diff --git a/web/templates/entry_view.html b/web/templates/entry_view.html
index 3b8258b..a3680da 100644
--- a/web/templates/entry_view.html
+++ b/web/templates/entry_view.html
@@ -467,11 +467,11 @@ function showToast(message, duration = 3000) {
 }
 </script>
 
-<!-- Highlighter: robust triggers (DOMContentLoaded + pageshow + readyState) -->
+<!-- Highlighter: robust (readyState + DOMContentLoaded + pageshow) + wait for content + run-once guard -->
 <script>
 (function(){
-  // EXACT field -> selector mapping for your template IDs
-  const fieldToSelector = {
+  // exact field -> selector mapping for your template IDs
+  const FIELD_TO_SELECTOR = {
     subject:       "#subject-list",
     illustration:  "#illustration-text",
     application:   "#application-text",
@@ -481,31 +481,47 @@ function showToast(message, duration = 3000) {
     talk_number:   "#talk_title-text",
   };
 
-  // Kickoff with multiple safety nets so it also runs after bfcache restores
+  // prevent double-runs on the same page
+  if (window.__HL_DONE__) return;
+  window.__HL_DONE__ = false;
+
+  // Kick off under ALL the common scenarios
   if (document.readyState === "complete" || document.readyState === "interactive") {
-    run();
+    scheduleRun();
   } else {
-    document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", run, { once: true });
+    document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", scheduleRun, { once: true });
+  }
+  window.addEventListener("pageshow", scheduleRun);
+
+  function scheduleRun(){
+    // Run now, and also a couple of short retries in case the DOM fills a tad later.
+    run();
+    setTimeout(run, 50);
+    setTimeout(run, 150);
+    setTimeout(run, 400);
   }
-  // pageshow fires on bfcache restores and some soft navigations
-  window.addEventListener("pageshow", run);
 
   async function run() {
-    // Respect per-user toggle
+    if (window.__HL_DONE__) return;
+
+    // 1) respect per-user toggle
     let enabled = true;
     try {
-      const res = await fetch("/api/get-prefs/");
-      const prefs = await res.json();
-      if (prefs && typeof prefs.highlight_search_hits !== "undefined") {
-        enabled = !!prefs.highlight_search_hits;
+      const res = await fetch("/api/get-prefs/", { cache: "no-store", credentials: "same-origin" });
+      if (res.ok) {
+        const prefs = await res.json();
+        if (prefs && typeof prefs.highlight_search_hits !== "undefined") {
+          enabled = !!prefs.highlight_search_hits;
+        }
       }
-    } catch (_) {}
-    if (!enabled) return;
+    } catch (_) { /* default true */ }
+    if (!enabled) { window.__HL_DONE__ = true; return; }
 
-    // Read last search (prefer JS-literal fallback, then JSON blob)
+    // 2) read last search (prefer JS-literal fallback you already added)
     let q = (window.__lastSearchQ || "").trim();
     let fields = Array.isArray(window.__lastSearchFields) ? window.__lastSearchFields : [];
 
+    // fall back to the JSON <script> only if needed
     if ((!q || !fields.length)) {
       const dataEl = document.getElementById("last-search-data");
       if (dataEl) {
@@ -516,23 +532,65 @@ function showToast(message, duration = 3000) {
         } catch (_) {}
       }
     }
-    if (!q || !fields.length) return;
+    if (!q || !fields.length) { window.__HL_DONE__ = true; return; }
 
-    // Tokenize like your search (keep quoted phrases, strip * and ?)
+    // 3) determine which containers to target based on searched fields
+    const selectors = fields
+      .map(f => FIELD_TO_SELECTOR[f])
+      .filter(Boolean);
+
+    if (!selectors.length) { window.__HL_DONE__ = true; return; }
+
+    // 4) wait until all target containers exist & have text (covers late paint / soft navs)
+    const containers = await waitForContainers(selectors, { timeout: 1000 }); // up to ~1s
+    if (!containers || !containers.length) { window.__HL_DONE__ = true; return; }
+
+    // 5) tokenize like your search: keep quoted phrases; strip wildcards
     const tokens = tokenize(q).map(t => t.replaceAll("*","").replaceAll("?","")).filter(Boolean);
-    if (!tokens.length) return;
+    if (!tokens.length) { window.__HL_DONE__ = true; return; }
 
-    // Highlight only within fields that were searched
-    for (const f of fields) {
-      const sel = fieldToSelector[f];
-      if (!sel) continue;
-      const container = document.querySelector(sel);
-      if (!container) continue;
-      for (const tok of tokens) highlightAll(container, tok);
+    // 6) highlight
+    for (const el of containers) {
+      for (const tok of tokens) {
+        highlightAll(el, tok);
+      }
     }
+
+    window.__HL_DONE__ = true; // mark done so refreshes don’t re-wrap
   }
 
   // ---- helpers ----
+
+  // Wait until all selectors exist and have any meaningful text
+  function waitForContainers(selectors, { timeout = 1000 } = {}) {
+    const start = performance.now();
+    return new Promise((resolve) => {
+      const tryNow = () => {
+        const els = selectors
+          .map(sel => document.querySelector(sel))
+          .filter(Boolean);
+
+        if (els.length === selectors.length && els.some(hasAnyText)) {
+          return resolve(els);
+        }
+        if (performance.now() - start > timeout) {
+          return resolve(els); // return what we have (may be empty)
+        }
+        requestAnimationFrame(tryNow);
+      };
+      tryNow();
+    });
+  }
+
+  function hasAnyText(node) {
+    // Consider it "ready" if there is at least one visible text node (ignoring whitespace)
+    const walker = document.createTreeWalker(node, NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT, null, false);
+    while (walker.nextNode()) {
+      if ((walker.currentNode.nodeValue || "").trim()) return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+  }
+
   function tokenize(s) {
     const out = [];
     let i = 0, buf = "", inQ = false;
@@ -558,9 +616,16 @@ function showToast(message, duration = 3000) {
   function highlightAll(root, needle) {
     if (!needle) return;
     const re = new RegExp(escapeRegExp(needle), "gi");
-    walkTextNodes(root, (textNode) => {
+
+    // Collect first; TreeWalker snapshot avoids modifying while walking
+    const nodes = [];
+    const walker = document.createTreeWalker(root, NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT, null, false);
+    while (walker.nextNode()) nodes.push(walker.currentNode);
+
+    for (const textNode of nodes) {
       const text = textNode.nodeValue;
-      if (!re.test(text)) return;
+      if (!text || !re.test(text)) continue;
+
       const frag = document.createDocumentFragment();
       let lastIndex = 0;
       text.replace(re, (m, idx) => {
@@ -573,18 +638,13 @@ function showToast(message, duration = 3000) {
         return m;
       });
       if (lastIndex < text.length) frag.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text.slice(lastIndex)));
-      textNode.parentNode.replaceChild(frag, textNode);
-    });
-  }
 
-  function walkTextNodes(node, cb) {
-    const walker = document.createTreeWalker(node, NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT, null, false);
-    const nodes = [];
-    while (walker.nextNode()) nodes.push(walker.currentNode);
-    nodes.forEach(cb);
+      if (textNode.parentNode) textNode.parentNode.replaceChild(frag, textNode);
+    }
   }
 })();
 </script>
 
 
+
 {% endblock %}