diff --git a/src/main/host/deferred-secret-protection-report.test.ts b/src/main/host/deferred-secret-protection-report.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..562f33eda60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/host/deferred-secret-protection-report.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { setSecretStore } from '../../shared/secret-store'
+
+type Listener = (...args: unknown[]) => void
+
+const appListeners = new Map<string, Listener[]>()
+
+vi.mock('electron', () => ({
+  app: {
+    once: (event: string, listener: Listener) => {
+      const existing = appListeners.get(event) ?? []
+      existing.push(listener)
+      appListeners.set(event, existing)
+    }
+  }
+}))
+
+const { scheduleSecretProtectionGapReport } = await import('./deferred-secret-protection-report')
+
+/** Stands in for the BrowserWindow the app creates first. */
+function fakeWindow(): { once: (event: string, listener: Listener) => void; reveal: () => void } {
+  const listeners: Listener[] = []
+  return {
+    once: (event, listener) => {
+      if (event === 'ready-to-show') {
+        listeners.push(listener)
+      }
+    },
+    reveal: () => listeners.splice(0).forEach((listener) => listener())
+  }
+}
+
+function createWindow(): ReturnType<typeof fakeWindow> {
+  const window = fakeWindow()
+  appListeners.get('browser-window-created')?.splice(0).forEach((listener) => listener({}, window))
+  return window
+}
+
+describe('scheduleSecretProtectionGapReport', () => {
+  let dir: string
+  let dataFile: string
+  let probes: number
+  let logged: string[]
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers()
+    appListeners.clear()
+    dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-deferred-secret-report-'))
+    dataFile = join(dir, 'orca-data.json')
+    probes = 0
+    logged = []
+    setSecretStore({
+      isEncryptionAvailable: () => true,
+      encryptString: (plainText) => Buffer.from(plainText),
+      decryptString: (cipher) => cipher.toString(),
+      describeProtectionGap: () => {
+        // Why count here: this is the call that blocks on the OS keyring.
+        probes += 1
+        return 'The OS keyring is unavailable.'
+      }
+    })
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers()
+    rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  })
+
+  const schedule = (): void =>
+    scheduleSecretProtectionGapReport({ dataFile, log: (m) => void logged.push(m) })
+
+  it('does not probe the keyring while the first window is still being created', () => {
+    // Why this is the regression: probing here blocked the window for 76s on a locked
+    // Linux keyring, which reads to the user as "the app will not open" (STA-5765).
+    schedule()
+    createWindow()
+    expect(probes).toBe(0)
+    expect(logged).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('probes once the window is ready to show', () => {
+    schedule()
+    const window = createWindow()
+    window.reveal()
+    vi.runAllTimers()
+    expect(probes).toBe(1)
+    expect(logged).toEqual(['[secrets] The OS keyring is unavailable.'])
+  })
+
+  it('still reports when ready-to-show never fires, so a failed reveal is not silent', () => {
+    // Why: a GPU/driver failure can keep ready-to-show from ever firing, and headless
+    // serve has no window at all.
+    schedule()
+    createWindow()
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(15_000)
+    vi.runAllTimers()
+    expect(probes).toBe(1)
+  })
+
+  it('probes only once when the window reveals and the fallback also elapses', () => {
+    schedule()
+    const window = createWindow()
+    window.reveal()
+    vi.runAllTimers()
+    vi.advanceTimersByTime(60_000)
+    vi.runAllTimers()
+    expect(probes).toBe(1)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/host/deferred-secret-protection-report.ts b/src/main/host/deferred-secret-protection-report.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cf2c7da2493
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/host/deferred-secret-protection-report.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { app, type BrowserWindow } from 'electron'
+import { reportSecretProtectionGap } from './secret-protection-report'
+
+/**
+ * Run the at-rest secret protection report once the app is up, never before.
+ *
+ * Why deferred: `describeProtectionGap()` asks Electron `safeStorage` whether the OS
+ * keyring is usable, and on Linux that is a blocking D-Bus round trip to
+ * `org.freedesktop.secrets`. A keyring that is present but locked with no unlock
+ * prompter never answers, so the call sits until D-Bus times it out — measured at 76s
+ * to first window on Ubuntu 24.04, against 1s on the build before the report existed
+ * (STA-5765). Run before the first window, that reads to the user as "the app will not
+ * open"; the window is gated behind a diagnostic whose result nothing on the startup
+ * path consumes.
+ */
+
+// Why a fallback as well as the window event: `ready-to-show` can fail to fire at all
+// when the GPU/driver cannot present (see main-window-state-lifecycle), and headless
+// serve has no window to wait on.
+const REPORT_FALLBACK_MS = 15_000
+
+export function scheduleSecretProtectionGapReport(options: {
+  dataFile: string
+  force?: boolean
+  log?: (message: string) => void
+}): void {
+  let ran = false
+  const run = (): void => {
+    if (ran) {
+      return
+    }
+    ran = true
+    clearTimeout(fallback)
+    // Why setImmediate: keep the blocking keyring probe off the event handler that
+    // reveals the window, so the reveal paints first.
+    setImmediate(() => {
+      reportSecretProtectionGap(options)
+    })
+  }
+
+  const fallback = setTimeout(run, REPORT_FALLBACK_MS)
+  fallback.unref?.()
+  app.once('browser-window-created', (_event: Electron.Event, window: BrowserWindow) => {
+    window.once('ready-to-show', run)
+  })
+}
diff --git a/src/main/index.ts b/src/main/index.ts
index 79f3f53f3a5..dc8eeaccd91 100644
--- a/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/src/main/index.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import { setSpeechServiceFactories } from './speech/speech-runtime-service'
 import { setWorktreeWatcherRemoval } from './ipc/worktree-watcher-removal'
 import { setSecretStore } from '../shared/secret-store'
 import { ElectronSecretStore } from './host/electron-secret-store'
-import { reportSecretProtectionGap } from './host/secret-protection-report'
+import { scheduleSecretProtectionGapReport } from './host/deferred-secret-protection-report'
 import { initSessionParseCachePersistence } from './ai-vault/session-parse-cache-persistence'
 import { ensureActiveOrcaProfile, initOrcaProfilePaths } from './orca-profiles/profile-index-store'
 import { getOrcaCloudAuthConfig } from './orca-profiles/profile-cloud-auth-config'
@@ -2346,9 +2346,11 @@ void app.whenReady().then(async () => {
     dataFile: activeOrcaProfile.dataFile,
     storageAuthority: isServeMode ? 'runtime' : 'desktop'
   })
-  // Why here and not at install time: the report remembers what it last said, and that
-  // state lives beside the profile data file, which does not exist until now.
-  reportSecretProtectionGap({
+  // Why armed here and not at install time: the report remembers what it last said, and
+  // that state lives beside the profile data file, which does not exist until now.
+  // Why scheduled and not called: the report probes the OS keyring, which blocks on Linux
+  // and must not gate the first window (STA-5765).
+  scheduleSecretProtectionGapReport({
     dataFile: activeOrcaProfile.dataFile,
     force: process.env.ORCA_ALWAYS_REPORT_SECRET_PROTECTION === '1'
   })