diff --git a/settings/theming.nix b/settings/theming.nix
index f2d782e..a1566de 100644
--- a/settings/theming.nix
+++ b/settings/theming.nix
@@ -536,24 +536,38 @@ let
     reply=$(${pkgs.hyprland}/bin/hyprctl eval "$(cat "$theme/hypr.lua")" 2>&1)
     [ "$reply" = "ok" ] || echo "hyprctl eval -> $reply"
 
-    # Ghostty holds its config in one process (gtk-single-instance), so a new
-    # window inherits whatever the daemon parsed at startup — reopening a
-    # terminal is NOT enough to pick up a new theme.
+    # Ghostty holds its config in one process, so a new window inherits
+    # whatever that process parsed at startup — reopening a terminal is NOT
+    # enough to pick up a new theme.
     #
-    # It is a GTK application, so it publishes its actions on the session bus;
-    # `reload-config` is the same action the reload_config keybind fires. Going
-    # through D-Bus works with no window open, needs no window focused, and
-    # doesn't depend on synthesising a keypress into the right surface.
-    if ! ${pkgs.glib.bin}/bin/gdbus call --session \
-        --dest com.mitchellh.ghostty \
-        --object-path /com/mitchellh/ghostty \
+    # There are TWO processes to tell, not one. gtk-single-instance funnels
+    # every plain `ghostty` into the com.mitchellh.ghostty instance, but the
+    # scratchpad launches with --class=dev.fred.scratchpad, and ghostty's
+    # --class IS the GTK application id — which is exactly how it forces a
+    # separate instance (see settings/hyprland.nix). A separate instance
+    # means its own bus name and its own object path, so a reload aimed at
+    # com.mitchellh.ghostty never reaches it and the scratchpad sat on the
+    # old palette until it was killed.
+    #
+    # Both are GTK applications publishing their actions on the session bus;
+    # `reload-config` is the same action the reload_config keybind fires.
+    # Going through D-Bus works with no window open, needs no window focused,
+    # and doesn't depend on synthesising a keypress into the right surface.
+    ghostty_reload() {
+      ${pkgs.glib.bin}/bin/gdbus call --session \
+        --dest "$1" --object-path "$2" \
         --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate \
-        reload-config '[]' '{}' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        reload-config '[]' '{}' >/dev/null 2>&1
+    }
+
+    # Absent is not a failure: the scratchpad only exists once SUPER+Return
+    # has been pressed this session.
+    ghostty_reload dev.fred.scratchpad /dev/fred/scratchpad || true
+
+    if ! ghostty_reload com.mitchellh.ghostty /com/mitchellh/ghostty; then
       # No instance on the bus, or the action is gone. Restarting the daemon
       # fixes it but takes every open terminal with it, so that is only on the
-      # table when there is nothing to lose. The class test has to cover the
-      # --class override from settings/hyprland.nix (dev.fred.scratchpad) —
-      # that window is the same process.
+      # table when there is nothing to lose. The class test covers both ids.
       if ${pkgs.hyprland}/bin/hyprctl -j clients 2>/dev/null \
           | ${pkgs.jq}/bin/jq -e 'any(.[].class; test("ghostty|^dev\\.fred\\."))' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         echo "ghostty reload-config failed; open terminals keep the old theme"