diff --git a/src/lib/register-service-worker.ts b/src/lib/register-service-worker.ts
index 60f37453..46baa668 100644
--- a/src/lib/register-service-worker.ts
+++ b/src/lib/register-service-worker.ts
@@ -6,19 +6,60 @@ export async function registerServiceWorker (): Promise<ServiceWorkerRegistratio
     scope: '/'
   })
 
-  // sw was registered immediately
   if (swRegistration.active?.state === 'activated') {
     return swRegistration
   }
 
+  return waitForActivation(swRegistration)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Waits for a service worker to reach the 'activated' state.
+ *
+ * The naive approach of only listening for 'updatefound' has edge cases that
+ * can leave users stuck on a loading screen forever:
+ *
+ * 1. Race condition: a worker may already be in 'installing' or 'waiting' state
+ * when we start listening, so we'd miss the activation event.
+ *
+ * 2. Silent failures: if a worker becomes 'redundant' (e.g., replaced by a
+ * newer version mid-install), we need to detect this and fail explicitly.
+ *
+ * 3. Indefinite hangs: without a timeout, a stuck worker activation would
+ * hang the page forever with no feedback.
+ *
+ * To handle these, we track all existing workers (installing, waiting, active)
+ * plus any new ones via 'updatefound', and enforce a 30-second timeout.
+ */
+async function waitForActivation (swRegistration: ServiceWorkerRegistration): Promise<ServiceWorkerRegistration> {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    swRegistration.addEventListener('updatefound', () => {
-      const newWorker = swRegistration.installing
-      newWorker?.addEventListener('statechange', () => {
-        if (newWorker.state === 'activated') {
-          resolve(swRegistration)
-        }
+    const succeed = (): void => {
+      clearTimeout(timeoutId)
+      resolve(swRegistration)
+    }
+
+    const fail = (msg: string): void => {
+      clearTimeout(timeoutId)
+      reject(new Error(msg))
+    }
+
+    const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
+      fail('Service worker failed to activate within 30 seconds. Refresh the page to retry.')
+    }, 30_000)
+
+    const trackWorker = (sw: ServiceWorker | null): void => {
+      if (sw == null) { return }
+      sw.addEventListener('statechange', () => {
+        if (sw.state === 'activated') { succeed() } else if (sw.state === 'redundant') { fail('Service worker became redundant. Refresh the page to retry.') }
       })
+      if (sw.state === 'activated') { succeed() }
+    }
+
+    trackWorker(swRegistration.installing)
+    trackWorker(swRegistration.waiting)
+    trackWorker(swRegistration.active)
+    swRegistration.addEventListener('updatefound', () => {
+      trackWorker(swRegistration.installing)
     })
   })
 }
diff --git a/test-e2e/service-worker-registration.test.ts b/test-e2e/service-worker-registration.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ca64dec3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-e2e/service-worker-registration.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+import { test, expect } from './fixtures/config-test-fixtures.js'
+import { swScopeVerification } from './fixtures/sw-scope-verification.js'
+import { waitForServiceWorker } from './fixtures/wait-for-service-worker.js'
+
+test.describe('service worker registration', () => {
+  test('activates successfully on fresh registration', async ({ page, baseURL }) => {
+    // Unregister any existing service worker
+    await page.goto(baseURL ?? 'http://localhost:3333')
+    await page.evaluate(async () => {
+      const registrations = await navigator.serviceWorker.getRegistrations()
+      await Promise.all(registrations.map(r => r.unregister()))
+    })
+
+    // Navigate to trigger fresh registration
+    await page.goto(baseURL ?? 'http://localhost:3333')
+
+    // Wait for SW to activate
+    await waitForServiceWorker(page)
+
+    // Verify SW is properly registered
+    await swScopeVerification(page, expect)
+  })
+
+  test('re-registers after being unregistered', async ({ page, baseURL }) => {
+    // First ensure SW is registered
+    await page.goto(baseURL ?? 'http://localhost:3333')
+    await waitForServiceWorker(page)
+
+    // Unregister SW
+    await page.evaluate(async () => {
+      const registrations = await navigator.serviceWorker.getRegistrations()
+      await Promise.all(registrations.map(r => r.unregister()))
+    })
+
+    // Verify SW is unregistered
+    const hasNoRegistration = await page.evaluate(async () => {
+      return await navigator.serviceWorker.getRegistration() === undefined
+    })
+    expect(hasNoRegistration).toBe(true)
+
+    // Navigate to root to trigger re-registration (avoid IPFS path which causes redirects)
+    await page.goto(baseURL ?? 'http://localhost:3333', { waitUntil: 'networkidle' })
+
+    // Wait for SW to activate again
+    await waitForServiceWorker(page)
+
+    // Verify SW is properly registered
+    await swScopeVerification(page, expect)
+  })
+
+  test('handles multiple register/unregister cycles', async ({ page, baseURL }) => {
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+      // Navigate and wait for SW
+      await page.goto(baseURL ?? 'http://localhost:3333')
+      await waitForServiceWorker(page)
+
+      // Verify SW is registered
+      await swScopeVerification(page, expect)
+
+      // Unregister
+      await page.evaluate(async () => {
+        const registrations = await navigator.serviceWorker.getRegistrations()
+        await Promise.all(registrations.map(r => r.unregister()))
+      })
+
+      // Verify unregistered
+      const hasNoRegistration = await page.evaluate(async () => {
+        return await navigator.serviceWorker.getRegistration() === undefined
+      })
+      expect(hasNoRegistration).toBe(true)
+    }
+  })
+
+  // NOTE: Testing the activation timeout error page is not possible in E2E because
+  // Playwright cannot intercept service worker script fetches:
+  // "Requests for updated Service Worker main script code currently cannot be routed"
+  // @see https://playwright.dev/docs/service-workers
+  //
+  // The timeout functionality is tested implicitly - if waitForActivation hangs
+  // indefinitely, the tests above would fail.
+})