diff --git a/src/components/encounters/encounter-link-pickers.tsx b/src/components/encounters/encounter-link-pickers.tsx
index f215f2410..dcdbea60f 100644
--- a/src/components/encounters/encounter-link-pickers.tsx
+++ b/src/components/encounters/encounter-link-pickers.tsx
@@ -87,14 +87,7 @@ export function EncounterLinkPickers({
   });
 
   const labs = useQuery({
-    queryKey: queryKeys.labResultsList({
-      analyte: undefined,
-      panel: undefined,
-      from: undefined,
-      to: undefined,
-      page: 0,
-      sortDir: "desc",
-    }),
+    queryKey: queryKeys.labResultsPicker(PICKER_FETCH_LIMIT),
     enabled: labsOn,
     queryFn: () =>
       apiGet<LabListPage>(
@@ -103,7 +96,7 @@ export function EncounterLinkPickers({
   });
 
   const episodes = useQuery({
-    queryKey: queryKeys.illnessEpisodes(true),
+    queryKey: queryKeys.illnessEpisodesPicker(EPISODE_FETCH_LIMIT),
     enabled: illnessOn,
     queryFn: () =>
       apiGet<IllnessEpisodeDTO[]>(
diff --git a/src/lib/query-keys/__tests__/picker-list-keys.test.ts b/src/lib/query-keys/__tests__/picker-list-keys.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ec41804a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/query-keys/__tests__/picker-list-keys.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/**
+ * One key, one fetch. The visit form's link pickers read labs and illness
+ * episodes with their own page size (200 results, 100 episodes), the Labs
+ * list and the illness hook with theirs (500, the route's default 50). Under
+ * a shared key whichever read landed first served the other, so the picker
+ * could offer 50 episodes or the Labs list could render a 200-row page as
+ * the whole list. The picker reads carry their own keys, still under the
+ * domain roots so a lab or episode write evicts them.
+ */
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { queryKeys } from "@/lib/query-keys";
+
+const LIST_PARAMS = {
+  analyte: undefined,
+  panel: undefined,
+  from: undefined,
+  to: undefined,
+  page: 0,
+  sortDir: "desc",
+} as const;
+
+describe("the link pickers' reads have keys of their own", () => {
+  it("labs: differs from the Labs list and sits under the lab root", () => {
+    const key = queryKeys.labResultsPicker(200);
+    expect(key).not.toEqual(queryKeys.labResultsList(LIST_PARAMS));
+    expect(key.slice(0, 1)).toEqual(queryKeys.labResults());
+  });
+
+  it("episodes: differs from the illness list and sits under the illness root", () => {
+    const key = queryKeys.illnessEpisodesPicker(100);
+    expect(key).not.toEqual(queryKeys.illnessEpisodes(true));
+    expect(key.slice(0, 1)).toEqual(queryKeys.illness());
+  });
+
+  it("a different page size is a different key", () => {
+    expect(queryKeys.labResultsPicker(200)).not.toEqual(
+      queryKeys.labResultsPicker(500),
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/query-keys/illness.ts b/src/lib/query-keys/illness.ts
index 751180365..ce5b27231 100644
--- a/src/lib/query-keys/illness.ts
+++ b/src/lib/query-keys/illness.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ export const illnessKeys = {
   illness: () => ["illness"] as const,
   illnessEpisodes: (includeResolved: boolean) =>
     ["illness", "episodes", includeResolved] as const,
+  // The visit form's episode picker, with its own page size (the illness
+  // pages read the route's default); a shared key would serve one to the other.
+  illnessEpisodesPicker: (limit: number) =>
+    ["illness", "episodes-picker", limit] as const,
   illnessEpisode: (id: string) => ["illness", "episode", id] as const,
   illnessDayLog: (episodeId: string, date: string) =>
     ["illness", "day-log", episodeId, date] as const,
diff --git a/src/lib/query-keys/labs.ts b/src/lib/query-keys/labs.ts
index 6607231d5..cbb3f7031 100644
--- a/src/lib/query-keys/labs.ts
+++ b/src/lib/query-keys/labs.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ export const labKeys = {
       params.sortDir,
     ] as const,
 
+  // The visit form's lab picker: newest results, its own page size. Its own
+  // key because the Labs list reads a different page size, and a shared key
+  // would serve one read's page to the other.
+  labResultsPicker: (limit: number) =>
+    ["lab-results", "picker", limit] as const,
+
   // v1.25 — paginated (offset) reading feed for the biomarker detail page.
   // Distinct from `labResultsList` (single-page key) so the infinite-query
   // accumulation never collides with a single-page read. Shares the