diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/feed/+page.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/feed/+page.svelte
index 753fccf..eb9fea9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/feed/+page.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/feed/+page.svelte
@@ -450,7 +450,17 @@
 						const seen = new Set(uploads.map((u) => u.id));
 						const fresh = delta.uploads.filter((u) => !seen.has(u.id));
 						if (fresh.length) {
-							if (selectedHashtag || activeFilters.length) {
+							// Test the EFFECTIVE filter, not the raw chip state. `filterParams()`
+							// is what actually decides which rows the server returns, and in list
+							// view it reads `selectedHashtag` alone — `activeFilters` is ignored.
+							// `switchView('list')` deliberately keeps a chip there (an uploader
+							// chip, or a second tag) while setting `selectedHashtag` to the first
+							// TAG filter, which is null when the only chip was an uploader. So
+							// `activeFilters.length` was truthy on a list view that is genuinely
+							// unfiltered, and every delta raised the pill instead of merging —
+							// the same "a pill for rows that should have merged" this block was
+							// written to stop, one branch further in.
+							if (filterParams().toString() !== '') {
 								// Still cannot MERGE under a filter — `/feed/delta` takes no
 								// filter params and its rows carry no hashtags, so we cannot
 								// tell which belong in this view. Flagging stale is right;