diff --git a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/exoplayer/ExoPlayerCore.kt b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/exoplayer/ExoPlayerCore.kt
index b208bc2f..9ec7fb42 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/exoplayer/ExoPlayerCore.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/exoplayer/ExoPlayerCore.kt
@@ -1905,7 +1905,12 @@ class ExoPlayerCore(private val activity: Activity) : Player.Listener {
     cancelDecoderHangCheck()
     stopPositionUpdates()
     handler.removeCallbacksAndMessages(null)
-    frameRateManager?.clearVideoFrameRate()
+    // releasePending (not clearVideoFrameRate): on the ExoPlayer→MPV fallback
+    // path, dispose runs after the rate switch has been applied — clearing
+    // preferredDisplayModeId here would renegotiate HDMI back to default
+    // before MPV's surface comes up. Explicit user-leave still calls
+    // clearVideoFrameRate via Dart (video_player_screen.dart).
+    frameRateManager?.releasePending()
     frameRateManager = null
     audioFocusManager?.release()
     audioFocusManager = null
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/mpv/MpvPlayerCore.kt b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/mpv/MpvPlayerCore.kt
index 37b1e6f5..8bc01226 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/mpv/MpvPlayerCore.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/mpv/MpvPlayerCore.kt
@@ -767,8 +767,11 @@ class MpvPlayerCore(private val activity: Activity) : SurfaceHolder.Callback {
 
     handler.removeCallbacksAndMessages(null)
 
-    // Clean up frame rate and audio focus
-    frameRateManager?.clearVideoFrameRate()
+    // Clean up frame rate and audio focus.
+    // releasePending (not clearVideoFrameRate): symmetric with ExoPlayerCore —
+    // dispose only releases the listener/pending future. Restoring the
+    // display mode is the explicit Dart-side clearVideoFrameRate's job.
+    frameRateManager?.releasePending()
     frameRateManager = null
     audioFocusManager?.release()
     audioFocusManager = null
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/shared/FrameRateManager.kt b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/shared/FrameRateManager.kt
index fd2d109a..446fadff 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/shared/FrameRateManager.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/edde746/plezy/shared/FrameRateManager.kt
@@ -90,6 +90,17 @@ class FrameRateManager(
     }
   }
 
+  // Release pending callbacks/listener without restoring the display mode.
+  // Used by player-core dispose paths so a backend handoff (e.g. ExoPlayer→MPV
+  // audio fallback) doesn't clobber the just-applied refresh-rate switch —
+  // window-scoped preferredDisplayModeId persists across the SurfaceView swap,
+  // letting MPV inherit the rate without a second HDMI renegotiation.
+  fun releasePending() {
+    Log.d(TAG, "releasePending")
+    currentVideoFps = 0f
+    firePendingCompletion("release", switched = false)
+  }
+
   private fun cancelPendingCallbacks() {
     pendingSettleRunnable?.let { handler.removeCallbacks(it) }
     watchdogRunnable?.let { handler.removeCallbacks(it) }