diff --git a/mobile/src/terminal/document/terminal-theme.ts b/mobile/src/terminal/document/terminal-theme.ts
index 1d46a06521b..dd75fc1c7b0 100644
--- a/mobile/src/terminal/document/terminal-theme.ts
+++ b/mobile/src/terminal/document/terminal-theme.ts
@@ -172,10 +172,15 @@ export type TerminalDocumentThemeTarget = {
 
 export function applyTerminalTheme(
   scope: TerminalDocumentScope,
-  input: TerminalDocumentThemeMessage
+  input: TerminalDocumentThemeMessage,
+  force = false
 ) {
   scope.terminalThemeInput = input
-  scope.terminalTheme = normalizeTerminalTheme(scope, input)
+  const nextTheme = normalizeTerminalTheme(scope, input)
+  const themeChanged = Object.keys(scope.defaultTheme).some(
+    (key) => scope.terminalTheme[key] !== nextTheme[key]
+  )
+  scope.terminalTheme = nextTheme
   const background = scope.terminalTheme.background || TERMINAL_BACKGROUND_FALLBACK
   scope.paintDocumentBackground(background)
   // Why prefer the published value: the desktop user may have lowered or disabled the floor (#10754);
@@ -186,7 +191,12 @@ export function applyTerminalTheme(
   scope.terminalMinimumContrastRatio =
     publishedFloor === null ? resolveTerminalContrastFloor(background) : publishedFloor
   if (scope.term) {
-    scope.term.options.theme = scope.terminalTheme
-    scope.term.options.minimumContrastRatio = scope.terminalMinimumContrastRatio
+    // Reassigning the theme resets live OSC palette changes; visibility recovery still repaints.
+    if (force || themeChanged) {
+      scope.term.options.theme = scope.terminalTheme
+    }
+    if (scope.term.options.minimumContrastRatio !== scope.terminalMinimumContrastRatio) {
+      scope.term.options.minimumContrastRatio = scope.terminalMinimumContrastRatio
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/mobile/src/terminal/document/webgl-recovery.ts b/mobile/src/terminal/document/webgl-recovery.ts
index 663449aaa50..26151e7d0a4 100644
--- a/mobile/src/terminal/document/webgl-recovery.ts
+++ b/mobile/src/terminal/document/webgl-recovery.ts
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ function onDocumentVisibilityChange(scope: TerminalDocumentScope) {
   }
   // Why: iOS may restore the xterm model while discarding GPU pixels/theme
   // paint state, so visibility must rebuild the atlas and repaint every row.
-  applyTerminalTheme(scope, scope.terminalThemeInput)
+  applyTerminalTheme(scope, scope.terminalThemeInput, true)
   try {
     if (scope.webglAddon && scope.webglAddon.clearTextureAtlas) {
       scope.webglAddon.clearTextureAtlas()
diff --git a/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-engine.test.ts b/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-engine.test.ts
index bea9e2e1ca0..adb049e859d 100644
--- a/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-engine.test.ts
+++ b/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-engine.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { XTERM_ENGINE_JS } from './terminal-webview-engine.generated'
 import { createTerminalDocumentScope } from './document/document-scope'
 import { attachWebglAddon, startWebglRecovery } from './document/webgl-recovery'
 import { XTERM_HTML } from './terminal-webview-html'
+import { applyTerminalTheme } from './document/terminal-theme'
 
 function createWebglRecoveryHarness(failSecondAttach = false) {
   const timers: Array<() => void> = []
@@ -209,17 +210,19 @@ describe('terminal WebView bundled engine', () => {
 
   it('reapplies theme, clears the active atlas, and refreshes when visible', () => {
     const harness = createWebglRecoveryHarness()
+    applyTerminalTheme(harness.scope, harness.scope.terminalThemeInput)
+    const firstTheme = harness.term.options.theme
 
     // Hidden: nothing is re-applied, because a repaint of an invisible terminal is wasted. happy-dom
     // reports a visible document, so the hidden arm is the stub and the visible one is the default.
     vi.spyOn(document, 'visibilityState', 'get').mockReturnValue('hidden')
     harness.fireVisibilityChange()
-    expect(harness.term.options.theme).toEqual({})
+    expect(harness.term.options.theme).toBe(firstTheme)
     vi.restoreAllMocks()
 
     harness.fireVisibilityChange()
     // The theme is re-applied through the document's own path, read off the terminal it wrote to.
-    expect(harness.term.options.theme).not.toEqual({})
+    expect(harness.term.options.theme).not.toBe(firstTheme)
     expect(harness.addons[0]?.clearTextureAtlas).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     expect(harness.term.refresh).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   })
diff --git a/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-theme.test.ts b/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-theme.test.ts
index 8af147e0f31..e8534fb8d3c 100644
--- a/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-theme.test.ts
+++ b/mobile/src/terminal/terminal-webview-theme.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // @vitest-environment happy-dom
-import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { createTerminalDocumentScope } from './document/document-scope'
 import { applyTerminalTheme, resolveTerminalContrastFloor } from './document/terminal-theme'
 import type {
@@ -113,3 +113,68 @@ describe('mobile terminal-webview contrast floor gate', () => {
     })
   })
 })
+
+describe('mobile terminal theme idempotence', () => {
+  function countingThemeScope() {
+    const term: TerminalDocumentThemeTarget = { options: { minimumContrastRatio: DARK_FLOOR } }
+    const scope = themeScope(term)
+    scope.terminalTheme = { ...scope.defaultTheme }
+    term.options.theme = scope.terminalTheme
+    const themeWrite = vi.fn()
+    const contrastWrite = vi.fn()
+    let theme = term.options.theme
+    let contrast = term.options.minimumContrastRatio
+    Object.defineProperty(term.options, 'theme', {
+      get: () => theme,
+      set: (next) => {
+        themeWrite(next)
+        theme = next
+      },
+      configurable: true
+    })
+    Object.defineProperty(term.options, 'minimumContrastRatio', {
+      get: () => contrast,
+      set: (next) => {
+        contrastWrite(next)
+        contrast = next
+      },
+      configurable: true
+    })
+    return { scope, term, themeWrite, contrastWrite }
+  }
+
+  it('preserves a live palette through repeated equal normalized host themes', () => {
+    const { scope, term, themeWrite, contrastWrite } = countingThemeScope()
+    const livePalette = term.options.theme
+    const second = { theme: { foreground: '#c0caf5', background: '#1a1b26', ignored: '#ffffff' } }
+    applyTerminalTheme(scope, { theme: { background: '#1a1b26' } })
+    applyTerminalTheme(scope, second)
+    expect(themeWrite).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(contrastWrite).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    expect(term.options.theme).toBe(livePalette)
+    expect(scope.terminalThemeInput).toBe(second)
+  })
+
+  it('changes palette and published contrast independently', () => {
+    const { scope, themeWrite, contrastWrite } = countingThemeScope()
+    applyTerminalTheme(scope, { theme: { background: '#282828' } })
+    expect(themeWrite).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(contrastWrite).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    applyTerminalTheme(scope, { theme: { background: '#282828' }, minimumContrastRatio: 1 })
+    expect(themeWrite).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(contrastWrite).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith(1)
+  })
+
+  it('forces an identical palette for visibility recovery', () => {
+    const { scope, themeWrite } = countingThemeScope()
+    applyTerminalTheme(scope, { theme: { ...scope.defaultTheme } }, true)
+    expect(themeWrite).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+  })
+
+  it('retains theme and published contrast before terminal construction', () => {
+    const scope = themeScope()
+    applyTerminalTheme(scope, { theme: { background: '#282828' }, minimumContrastRatio: 1 })
+    expect(scope.terminalTheme.background).toBe('#282828')
+    expect(scope.terminalMinimumContrastRatio).toBe(1)
+  })
+})