diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx
index 13ac40a..7205633 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Feed.tsx
@@ -137,19 +137,15 @@ export default function Feed({
     retry: false,
   });
 
-  // When a search term first appears, rank the local feed by relevance (YouTube-like); when
-  // it's cleared, fall back to the default newest sort. Only fires on the empty↔non-empty
-  // transition, so it never overrides a sort the user picks while a query stays active.
+  // Switching to the relevance sort when a search starts happens atomically in the header's
+  // input onChange (race-free with the query update). Here we only handle the reverse: when
+  // the term is cleared, fall back to the default sort — relevance has no dropdown option and
+  // doesn't rank without a query.
   const qEmpty = !filters.q.trim();
-  const prevQEmptyRef = useRef(qEmpty);
   useEffect(() => {
-    const sortKeyNow = parseSort(filters.sort).key;
-    if (prevQEmptyRef.current && !qEmpty && sortKeyNow !== "relevance") {
-      setFilters({ ...filters, sort: "relevance" });
-    } else if (!prevQEmptyRef.current && qEmpty && sortKeyNow === "relevance") {
+    if (qEmpty && parseSort(filters.sort).key === "relevance") {
       setFilters({ ...filters, sort: buildSort("date", "desc") });
     }
-    prevQEmptyRef.current = qEmpty;
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
   }, [qEmpty]);
 
@@ -316,8 +312,8 @@ export default function Feed({
               // disabled and still holds its pre-search cache) is stale. Drop those caches so
               // it re-fetches fresh on return instead of showing the old (often empty) result.
               // Surface the just-searched videos in the feed you return to: switch the Source
-              // filter to "search" so your own search finds show (filtered by the kept term).
-              setFilters({ ...filters, librarySource: "search" });
+              // filter to "search" (your own search finds) and rank them by relevance.
+              setFilters({ ...filters, librarySource: "search", sort: "relevance" });
               onExitYtSearch();
               qc.removeQueries({ queryKey: ["feed"] });
               qc.removeQueries({ queryKey: ["feed-count"] });
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Header.tsx b/frontend/src/components/Header.tsx
index c1d8a9c..5291e92 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Header.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Header.tsx
@@ -67,7 +67,14 @@ export default function Header({
             <Search className="w-4 h-4 absolute left-3 top-1/2 -translate-y-1/2 text-muted" />
             <input
               value={filters.q}
-              onChange={(e) => setFilters({ ...filters, q: e.target.value })}
+              onChange={(e) => {
+                const q = e.target.value;
+                // When a search first appears, rank the feed by relevance — set atomically with
+                // the query (race-free vs. per-keystroke updates). Only overrides the default
+                // "newest" sort; a custom sort the user chose is left alone. Cleared in Feed.
+                const startSearch = !filters.q.trim() && !!q.trim() && filters.sort === "newest";
+                setFilters({ ...filters, q, ...(startSearch ? { sort: "relevance" } : {}) });
+              }}
               onKeyDown={(e) => {
                 // Enter runs a live YouTube search for the typed term (the box itself filters
                 // the local catalog as you type; Enter escalates to the YouTube API).