diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/PdfViewer.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/PdfViewer.svelte
index 87a651f3..844aa338 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/PdfViewer.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/PdfViewer.svelte
@@ -56,21 +56,20 @@ onMount(async () => {
 	await renderer.init();
 });
 
-// Wire DOM elements to the renderer after they mount
-$effect(() => {
-	if (canvasEl && textLayerEl) {
-		renderer.setElements(canvasEl, textLayerEl);
-	}
-});
-
 $effect(() => {
 	if (renderer.pdfjsReady && url) {
 		renderer.loadDocument(url);
 	}
 });
 
+// Wire DOM elements to the renderer and trigger rendering.
+// canvasEl is read synchronously so Svelte tracks it as a dependency:
+// when the canvas reappears after the loading spinner (loading → false),
+// this effect re-fires and renders the already-loaded PDF.
 $effect(() => {
-	// Read scale and currentPage synchronously so Svelte tracks them as dependencies.
+	if (!canvasEl || !textLayerEl) return;
+	renderer.setElements(canvasEl, textLayerEl);
+	// Also track currentPage and scale so page-nav / zoom re-renders work.
 	if (renderer.isLoaded && renderer.currentPage && renderer.scale > 0) {
 		renderer.renderCurrentPage().then(() => renderer.prerender());
 	}