diff --git a/src/components/day/day-date-picker.tsx b/src/components/day/day-date-picker.tsx
index eda77a736..b6c61ba0e 100644
--- a/src/components/day/day-date-picker.tsx
+++ b/src/components/day/day-date-picker.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
 import { Calendar, CalendarDayButton } from "@/components/ui/calendar";
 import { ResponsiveSheet } from "@/components/ui/responsive-sheet";
-import { resolveDateFnsLocale } from "@/components/ui/date-field";
+import { resolveDateFnsLocale } from "@/components/ui/calendar-locale";
 import {
   Popover,
   PopoverContent,
diff --git a/src/components/ui/calendar-locale.ts b/src/components/ui/calendar-locale.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..138686267
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/ui/calendar-locale.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import { de, enUS, es, fr, it, ko, pl } from "date-fns/locale";
+import type { Locale as DateFnsLocale } from "date-fns";
+
+import type { Locale } from "@/lib/i18n/config";
+
+/**
+ * Map the app locale → the date-fns locale so the calendar's month / weekday
+ * names match the UI language. Defaults to enUS for anything unmapped.
+ * Imported only by the calendars, which load on demand, so the seven
+ * locales never ride a page's first load.
+ */
+export function resolveDateFnsLocale(locale: Locale): DateFnsLocale {
+  switch (locale) {
+    case "de":
+      return de;
+    case "es":
+      return es;
+    case "fr":
+      return fr;
+    case "it":
+      return it;
+    case "pl":
+      return pl;
+    case "ko":
+      return ko;
+    default:
+      return enUS;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/components/ui/date-field-calendar.tsx b/src/components/ui/date-field-calendar.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9ee496761
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/ui/date-field-calendar.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+"use client";
+
+import type { Matcher } from "react-day-picker";
+
+import { Calendar } from "@/components/ui/calendar";
+import type { Locale } from "@/lib/i18n/config";
+
+import { resolveDateFnsLocale } from "./calendar-locale";
+
+/**
+ * `DateField`'s single-day calendar, in its own module so the field can
+ * load it on demand (`date-field.tsx`). Takes the app locale and resolves
+ * the date-fns one here, beside react-day-picker, so neither rides the
+ * field.
+ */
+export function DateFieldCalendar({
+  appLocale,
+  selected,
+  onSelect,
+  disabled,
+  defaultMonth,
+}: {
+  appLocale: Locale;
+  selected: Date | undefined;
+  onSelect: (date: Date | undefined) => void;
+  disabled: Matcher[] | undefined;
+  defaultMonth: Date;
+}) {
+  return (
+    <Calendar
+      mode="single"
+      selected={selected}
+      onSelect={onSelect}
+      disabled={disabled}
+      defaultMonth={defaultMonth}
+      locale={resolveDateFnsLocale(appLocale)}
+      autoFocus
+    />
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/components/ui/date-field.tsx b/src/components/ui/date-field.tsx
index ed011d731..95b427c6f 100644
--- a/src/components/ui/date-field.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ui/date-field.tsx
@@ -2,20 +2,35 @@
 
 import * as React from "react";
 import { CalendarIcon } from "lucide-react";
+import dynamic from "next/dynamic";
 import type { Matcher } from "react-day-picker";
-import { de, enUS, es, fr, it, ko, pl } from "date-fns/locale";
-import type { Locale as DateFnsLocale } from "date-fns";
 
 import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
 import { useTranslations, useDateFormatPreference } from "@/lib/i18n/context";
 import { formatDate, parseIsoDate } from "@/lib/date-format";
-import { Calendar } from "@/components/ui/calendar";
 import {
   Popover,
   PopoverContent,
   PopoverTrigger,
 } from "@/components/ui/popover";
 
+/**
+ * The calendar (react-day-picker and the date-fns month names of every
+ * interface language) loads when the popover first opens, not with every
+ * form that holds a date field: it is the heaviest part of the field and
+ * the only one a person may never use. Until it arrives the popover keeps
+ * the calendar's footprint.
+ */
+const DateFieldCalendar = dynamic(
+  () => import("./date-field-calendar").then((m) => m.DateFieldCalendar),
+  {
+    ssr: false,
+    loading: () => (
+      <div data-slot="date-field-calendar-loading" className="h-72 w-64" />
+    ),
+  },
+);
+
 /**
  * Dependency-free date input that DISPLAYS the value in the user's date-order
  * preference (AUTO follows the locale; DMY / MDY / YMD pin the field order)
@@ -236,8 +251,7 @@ export const DateField = React.forwardRef<HTMLInputElement, DateFieldProps>(
           </PopoverTrigger>
         </div>
         <PopoverContent className="w-auto p-0" align="start">
-          <Calendar
-            mode="single"
+          <DateFieldCalendar
             selected={selectedDate}
             onSelect={(d) => {
               commitIso(d ? dateToIso(d) : "");
@@ -245,8 +259,7 @@ export const DateField = React.forwardRef<HTMLInputElement, DateFieldProps>(
             }}
             disabled={disabledMatchers.length ? disabledMatchers : undefined}
             defaultMonth={selectedDate ?? new Date()}
-            locale={resolveDateFnsLocale(locale)}
-            autoFocus
+            appLocale={locale}
           />
         </PopoverContent>
       </Popover>
@@ -311,31 +324,6 @@ function resolveOrder(
   return locale === "en" ? "MDY" : "DMY";
 }
 
-/**
- * Map the app locale → the date-fns locale so the calendar's month / weekday
- * names match the UI language. Defaults to enUS for anything unmapped.
- */
-export function resolveDateFnsLocale(
-  locale: ReturnType<typeof useTranslations>["locale"],
-): DateFnsLocale {
-  switch (locale) {
-    case "de":
-      return de;
-    case "es":
-      return es;
-    case "fr":
-      return fr;
-    case "it":
-      return it;
-    case "pl":
-      return pl;
-    case "ko":
-      return ko;
-    default:
-      return enUS;
-  }
-}
-
 /**
  * ISO `yyyy-MM-dd` → a LOCAL `Date` at midnight (no UTC shift — the value is a
  * plain calendar date, so it must read back as the same day in the user's