diff --git a/src/app/auth/register/__tests__/page.test.tsx b/src/app/auth/register/__tests__/page.test.tsx
index 47272db5a..1ef5d0564 100644
--- a/src/app/auth/register/__tests__/page.test.tsx
+++ b/src/app/auth/register/__tests__/page.test.tsx
@@ -11,9 +11,8 @@
  * the page rendered. The sign-out click itself is driven in
  * `e2e/invite-registration.spec.ts`.
  *
- * Mutation check, run: drop the `isAuthenticated` branch → the two signed-in
- * cases go red naming the form inputs they found, the anonymous case stays
- * green.
+ * Mutation check, run: drop the signed-in branch → the two signed-in cases go
+ * red naming the form inputs they found, the anonymous case stays green.
  */
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
@@ -112,4 +111,18 @@ describe("register page — an invitation cannot be accepted from a live session
     const markup = render();
     expect(markup).not.toContain('data-testid="register-already-signed-in"');
   });
+
+  it("renders the form when the auth probe failed and only a stale marker says otherwise", () => {
+    // `useAuth` deliberately holds the LAST-KNOWN state when `/api/auth/me`
+    // fails at the transport level or with a 5xx, so the shell does not sign
+    // people out on a blip. There is no account payload on that path, so the
+    // panel would name nobody ("You are signed in as .") and offer a sign-out
+    // that posts to the endpoint the same failure is affecting. An invited
+    // household member on a flaky connection could not register at all.
+    authRef.value = { user: null, isAuthenticated: true, isLoading: false };
+    inviteRef.value = TOKEN;
+    const markup = render();
+    expect(markup).not.toContain('data-testid="register-already-signed-in"');
+    expect(markup).toContain('id="username"');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/app/auth/register/page.tsx b/src/app/auth/register/page.tsx
index b47fe23ea..8b1bc9c34 100644
--- a/src/app/auth/register/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/auth/register/page.tsx
@@ -27,11 +27,19 @@ export default function RegisterPage() {
   // v1.38.19 — an invitation creates a NEW account, so it cannot be accepted
   // from inside a live session; `POST /api/auth/register` refuses one with
   // 409 `already_authenticated`. Rendering the form anyway would let the
-  // visitor discover that by filling it in. `isLoading` holds the panel back
-  // until the session question is actually answered — failing closed the
-  // other way round would flash "you are already signed in" at somebody who
-  // is not.
-  const { user, isAuthenticated, isLoading: authLoading } = useAuth();
+  // visitor discover that by filling it in.
+  //
+  // The gate is the resolved account payload, not `isAuthenticated`. That
+  // flag deliberately holds the LAST-KNOWN state off a localStorage marker
+  // whenever `/api/auth/me` fails at the transport level or with a 5xx, so
+  // the shell does not sign people out on a blip — and on that path there is
+  // no `user`. Gating on it would show an invited household member behind a
+  // 502 a panel that names nobody and offers a sign-out posting to the very
+  // endpoint that is failing, with no way to register. A payload in hand is
+  // the only positive evidence of a session, and it is also absent while the
+  // probe is still in flight, so the panel cannot flash at somebody who is
+  // not signed in.
+  const { user } = useAuth();
   const [signingOut, setSigningOut] = useState(false);
   const [email, setEmail] = useState("");
   const [username, setUsername] = useState("");
@@ -104,7 +112,7 @@ export default function RegisterPage() {
     }
   }
 
-  if (isAuthenticated && !authLoading) {
+  if (user) {
     return (
       <div className="w-full max-w-sm">
         <div className="border-border bg-card rounded-xl border p-6 shadow-lg shadow-black/20 sm:p-8">