diff --git a/src/main/speech/model-manager-progress-callback.test.ts b/src/main/speech/model-manager-progress-callback.test.ts
index 044d8b5936d..5ba6b21927b 100644
--- a/src/main/speech/model-manager-progress-callback.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/speech/model-manager-progress-callback.test.ts
@@ -69,4 +69,43 @@ describe('ModelManager progress callbacks', () => {
       rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
     }
   })
+
+  it('re-emits a repeated ready so a stale pane still resyncs', () => {
+    const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-model-manager-'))
+    try {
+      const manager = new ModelManager(dir)
+      const internals = manager as unknown as ModelManagerInternals
+      const listener = vi.fn()
+      manager.setProgressCallback(listener)
+
+      // downloadModel's already-downloaded branch: this lone 'ready' is the only
+      // notification the requesting window receives before the handler returns.
+      internals.updateState('model-a', 'ready')
+      internals.updateState('model-a', 'ready')
+
+      expect(listener).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
+
+  // Why this matters: the renderer discards the progress event payload and re-polls
+  // getModelState, so coalescing only the fan-out leaves the polled path raw.
+  it('reports whole-percent progress to pollers during a download', async () => {
+    const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-model-manager-'))
+    try {
+      const manager = new ModelManager(dir)
+      const internals = manager as unknown as ModelManagerInternals
+      const seen = new Set<number | undefined>()
+
+      for (let chunk = 0; chunk < 8000; chunk += 1) {
+        internals.updateState('whisper-tiny', 'downloading', chunk / 8000)
+        seen.add((await manager.getModelState('whisper-tiny')).progress)
+      }
+
+      expect(seen.size).toBeLessThanOrEqual(101)
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    }
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/main/speech/model-manager.ts b/src/main/speech/model-manager.ts
index dc175eb11ae..f6aa219b802 100644
--- a/src/main/speech/model-manager.ts
+++ b/src/main/speech/model-manager.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,13 @@ function toWholeProgressPercent(progress: number | undefined): number {
   return progress === undefined ? -1 : Math.round(progress * 100)
 }
 
+/** The precision the UI actually renders, so polled replies match the fan-out. */
+function toWholePercentState(state: SpeechModelState): SpeechModelState {
+  return state.progress === undefined
+    ? state
+    : { ...state, progress: toWholeProgressPercent(state.progress) / 100 }
+}
+
 const DOWNLOAD_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000
 // Why: flaky networks/proxies often kill long CDN transfers near the end; Range-resume lets them finish.
 const DOWNLOAD_RETRY_DELAYS_MS = [1_000, 2_000, 4_000]
@@ -217,7 +224,10 @@ export class ModelManager {
     await this.migrationReady
     const cached = this.modelStates.get(modelId)
     if (cached && (cached.status === 'downloading' || cached.status === 'extracting')) {
-      return cached
+      // Why quantise here too: the renderer ignores the progress event payload and
+      // re-polls, so returning the raw sub-percent cache would hand it a new value
+      // per chunk and defeat the whole-percent coalescing the fan-out already does.
+      return toWholePercentState(cached)
     }
 
     const manifest = getCatalogModel(modelId)
@@ -401,9 +411,12 @@ export class ModelManager {
     // notification costs the renderer an IPC round-trip plus a full re-render of the
     // open speech-model menu. The UI only ever shows whole percent, so emitting at
     // that granularity keeps every visible transition and drops the rest.
+    // Why only 'downloading': every other transition is one-shot, and the
+    // already-ready branch of downloadModel is the sole notification that window
+    // gets — deduplicating it strands a stale pane on a dead click.
     if (
-      previous !== undefined &&
-      previous.status === status &&
+      status === 'downloading' &&
+      previous?.status === 'downloading' &&
       previous.error === error &&
       toWholeProgressPercent(previous.progress) === toWholeProgressPercent(progress)
     ) {
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/voice-model-download-progress-storm.react185.test.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/voice-model-download-progress-storm.test.tsx
similarity index 95%
rename from src/renderer/src/components/settings/voice-model-download-progress-storm.react185.test.tsx
rename to src/renderer/src/components/settings/voice-model-download-progress-storm.test.tsx
index d6c3e99ebb1..280fc289ee9 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/settings/voice-model-download-progress-storm.react185.test.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/settings/voice-model-download-progress-storm.test.tsx
@@ -162,7 +162,9 @@ async function runDownloadProgressBurst(events: number): Promise<number> {
 
   const rendersBeforeBurst = subscriberRenders
   for (let index = 0; index < events; index += 1) {
-    // Whole-percent granularity: what the UI actually renders.
+    // Mirrors what main now returns: getModelState quantises the polled reply, so
+    // raw sub-percent progress never reaches the renderer. Without that, this mock
+    // would flatter the renderer-side stabilisation it is meant to measure.
     reportedProgress = Math.floor((index / events) * 100) / 100
     await act(async () => {
       emitDownloadProgress?.({ modelId: MODEL_ID, progress: reportedProgress })
@@ -173,7 +175,7 @@ async function runDownloadProgressBurst(events: number): Promise<number> {
   return subscriberRenders - rendersBeforeBurst
 }
 
-describe('speech model download progress storm (React #185)', () => {
+describe('speech model download progress storm (render pressure)', () => {
   it('does not re-render the open speech-model menu once per download chunk', async () => {
     // A 500MB model over a 64KB chunk stream emits thousands of these; the menu
     // stays open by design while a download runs, so each one re-renders the