diff --git a/src/web/routes/session-routes.ts b/src/web/routes/session-routes.ts
index 0a82bdff..67346530 100644
--- a/src/web/routes/session-routes.ts
+++ b/src/web/routes/session-routes.ts
@@ -3153,8 +3153,16 @@ export function registerSessionRoutes(
     // `alt=recording`) gets the old visible-frame load over it, tailed, rather
     // than losing everything above the screen. `alternate_on` cannot tell a
     // nested tmux from vim or less, so those take this path too while open:
-    // the load the shell had before tmux-rendered loads existed.
-    if (isFullReload && query.alt === 'recording' && captureOpts.capturedAlternateOn === true) {
+    // the load the shell had before tmux-rendered loads existed. Not when the
+    // history came from the remote tmux (`scrollbackOverride`): a remote pane is
+    // in the alternate screen only because it hosts that tmux's client, and
+    // the fallback would throw the remote scrollback away.
+    if (
+      isFullReload &&
+      query.alt === 'recording' &&
+      captureOpts.scrollbackOverride === undefined &&
+      captureOpts.capturedAlternateOn === true
+    ) {
       isFullReload = false;
       captureOpts = {};
       liveMuxBuffer = capture(captureOpts);
diff --git a/test/routes/session-routes.test.ts b/test/routes/session-routes.test.ts
index 400cf30a..5e29290e 100644
--- a/test/routes/session-routes.test.ts
+++ b/test/routes/session-routes.test.ts
@@ -1349,6 +1349,28 @@ describe('session-routes', () => {
         }
       });
 
+      it("keeps a remote session's spliced remote scrollback, and falls back only when that read failed", async () => {
+        // The remote session's local pane hosts the remote tmux client, so it is
+        // always in the alternate screen; the history comes from the remote tmux.
+        const spy = install(true);
+        const session = harness.ctx._session as unknown as { remote?: unknown };
+        session.remote = { hostId: 'h1', label: 'proxx', host: 'proxx.lan', username: 'tim', remotePath: '/home/tim' };
+        try {
+          remoteScrollback.mockResolvedValueOnce('remote line 1\n');
+          const spliced = await load(`full=1&tail=${1024 * 1024}&alt=recording&lines=10000`);
+          expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+          expect(spliced.source).toBe('mux-full-history');
+
+          spy.mockClear();
+          remoteScrollback.mockResolvedValueOnce(null);
+          const fallback = await load(`full=1&tail=${1024 * 1024}&alt=recording&lines=10000`);
+          expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+          expect(fallback.source).toBe('mux-visible');
+        } finally {
+          session.remote = undefined;
+        }
+      });
+
       it('keeps the full capture without the opt-in (agents, Load full history, scroll pulls)', async () => {
         const spy = install(true);
         const data = await load(`full=1&tail=${1024 * 1024}&lines=10000`);