diff --git a/tests/e2e/ai-vault-panel-search.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/ai-vault-panel-search.spec.ts
index f0b272ab7ac..49c5790b1a9 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/ai-vault-panel-search.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/ai-vault-panel-search.spec.ts
@@ -202,41 +202,49 @@ test('panel consent enables real local transcript search; clearing restores hist
   await cdp.detach()
 })
 
-test('panel renders transport failure and unavailable reasons without a local fallback', async ({
-  electronApp,
-  orcaPage
-}, testInfo) => {
-  await orcaPage.evaluate(async () => {
-    await window.__store
-      ?.getState()
-      .updateSettingsOrThrow({ aiVaultSearch: { enabled: true, historyDays: null } })
-    window.__store?.getState().setRightSidebarOpen(true)
-    window.__store?.getState().setRightSidebarTab('vault')
-  })
-  await electronApp.evaluate(({ ipcMain }) => {
-    ipcMain.removeHandler('aiVault:searchSessions')
-    ipcMain.handle('aiVault:searchSessions', () => {
-      throw new Error('Synthetic transport failure')
+// Title-only fallback persists for the host, so each reason needs a fresh panel.
+for (const reason of ['disabled', 'not-ready', 'no-service'] as const) {
+  test(`panel retries transport failure and handles ${reason} search availability`, async ({
+    electronApp,
+    orcaPage
+  }, testInfo) => {
+    await orcaPage.evaluate(async () => {
+      await window.__store
+        ?.getState()
+        .updateSettingsOrThrow({ aiVaultSearch: { enabled: true, historyDays: null } })
+      window.__store?.getState().setRightSidebarOpen(true)
+      window.__store?.getState().setRightSidebarTab('vault')
     })
-  })
-  const input = orcaPage.getByRole('textbox', { name: 'Search sessions', exact: true })
-  await input.fill('needle')
-  await expect(
-    orcaPage.getByText('Could not search this computer.', { exact: false })
-  ).toBeVisible()
-  await orcaPage.screenshot({ path: testInfo.outputPath('failure.png') })
-  for (const reason of ['disabled', 'not-ready', 'no-service'] as const) {
+    await electronApp.evaluate(({ ipcMain }) => {
+      ipcMain.removeHandler('aiVault:searchSessions')
+      ipcMain.handle('aiVault:searchSessions', () => {
+        throw new Error('Synthetic transport failure')
+      })
+    })
+    const input = orcaPage.getByRole('textbox', { name: 'Search sessions', exact: true })
+    await input.fill('needle')
+    await expect(
+      orcaPage.getByText('Could not search this computer.', { exact: false })
+    ).toBeVisible()
+    await orcaPage.screenshot({ path: testInfo.outputPath('failure.png') })
     await electronApp.evaluate(({ ipcMain }, value) => {
       ipcMain.removeHandler('aiVault:searchSessions')
       ipcMain.handle('aiVault:searchSessions', () => ({ kind: 'unavailable', reason: value }))
     }, reason)
-    await orcaPage.getByRole('button', { name: 'Try again', exact: true }).click()
+    const retry = orcaPage.getByRole('button', { name: 'Try again', exact: true })
+    await retry.click()
     const copy =
-      reason === 'disabled'
-        ? 'Search is disabled on this computer.'
-        : reason === 'not-ready'
-          ? 'The search index is not ready yet.'
-          : 'Search is unavailable on this computer.'
+      reason === 'not-ready'
+        ? 'The search index is not ready yet.'
+        : 'Full-text search is off on this computer, so only session titles are matched.'
     await expect(orcaPage.getByText(copy, { exact: false })).toBeVisible()
-  }
-})
+    if (reason === 'not-ready') {
+      await expect(retry).toBeVisible()
+    } else {
+      await expect(retry).toHaveCount(0)
+      await input.fill('another needle')
+      await expect(orcaPage.getByText(copy, { exact: false })).toBeVisible()
+    }
+    await orcaPage.screenshot({ path: testInfo.outputPath(`${reason}.png`) })
+  })
+}