diff --git a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Layout/DeepDrftMenu.razor b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Layout/DeepDrftMenu.razor
index 4c7ce0c..00b5c06 100644
--- a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Layout/DeepDrftMenu.razor
+++ b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Layout/DeepDrftMenu.razor
@@ -77,23 +77,21 @@
     private bool _mobileMenuOpen;
     private Guid _viewportSubscriptionId;
 
-    protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
-    {
-        // During SSR prerender the dark-mode state is already seeded by the server-side
-        // DarkModeService (via IHttpContextAccessor + DarkModeSettings + PersistentComponentState).
-        // Invoking the EventCallback here during prerender triggers a re-render cycle on the
-        // SSR renderer that never completes, hanging the page. Guard to interactive-only so
-        // the cookie sync only runs when the component is actually mounted in the browser.
-        if (!RendererInfo.IsInteractive) return;
-
-        IsDarkMode = DarkModeCookieService.GetDarkModeAsync();
-        await IsDarkModeChanged.InvokeAsync(IsDarkMode);
-    }
-
     protected override async Task OnAfterRenderAsync(bool firstRender)
     {
         if (firstRender)
         {
+            // Runs here (not OnInitializedAsync) because OnAfterRenderAsync(firstRender)
+            // is guaranteed not to execute during any SSR prerender pass. During prerender
+            // (now interactive across all of Routes), awaiting IsDarkModeChanged.InvokeAsync
+            // triggers a parent re-render cycle that cannot complete on the prerender renderer
+            // and hangs the response. Server-side DarkModeService has already seeded
+            // DarkModeSettings via PersistentComponentState, so the prerender paint is
+            // already correct; this call reads that persisted value and propagates it to the
+            // parent so the menu's IsDarkMode parameter stays consistent with DarkModeSettings.
+            IsDarkMode = DarkModeCookieService.GetDarkMode();
+            await IsDarkModeChanged.InvokeAsync(IsDarkMode);
+
             _viewportSubscriptionId = Guid.NewGuid();
             await BrowserViewportService.SubscribeAsync(
                 _viewportSubscriptionId,
diff --git a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Services/DarkModeCookieService.cs b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Services/DarkModeCookieService.cs
index 0b12689..177894e 100644
--- a/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Services/DarkModeCookieService.cs
+++ b/DeepDrftPublic.Client/Services/DarkModeCookieService.cs
@@ -7,12 +7,9 @@ public class DarkModeCookieService(DarkModeSettings darkModeSetting, IJSRuntime
 {
     private const int EXPIRY_DAYS = 365;
 
-    public bool GetDarkModeAsync()
+    public bool GetDarkMode()
     {
         return darkModeSetting.IsDarkMode;
-        // var value = await js.InvokeAsync<string?>("eval", 
-        //     $"document.cookie.split('; ').find(c => c.startsWith('{COOKIE_NAME}='))?.split('=')[1]");
-        // return value == "true";
     }
 
     public async ValueTask SetDarkModeAsync(bool isDarkMode)