diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 26fe77b..a0ac9eb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -62,7 +62,10 @@ subscription records and nothing else.
 Account controls live in the popup header: a Sign in button when signed out,
 and your avatar and handle when signed in, opening a menu with Switch account
 and Sign out. The Sign in button expands into the handle form and then
-submits it — it is the form's only button. A session that ends on its own
+submits it — it is the form's only button. Switch account opens that same
+form without signing you out: the current login stays valid until the
+replacement sign-in completes, and only then is it revoked. Abandoning the
+switch leaves you signed in as before. A session that ends on its own
 (expired or remotely revoked refresh token) is flagged once in that panel,
 so being signed out always has an explanation.
 
diff --git a/src/popup/popup.ts b/src/popup/popup.ts
index d75c461..f45b4d7 100644
--- a/src/popup/popup.ts
+++ b/src/popup/popup.ts
@@ -117,13 +117,15 @@ async function loadState(refresh: boolean) {
 }
 
 function renderAccount() {
-  $('signin-open').hidden = !!session
   $('account-btn').hidden = !session
   if (!session) {
     $('account-menu').hidden = true
+    $('signin-open').hidden = false
     return
   }
-  setSigninPanel(false)
+  // Keep the panel as it is: a profile refresh landing mid-switch must not
+  // close the form under the user.
+  setSigninPanel(!$('signin-panel').hidden)
   $('account-handle').textContent = `@${session.handle ?? session.did}`
   const img = $<HTMLImageElement>('account-avatar')
   const url = session.avatarUrl
@@ -142,12 +144,16 @@ function renderAccount() {
 /**
  * The header Sign in button is the panel's only button: it expands into the
  * handle form, and once open it submits it. Everything that hides the panel
- * must go through here so the button's state stays truthful.
+ * must go through here so the button's state stays truthful. While signed in
+ * the button appears only with the panel (the switch-account flow), so the
+ * form always has its submit button.
  */
 function setSigninPanel(open: boolean) {
+  const opening = open && $('signin-panel').hidden
   $('signin-panel').hidden = !open
+  $('signin-open').hidden = !!session && !open
   $('signin-open').setAttribute('aria-expanded', String(open))
-  if (open) $<HTMLInputElement>('handle-input').focus()
+  if (opening) $<HTMLInputElement>('handle-input').focus()
 }
 
 function openSigninPanel() {
@@ -447,13 +453,12 @@ $('signin-form').addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
 })
 wireTypeaheadSubmit($('handle-input'), $<HTMLFormElement>('signin-form'))
 
-$('switch-account').addEventListener('click', async (e) => {
+// Just a shortcut into the sign-in form: the current login stays usable, and
+// the worker revokes it only once the replacement sign-in completes
+// (src/signin.ts). Closing the popup or the consent window changes nothing.
+$('switch-account').addEventListener('click', (e) => {
   e.stopPropagation()
-  await invalidateSubsCache()
-  await signOut()
-  session = undefined
-  renderAccount()
-  render()
+  $('account-menu').hidden = true
   openSigninPanel()
 })