diff --git a/app/dirty_boundary_repaint_test.go b/app/dirty_boundary_repaint_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e259a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/dirty_boundary_repaint_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+package app
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/gogpu/ui/event"
+	"github.com/gogpu/ui/geometry"
+	"github.com/gogpu/ui/widget"
+)
+
+// selfDirtyingLeaf re-dirties itself while it is being drawn, the way an animated
+// widget does (spinner) and the way any widget written from another goroutine does
+// when the write lands mid-record.
+type selfDirtyingLeaf struct {
+	widget.WidgetBase
+	dirtyDuringDraw bool
+}
+
+func (w *selfDirtyingLeaf) Layout(_ widget.Context, c geometry.Constraints) geometry.Size {
+	return c.Constrain(geometry.Sz(48, 48))
+}
+
+func (w *selfDirtyingLeaf) Draw(_ widget.Context, canvas widget.Canvas) {
+	canvas.DrawRect(w.Bounds(), widget.RGBA8(255, 0, 0, 255))
+	if w.dirtyDuringDraw {
+		w.SetNeedsRedraw(true)
+	}
+}
+
+func (w *selfDirtyingLeaf) Event(_ widget.Context, _ event.Event) bool { return false }
+func (w *selfDirtyingLeaf) Children() []widget.Widget                  { return nil }
+
+// A boundary that is still scene-dirty when its recording ends registers itself for
+// the next frame (recordBoundary). The frame's flat dirty set is only the O(1)
+// frame-skip gate, so the render loop consumes it BEFORE painting — and that
+// registration, made during painting, has to survive to the next frame.
+//
+// It did not: draw() cleared the set at the end of the frame and threw the
+// registration away. That is unrecoverable rather than a dropped frame, because the
+// widget's own sceneDirty is still true, so every later InvalidateScene takes the
+// already-dirty O(1) guard and returns without telling the window anything. The
+// boundary is never painted again. A terminal emulator under continuous output froze
+// within one frame and stayed frozen after the output stopped, while the render loop
+// kept being woken 60 times a second and skipping every frame.
+func TestDirtyBoundaryRegisteredDuringPaintSurvivesTheFrame(t *testing.T) {
+	cleanup := setupSceneRecorder(t)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	a := New()
+	w := a.Window()
+
+	root := &testContainer{}
+	root.SetVisible(true)
+	root.SetRepaintBoundary(true)
+	root.SetBounds(geometry.NewRect(0, 0, 800, 600))
+	root.SetScreenOrigin(geometry.Pt(0, 0))
+
+	child := &selfDirtyingLeaf{}
+	child.SetVisible(true)
+	child.SetBounds(geometry.NewRect(10, 10, 48, 48))
+	child.SetParent(root)
+	root.kids = []widget.Widget{child}
+
+	w.SetRoot(root)
+
+	// Settle: record once, then clear everything the first paint dirtied.
+	PaintBoundaryLayersWithContext(root, nil, w.Context())
+	w.ClearDirtyBoundaries()
+	w.ClearAfterPaint()
+	root.ClearSceneDirty()
+	widget.ClearRedrawInTree(root)
+	if w.HasDirtyBoundaries() {
+		t.Fatal("pre-condition: the set should be empty after a clear")
+	}
+
+	// Frame N: something dirties the child, which propagates to the boundary.
+	child.dirtyDuringDraw = true
+	child.SetNeedsRedraw(true)
+	if !w.HasDirtyBoundaries() {
+		t.Fatal("pre-condition: a dirtied child must register its boundary")
+	}
+
+	// The render loop consumes the gate, then paints. The child re-dirties itself
+	// mid-record, so the boundary registers itself for frame N+1.
+	w.ClearDirtyBoundaries()
+	PaintBoundaryLayersWithContext(root, nil, w.Context())
+
+	if !w.HasDirtyBoundaries() {
+		t.Fatal("a boundary that re-dirtied while painting was not registered for the next frame")
+	}
+
+	// And it is still scene-dirty, which is what makes losing that registration
+	// permanent rather than a dropped frame: nothing re-registers a boundary whose
+	// InvalidateScene already took the already-dirty guard.
+	if !root.IsSceneDirty() {
+		t.Fatal("expected the boundary to still be scene-dirty after re-dirtying")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/desktop/desktop.go b/desktop/desktop.go
index a26a8f7..19fca31 100644
--- a/desktop/desktop.go
+++ b/desktop/desktop.go
@@ -297,6 +297,22 @@ func (rl *renderLoop) draw(dc *gogpu.Context) { //nolint:gocyclo,cyclop,gocognit
 	win.CollectDirtyRegions()
 	prePaintDirtyRegions := win.DirtyRegions()
 
+	// Clear the flat dirty set BEFORE painting, not after.
+	//
+	// The set is only the O(1) frame-skip gate (needsAnyWork above); painting
+	// walks the tree on each boundary's own sceneDirty and never reads it. But
+	// painting WRITES to it: a boundary re-dirtied while it was being recorded
+	// re-registers itself for the next frame (layer_tree.go, "if boundary
+	// re-dirtied, register it for next frame"). Clearing afterwards threw that
+	// registration away, and since the widget's sceneDirty stayed true, its
+	// InvalidateScene hit the already-dirty O(1) guard forever after and never
+	// notified the window again — the boundary went permanently unpainted.
+	//
+	// Any widget written from another goroutine hits this on the first frame
+	// that overlaps a write: a terminal under continuous output froze on screen
+	// within one frame and stayed frozen after the output stopped.
+	win.ClearDirtyBoundaries()
+
 	// Paint main tree boundaries.
 	app.PaintBoundaryLayersWithContext(root, nil, winCtx)
 
@@ -399,7 +415,6 @@ func (rl *renderLoop) draw(dc *gogpu.Context) { //nolint:gocyclo,cyclop,gocognit
 		cc.TrackDamageRect(image.Rect(0, 0, cw, ch))
 	}
 	win.ClearAfterPaint()
-	win.ClearDirtyBoundaries()
 
 	// Debug overlay: cyan flash-and-fade on dirty widget regions (ADR-023).
 	// Suppress damage tracking — overlay is visualization, not content.