diff --git a/hooks/__tests__/use-focus-trap.test.tsx b/hooks/__tests__/use-focus-trap.test.tsx
index f820f8820..d9243c2e7 100644
--- a/hooks/__tests__/use-focus-trap.test.tsx
+++ b/hooks/__tests__/use-focus-trap.test.tsx
@@ -157,3 +157,23 @@ describe('useFocusTrap and the page behind', () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+// Presses Escape in its layout effect: after the DOM of a render is in
+// place, before that render's passive effects have run.
+function EscapeOnCommit({ press }: { press: number }) {
+  React.useLayoutEffect(() => {
+    if (press) fireEvent.keyDown(document.body, { key: 'Escape' });
+  }, [press]);
+  return null;
+}
+
+describe('useFocusTrap handler timing', () => {
+  it('answers an Escape right after a render with that render\'s handler', () => {
+    const before = vi.fn();
+    const after = vi.fn();
+    const { rerender } = render(<><Dialog onEscape={before} /><EscapeOnCommit press={0} /></>);
+    rerender(<><Dialog onEscape={after} /><EscapeOnCommit press={1} /></>);
+    expect(after).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(before).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/hooks/use-focus-trap.ts b/hooks/use-focus-trap.ts
index e80339591..5a37d266b 100644
--- a/hooks/use-focus-trap.ts
+++ b/hooks/use-focus-trap.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
+import { useEffect, useLayoutEffect, useRef } from 'react';
 
 // The traps that are active, the one opened last at the end. Only that one
 // answers Escape, so a dialog over a dialog closes alone.
@@ -24,9 +24,12 @@ export function useFocusTrap({
   // one from here instead of starting over for it: each new start moved the
   // focus back to the opener and then to the first element, out of the field
   // the user was typing in whenever the page behind rendered again.
+  // Updated during the commit, not after it: an Escape pressed once the
+  // DOM has changed must reach the handler of that render, not the one
+  // before (a form that just closed would ask about its input again).
   const onEscapeRef = useRef(onEscape);
   const initialFocusRef = useRef(initialFocus);
-  useEffect(() => {
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
     onEscapeRef.current = onEscape;
     initialFocusRef.current = initialFocus;
   });