diff --git a/settings/quickshell.nix b/settings/quickshell.nix
index 55c5e47..646e7d8 100644
--- a/settings/quickshell.nix
+++ b/settings/quickshell.nix
@@ -2116,32 +2116,38 @@ in
                     // across. Hold the last loaded height until the new items
                     // arrive so the morph stays continuous. The correction is
                     // small, and nil when it is the same menu as last time.
-                    readonly property bool menuLoaded:
-                        menuOpener.children && menuOpener.children.values.length > 0
-                    // The model populating is NOT the same instant as the
-                    // layout catching up: the Repeater still has to build its
-                    // delegates and the Column re-measure. Gating on the model
-                    // alone left a frame where menuLoaded was true but the Card
-                    // was still empty-sized, so the panel collapsed and then
-                    // regrew — visible when switching between two tray icons,
-                    // which is the only path that reassigns the handle.
-                    // Require the height to have actually grown past an empty
-                    // Card (which measures 2*cardPad, not 0).
-                    readonly property bool menuReady:
-                        menuLoaded && menuItems.height > 2 * Theme.cardPad
-                    property real lastMenuHeight: 0
-                    fullHeight: (menuReady ? menuItems.height
-                                           : Math.max(menuItems.height, lastMenuHeight))
-                                + 2 * Theme.panelGap
+                    // Row metrics, shared by the delegate below and the height
+                    // sum — these two must never drift apart.
+                    readonly property int menuRowHeight: 28
+                    readonly property int menuSepHeight: 9
 
-                    Connections {
-                        target: menuItems
-                        function onHeightChanged() {
-                            if (contextMenu.menuReady)
-                                contextMenu.lastMenuHeight = menuItems.height;
-                        }
+                    // Size the panel from the MODEL, not from the laid-out
+                    // Card. The Card only reaches its true height a frame or
+                    // more after the model populates — the Repeater has to
+                    // build delegates and the Column re-measure — and every
+                    // previous attempt here read the Card during that gap,
+                    // which is the flash. Summing the rows is exact and
+                    // available the instant the data lands, so the height and
+                    // its content update in the same binding pass.
+                    readonly property real menuContentHeight: {
+                        if (!menuOpener.children) return 0;
+                        const items = menuOpener.children.values;
+                        let h = 0;
+                        for (let i = 0; i < items.length; i++)
+                            h += items[i].isSeparator ? menuSepHeight : menuRowHeight;
+                        return h;
                     }
 
+                    // Hold the previous size across the DBus fetch of a newly
+                    // assigned menu (the tray-to-tray path), so the switch
+                    // morphs instead of collapsing to empty and regrowing.
+                    property real lastMenuHeight: 0
+                    onMenuContentHeightChanged: {
+                        if (menuContentHeight > 0) lastMenuHeight = menuContentHeight;
+                    }
+                    fullHeight: (menuContentHeight > 0 ? menuContentHeight : lastMenuHeight)
+                                + 2 * Theme.cardPad + 2 * Theme.panelGap
+
                     // Deliberately NOT cleared on close. Nulling the menu threw
                     // away the loaded items, and the only thing that refills
                     // them is a hover-enter — which never fires if the cursor
@@ -2177,7 +2183,8 @@ in
                                 Rectangle {
                                     required property var modelData
                                     width: parent.width
-                                    height: modelData.isSeparator ? 9 : 28
+                                    height: modelData.isSeparator ? contextMenu.menuSepHeight
+                                                                  : contextMenu.menuRowHeight
                                     color: !modelData.isSeparator && itemMouse.containsMouse && modelData.enabled
                                            ? Theme.base02 : Theme.base02t
                                     Behavior on color { ColorAnimation { duration: Theme.animFade } }