diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ChannelPage.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ChannelPage.tsx
index 6eb976c..703c287 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ChannelPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ChannelPage.tsx
@@ -228,7 +228,13 @@ export default function ChannelPage({
             />
           </div>
         ) : (
-          <div className="h-14 w-full rounded-2xl bg-surface" />
+          // No banner (or a dead one): a neutral bar the SAME height as a real banner, so the
+          // overlapping avatar + the Back button have the same room and don't collide (a short bar
+          // let the -mt-8 avatar ride up into the Back button).
+          <div
+            className="w-full rounded-2xl bg-surface"
+            style={{ aspectRatio: "2560 / 423", maxHeight: "150px" }}
+          />
         )}
         <button
           onClick={onBack}