diff --git a/src/main/index.ts b/src/main/index.ts
index 2a9358ef..b2ae2c74 100644
--- a/src/main/index.ts
+++ b/src/main/index.ts
@@ -173,8 +173,8 @@ if (!hasSingleInstanceLock) app.quit();
 
 /**
  * Creates the shell window and starts loading the startup page into it. The
- * page load is not awaited: services start next to it, and the application
- * surface may replace the page before it finished (see startApplication).
+ * page load is not awaited here: services start next to it, and startApplication
+ * waits for it to settle before it loads the application surface.
  */
 function createWindow(): { window: BrowserWindow; startupPage: StartupPageLoad } {
   const window = new BrowserWindow({
@@ -241,28 +241,30 @@ function createWindow(): { window: BrowserWindow; startupPage: StartupPageLoad }
     }
   });
 
-  const startupPage: StartupPageLoad = { failure: null, superseded: false };
-  window.loadURL(startupPageUrl({ locale: app.getLocale(), isMacOS: process.platform === "darwin" })).catch((error) => {
-    // A close during this load aborts the navigation (ERR_ABORTED / ERR_FAILED).
-    // That is a quit, not a failed startup; the application surface replacing a
-    // page that was still loading aborts it the same way. Neither is a failure;
-    // a real error on a live window is kept for startApplication to report.
-    if (shellWindowGone(window)) {
-      console.warn("CanvasTTY startup page load stopped: its window is gone, the application is closing.", error);
-      return;
-    }
-    if (!startupPage.superseded) startupPage.failure = error;
-  });
+  const startupPage: StartupPageLoad = window
+    .loadURL(startupPageUrl({ locale: app.getLocale(), isMacOS: process.platform === "darwin" }))
+    .then(
+      () => null,
+      (error: unknown) => {
+        // A close during this load aborts the navigation (ERR_ABORTED / ERR_FAILED).
+        // That is a quit, not a failed startup; a real error on a live window is
+        // handed to startApplication to report.
+        if (shellWindowGone(window)) {
+          console.warn("CanvasTTY startup page load stopped: its window is gone, the application is closing.", error);
+          return null;
+        }
+        return error ?? new Error("The startup page did not load.");
+      }
+    );
   return { window, startupPage };
 }
 
-/** The startup page load of a fresh shell window, as startApplication sees it. */
-interface StartupPageLoad {
-  /** A real load error of the page, reported as a failed startup. */
-  failure: unknown;
-  /** Set once the application surface starts loading: aborting the page is expected then. */
-  superseded: boolean;
-}
+/**
+ * The startup page load of a fresh shell window: it settles with the load error
+ * to report as a failed startup, or null once the page loaded (or its window is
+ * gone). It never rejects.
+ */
+type StartupPageLoad = Promise<unknown>;
 
 /**
  * True when the shell window is on its way out: its close was requested (the
@@ -827,8 +829,14 @@ async function startApplication(): Promise<void> {
     if (!servicesReady) await initializeServices();
     if (shutdownRunning || shutdownComplete || shellWindowGone(window)) return;
     if (startupPage) {
-      if (startupPage.failure) throw startupPage.failure;
-      startupPage.superseded = true;
+      // The application surface must not replace a page that is still loading:
+      // Chromium can report that page's ERR_ABORTED after the next navigation has
+      // started, and Electron's loadFile/loadURL promise takes the first main-frame
+      // load failure it sees as its own, so startup would fail with the startup
+      // page's abort. The page usually settles before services are up.
+      const failure = await startupPage;
+      if (shutdownRunning || shutdownComplete || shellWindowGone(window)) return;
+      if (failure !== null) throw failure;
     }
     initializeUpdater();
     await loadApplication(window);
diff --git a/tests/startup-lifecycle.test.mjs b/tests/startup-lifecycle.test.mjs
index 89faf867..6772fa5c 100644
--- a/tests/startup-lifecycle.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/startup-lifecycle.test.mjs
@@ -36,11 +36,15 @@ test("closing during service startup stops renderer loading without a failure di
   assert.equal(failures, 1, "a real error on a live window still reaches the failure page");
 });
 
-test("services start while the startup page is still loading, and only a real page error fails startup", async () => {
+test("services start while the startup page loads, and the application surface waits until the page settled", async () => {
   const source = await readFile(mainPath, "utf8");
   const start = source.slice(source.indexOf("async function startApplication"), source.indexOf("function buildProviderCliRegistry"));
   const events = [];
-  let page;
+  const turn = () => new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+  let settlePage;
+  // The startup page load as createWindow hands it over: it settles with the error to report, or null.
+  const pendingPage = () => new Promise((resolve) => { settlePage = resolve; });
+  let gone = false;
   const context = {
     startupRunning: false,
     shutdownRunning: false,
@@ -48,22 +52,41 @@ test("services start while the startup page is still loading, and only a real pa
     servicesReady: false,
     mainWindow: null,
     process: { env: {} },
-    shellWindowGone: () => false,
-    // The page load never settles here: startup must not wait for it.
-    createWindow: () => { page = { failure: null, superseded: false }; events.push("window"); return { window: {}, startupPage: page }; },
-    initializeServices: async () => { events.push(`services superseded=${page.superseded}`); },
+    shellWindowGone: () => gone,
+    createWindow: () => { events.push("window"); return { window: {}, startupPage: pendingPage() }; },
+    initializeServices: async () => { events.push("services"); },
     initializeUpdater: () => events.push("updater"),
-    loadApplication: async () => { events.push(`app superseded=${page.superseded}`); },
+    loadApplication: async () => { events.push("app"); },
     showStartupFailure: async (_window, error) => { events.push(`failure ${error.message}`); }
   };
   const startApplication = runInNewContext(`${stripTypeScriptTypes(start)}; startApplication`, context);
-  await startApplication();
-  assert.deepEqual(events, ["window", "services superseded=false", "updater", "app superseded=true"]);
 
+  // Services do not wait for the page. The application surface does: a page replaced while it is still loading
+  // reports its ERR_ABORTED late, and Electron's loadFile promise takes that failure as its own.
+  let startup = startApplication();
+  await turn();
+  assert.deepEqual(events, ["window", "services"]);
+  events.push("page settled");
+  settlePage(null);
+  await startup;
+  assert.deepEqual(events, ["window", "services", "page settled", "updater", "app"]);
+
+  // A real page error on a live window fails startup.
   events.length = 0;
-  context.initializeServices = async () => { page.failure = new Error("startup page failed"); };
+  context.createWindow = () => { events.push("window"); return { window: {}, startupPage: Promise.resolve(new Error("startup page failed")) }; };
   await startApplication();
-  assert.deepEqual(events, ["window", "failure startup page failed"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(events, ["window", "services", "failure startup page failed"]);
+
+  // A close while the page is still loading ends startup quietly once the page settles.
+  events.length = 0;
+  context.createWindow = () => { events.push("window"); return { window: {}, startupPage: pendingPage() }; };
+  startup = startApplication();
+  await turn();
+  gone = true;
+  settlePage(null);
+  await startup;
+  assert.deepEqual(events, ["window", "services"]);
+  assert.equal(context.startupRunning, false);
 });
 
 test("dependencies only some paths need are not imported when the main process starts", async () => {