h
+++ b/src/ui/BlueprintSelectionDialog.h
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ class QWidget;
 // Clicking a card accepts the dialog and reports that blueprint's index; the caller
 // enters placement mode afterwards, so the dialog is already closed by then
 // (REQ-UI-BLUEPRINT-CARD). Deleting acts on the library immediately and leaves the
-// dialog open (REQ-UI-BLUEPRINT-DELETE). Escape and the close button dismiss it with
-// no other effect.
+// dialog open (REQ-UI-BLUEPRINT-DELETE). Escape, Q, and the close button dismiss it
+// with no other effect (REQ-UI-DIALOG-DISMISS).
 class BlueprintSelectionDialog : public QDialog
 {
     Q_OBJECT
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ public:
 
     std::optional<int> getChosenIndex() const;
 
+protected:
+    void keyPressEvent(QKeyEvent* event) override;
+
 private:
     void rebuildGrid();
     void onCardClicked(int index);
diff --git a/src/ui/CMakeLists.txt b/src/ui/CMakeLists.txt
index 7ea9040..6e7a555 100644
--- a/src/ui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/ui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ SET(HDRS
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/SelectionBounds.h
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/ControlsPanel.h
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/ControlActionText.h
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/DialogDismiss.h
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/BlueprintLibrary.h
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/BlueprintSelectionDialog.h
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/ShipLayoutDialog.h
diff --git a/src/ui/DialogDismiss.h b/src/ui/DialogDismiss.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16d9c8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/DialogDismiss.h
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <QKeyEvent>
+#include <Qt>
+
+// REQ-UI-DIALOG-DISMISS: Q dismisses an open dialog, beside the Escape that QDialog
+// already handles. The key is spelled here rather than in each dialog's key handler, so
+// the dialogs that take it cannot drift apart from one another.
+//
+// Ctrl must not be held, matching how the game world's table separates a chord from the
+// bare key (resolveKeyAction in lib/core/ControlAction.cpp). This deliberately stays out
+// of that table: the table answers what an input does in the player's current situation,
+// and a dialog has no situation -- it holds focus and takes the key whatever the world
+// beneath it is doing.
+inline bool isDialogDismissKey(const QKeyEvent& event)
+{
+    return event.key() == Qt::Key_Q
+           && (event.modifiers() & Qt::ControlModifier) == 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/ui/MainWindow.cpp b/src/ui/MainWindow.cpp
index e8d27b4..17c3974 100644
--- a/src/ui/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -228,6 +228,11 @@ void MainWindow::handleEvent(std::shared_ptr<const SchematicChoicesAvailableEven
                                  m_itemIcons.get(), m_buildingIcons.get(), this);
     dialog.exec();
 
+    // The command goes out unconditionally because the dialog cannot be dismissed: it
+    // returns only once an option was clicked, so the index always names that option
+    // (REQ-DEF-SCHEMATIC-DROP). It is also the only thing that resolves the drop -- the
+    // poll that opened this dialog will not open it again while the choices stay pending
+    // (GameWorldView::onFrame) -- so a path that skipped the command would strand it.
     std::shared_ptr<ApplySchematicChoiceCommand> command =
         std::make_shared<ApplySchematicChoiceCommand>();
     command->choiceIndex = dialog.getChosenIndex();
diff --git a/src/ui/RecipeSelectionDialog.cpp b/src/ui/RecipeSelectionDialog.cpp
index a72d811..e647d80 100644
--- a/src/ui/RecipeSelectionDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/RecipeSelectionDialog.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 #include "Building.h"
 #include "BuildingType.h"
+#include "DialogDismiss.h"
 #include "DisplayName.h"
 #include "GameConfig.h"
 #include "OptionButton.h"
@@ -183,6 +184,18 @@ std::optional<std::string> RecipeSelectionDialog::getChosenId() const
     return m_chosenId;
 }
 
+void RecipeSelectionDialog::keyPressEvent(QKeyEvent* event)
+{
+    // Q dismisses, leaving the recipe as it was -- the same nothing that Escape and the
+    // close button do, since no option was clicked (REQ-UI-DIALOG-DISMISS).
+    if (isDialogDismissKey(*event))
+    {
+        reject();
+        return;
+    }
+    QDialog::keyPressEvent(event);
+}
+
 void RecipeSelectionDialog::onOptionClicked(int index)
 {
     if (index >= 0 && index < static_cast<int>(m_optionIds.size()))
diff --git a/src/ui/RecipeSelectionDialog.h b/src/ui/RecipeSelectionDialog.h
index 897d3f6..1dd2a3a 100644
--- a/src/ui/RecipeSelectionDialog.h
+++ b/src/ui/RecipeSelectionDialog.h
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ std::vector<RecipeSelectionOption> buildRecipeSelectionOptions(
 
 // Modal dialog listing the options in one vertical column (REQ-UI-SELECT-OPTIONS). The
 // game is paused by the caller while it is open. Clicking an option selects it
-// and closes the dialog; dismissing it (close/Esc) leaves no choice.
+// and closes the dialog; dismissing it (close/Esc/Q) leaves no choice.
 class RecipeSelectionDialog : public QDialog
 {
     Q_OBJECT
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ public:
 
     std::optional<std::string> getChosenId() const;
 
+protected:
+    void keyPressEvent(QKeyEvent* event) override;
+
 private:
     void onOptionClicked(int index);
 
diff --git a/src/ui/SchematicChoiceDialog.cpp b/src/ui/SchematicChoiceDialog.cpp
index 4f7f53e..5931c1a 100644
--- a/src/ui/SchematicChoiceDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/SchematicChoiceDialog.cpp
@@ -167,6 +167,12 @@ int SchematicChoiceDialog::getChosenIndex() const
     return m_chosenIndex;
 }
 
+void SchematicChoiceDialog::reject()
+{
+    // Deliberately empty: the dialog stays open until an option is clicked
+    // (REQ-DEF-SCHEMATIC-DROP). The game is paused meanwhile, so nothing waits on it.
+}
+
 void SchematicChoiceDialog::onOptionClicked(int index)
 {
     m_chosenIndex = index;
diff --git a/src/ui/SchematicChoiceDialog.h b/src/ui/SchematicChoiceDialog.h
index 745f97a..386b71c 100644
--- a/src/ui/SchematicChoiceDialog.h
+++ b/src/ui/SchematicChoiceDialog.h
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ struct RecipesConfig;
 class BuildingIconCache;
 class ItemIconCache;
 
+// The drop's choice dialog (REQ-DEF-SCHEMATIC-DROP). Unlike every other dialog it
+// cannot be dismissed: clicking an option is the only way out, so getChosenIndex()
+// always names an option the player picked, and exec() only ever returns Accepted.
 class SchematicChoiceDialog : public QDialog
 {
     Q_OBJECT
@@ -24,6 +27,14 @@ public:
 
     int getChosenIndex() const;
 
+public slots:
+    // Refuses the dismissal (REQ-DEF-SCHEMATIC-DROP): the drop is a reward the player
+    // has earned, and leaving without choosing would either forfeit it or award the
+    // option that happens to be first. Escape, Alt+F4, and the window manager's close
+    // all funnel through QDialog::reject(), so declining it here turns away every one of
+    // them at once rather than swallowing keys one at a time.
+    void reject() override;
+
 private:
     void onOptionClicked(int index);
 
diff --git a/src/ui/ShipLayoutDialog.cpp b/src/ui/ShipLayoutDialog.cpp
index caf9b9a..e25d931 100644
--- a/src/ui/ShipLayoutDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/ShipLayoutDialog.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <cmath>
 #include <functional>
 
+#include "DialogDismiss.h"
 #include "DisplayName.h"
 #include "OptionButton.h"
 #include "ProductionRules.h"
@@ -575,24 +576,8 @@ ShipLayoutDialog::ShipLayoutDialog(const GameConfig* config,
         ++row;
     }
     buttonGrid->addWidget(m_removeButton, row, 0, 1, kCols);
-    connect(m_removeButton, &QPushButton::clicked, this, [this]() {
-        if (m_removeMode)
-        {
-            m_removeMode = false;
-            m_removeButton->setChecked(false);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            for (QPushButton* btn : m_moduleButtons)
-            {
-                if (btn) { btn->setChecked(false); }
-            }
-            m_activeModuleIndex = std::nullopt;
-            m_removeMode = true;
-            m_removeButton->setChecked(true);
-        }
-        updateGridWidget();
-    });
+    connect(m_removeButton, &QPushButton::clicked,
+            this, &ShipLayoutDialog::onRemoveButtonClicked);
 
     centerLayout->addLayout(buttonGrid);
     centerLayout->addStretch();
@@ -697,6 +682,16 @@ void ShipLayoutDialog::keyPressEvent(QKeyEvent* event)
         }
         updateGridWidget();
     }
+    else if (isDialogDismissKey(*event))
+    {
+        // Q backs out one level per press, as it does in the game world: the module
+        // being placed, then remove mode, then the dialog itself, which discards the
+        // session (REQ-UI-DIALOG-DISMISS). Both mode exits go through the handler the
+        // button uses, so the key and the button can never leave different state behind.
+        if (m_activeModuleIndex.has_value()) { onModuleButtonClicked(*m_activeModuleIndex); }
+        else if (m_removeMode)               { onRemoveButtonClicked(); }
+        else                                 { onCancel(); }
+    }
     else
     {
         QDialog::keyPressEvent(event);
@@ -723,6 +718,26 @@ void ShipLayoutDialog::onModuleButtonClicked(int index)
     updateGridWidget();
 }
 
+void ShipLayoutDialog::onRemoveButtonClicked()
+{
+    if (m_removeMode)
+    {
+        m_removeMode = false;
+        m_removeButton->setChecked(false);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        for (QPushButton* btn : m_moduleButtons)
+        {
+            if (btn) { btn->setChecked(false); }
+        }
+        m_activeModuleIndex = std::nullopt;
+        m_removeMode = true;
+        m_removeButton->setChecked(true);
+    }
+    updateGridWidget();
+}
+
 void ShipLayoutDialog::onConfirm()
 {
     ShipLayoutConfig layout;
diff --git a/src/ui/ShipLayoutDialog.h b/src/ui/ShipLayoutDialog.h
index d1029a1..e9225e8 100644
--- a/src/ui/ShipLayoutDialog.h
+++ b/src/ui/ShipLayoutDialog.h
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ signals:
 
 private slots:
     void onModuleButtonClicked(int index);
+    // Enters remove mode, or leaves it when it is already active (REQ-MOD-REMOVE).
+    // Reached by the Remove button and by the Q key, which leaves the mode on its way
+    // out of the dialog (REQ-UI-DIALOG-DISMISS).
+    void onRemoveButtonClicked();
     void onConfirm();
     void onCancel();