diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/apps/editor/AppEditorHeader.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/apps/editor/AppEditorHeader.svelte
index c6ac501d70..d73470edc4 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/apps/editor/AppEditorHeader.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/apps/editor/AppEditorHeader.svelte
@@ -409,11 +409,11 @@
 		// must stay set; `claimed` is the version this deploy can prove it wrote.
 		const claimed = versionThisDeployWrote(appHistory, $userStore?.username, anchor)
 		version = appHistory[0]?.version
-		// A deploy landed beside this one, so the head is someone else's as far as this
-		// editor knows and is no longer a base it may compare against: `compareVersions`
-		// confirms instead. A failed anchor read claims nothing either, but it is no
-		// evidence of that, so it does not arm this.
-		baseUnknown = claimed === undefined && anchor != null
+		// With no claim the head may be another deploy's, so it is not a base this editor
+		// may compare against: `compareVersions` confirms instead until a later deploy
+		// claims one or the editor is reset. A failed anchor read is indistinguishable
+		// from that here, and confirming is the side that cannot lose someone's work.
+		baseUnknown = claimed === undefined
 		// Re-pin the fork base to the version just written: the editor stays open, so a
 		// follow-up deploy (or a new edit) would otherwise compare against the now-
 		// superseded base and falsely warn. parent_version is in
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/common/confirmationModal/DraftEditorModals.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/common/confirmationModal/DraftEditorModals.svelte
index 53d9fe7696..20c29286b5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/common/confirmationModal/DraftEditorModals.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/common/confirmationModal/DraftEditorModals.svelte
@@ -98,15 +98,12 @@
 	// staleness outright.
 	const useVersion = $derived(draftBaseVersion != null && deployedHeadVersion != null)
 	const isStale = $derived(
-		// Both paths need a draft to be out of date: the app editors stay open across a
-		// deploy and clear `draftSavedAt` when it consumes theirs, while the version pair
-		// stays armed for the draft the next edit starts, which is what the prompt would
-		// otherwise offer to discard seconds after a successful deploy.
 		!!onLoadLatestDeploy &&
-			!!draftSavedAt &&
 			(useVersion
 				? draftBaseVersion !== deployedHeadVersion
-				: !!deployedAt && new Date(draftSavedAt).getTime() < new Date(deployedAt).getTime())
+				: !!draftSavedAt &&
+					!!deployedAt &&
+					new Date(draftSavedAt).getTime() < new Date(deployedAt).getTime())
 	)
 	// Key on the versions (not `draftSavedAt`) in the version path, else every
 	// autosave would mint a new key and re-pop the modal mid-edit.
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/raw_apps/RawAppEditorHeader.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/raw_apps/RawAppEditorHeader.svelte
index 70225b15ba..d515ea2ec0 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/raw_apps/RawAppEditorHeader.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/raw_apps/RawAppEditorHeader.svelte
@@ -567,11 +567,11 @@
 		// guard compares the claimed base when there is one and the head otherwise.
 		const claimed = versionThisDeployWrote(appHistory, $userStore?.username, anchor)
 		version = appHistory[0]?.version
-		// A deploy landed beside this one, so the head is someone else's as far as this
-		// editor knows and is no longer a base it may compare against: `compareVersions`
-		// confirms instead. A failed anchor read claims nothing either, but it is no
-		// evidence of that, so it does not arm this.
-		baseUnknown = claimed === undefined && anchor != null
+		// With no claim the head may be another deploy's, so it is not a base this editor
+		// may compare against: `compareVersions` confirms instead until a later deploy
+		// claims one or the editor is reset. A failed anchor read is indistinguishable
+		// from that here, and confirming is the side that cannot lose someone's work.
+		baseUnknown = claimed === undefined
 
 		closeSaveDrawer()
 		sendUserToast('App deployed successfully')
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/apps/edit/[...path]/+page.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/apps/edit/[...path]/+page.svelte
index a9120f106f..025e2cb2b8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/apps/edit/[...path]/+page.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/apps/edit/[...path]/+page.svelte
@@ -496,24 +496,23 @@
 				othersDraftsCount={otherDraftsUsers.length}
 				onOpenOthersDrafts={() => (othersModalOpen = true)}
 				onDeploy={({ version, head, headBy, headAt }) => {
-					// The editor stays open across a deploy, so what the out-of-date prompt reads
-					// has to move with it: the base is what the deploy could claim it wrote
-					// (unknown when another landed beside it), and the head is what is deployed,
-					// named by whoever deployed it rather than by the page load's author.
-					draftBaseVersion = version != null ? String(version) : undefined
-					// The deploy consumed the draft, so nothing here is out of date yet; the pair
-					// above describes the draft the next edit will start.
-					if (version != null && head != null && version !== head) {
-						// The prompt talks about a draft, and there is none: say what happened
-						// instead, since this deploy is already superseded.
-						sendUserToast(`Version ${head} was deployed on top of yours (${version})`)
-					}
+					// The editor stays open across a deploy and pins what it wrote onto the value
+					// itself; the prompt's own pair is what the loader knows, and this deploy
+					// consumed the draft it described, so the route holds no base until it loads
+					// again (the deploy guard covers that window).
+					draftBaseVersion = undefined
 					draftSavedAt = undefined
 					if (head != null) {
+						// Named by whoever deployed the head, not by the page load's author.
 						deployedHeadVersion = String(head)
 						deployedBy = headBy
 						deployedAt = headAt
 					}
+					// Another deploy landed on top of this one: there is no draft for the prompt
+					// to talk about, so say what happened instead.
+					if (version != null && head != null && version !== head) {
+						sendUserToast(`Version ${head} was deployed on top of yours (${version})`)
+					}
 				}}
 			/>
 		</div>
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/apps_raw/edit/[...path]/+page.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/apps_raw/edit/[...path]/+page.svelte
index ed27854e23..2444cb030b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/apps_raw/edit/[...path]/+page.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/(root)/(logged)/apps_raw/edit/[...path]/+page.svelte
@@ -656,27 +656,24 @@
 						}
 					: undefined}
 				onDeploy={({ version, head, headBy, headAt }) => {
-					// The version this deploy wrote is the base the next autosave carries; the
-					// head is what is deployed now. They differ when another deploy landed
-					// beside this one, and the next draft is then behind from the start. A
-					// deploy that could not claim a version leaves the base unknown rather
-					// than keeping the one it just superseded.
+					// The version this deploy wrote is what the next autosave forks from, so the
+					// editor carries it; the prompt's own pair is what the loader knows, and this
+					// deploy consumed the draft it described, so the route holds no base until it
+					// loads again (the deploy guard covers that window).
 					parentVersion = version
-					draftBaseVersion = version != null ? String(version) : undefined
-					// The deploy consumed the draft, so nothing here is out of date yet; the pair
-					// above describes the draft the next edit will start.
-					if (version != null && head != null && version !== head) {
-						// The prompt talks about a draft, and there is none: say what happened
-						// instead, since this deploy is already superseded.
-						sendUserToast(`Version ${head} was deployed on top of yours (${version})`)
-					}
+					draftBaseVersion = undefined
 					draftSavedAt = undefined
 					if (head != null) {
-						deployedHeadVersion = String(head)
 						// Named by whoever deployed the head, not by the page load's author.
+						deployedHeadVersion = String(head)
 						deployedBy = headBy
 						deployedAt = headAt
 					}
+					// Another deploy landed on top of this one: there is no draft for the prompt
+					// to talk about, so say what happened instead.
+					if (version != null && head != null && version !== head) {
+						sendUserToast(`Version ${head} was deployed on top of yours (${version})`)
+					}
 				}}
 				onResetToDeployed={reloadDeployed}
 				{loadedFromDraft}