diff --git a/packages/engine/src/services/browserManager.test.ts b/packages/engine/src/services/browserManager.test.ts
index 867169d4b1..52caae0576 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/services/browserManager.test.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/services/browserManager.test.ts
@@ -714,6 +714,21 @@ describe("resolveBrowserGpuMode", () => {
     expect(close).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
   });
 
+  it("does not keep a probe its own caller cancelled as the answer for the process", async () => {
+    setMockWebGlProbe({ hasWebGL: true, vendor: "NVIDIA", renderer: "NVIDIA" });
+    const cancelled = {
+      launch: async () => {
+        throw new DOMException("This operation was aborted", "AbortError");
+      },
+      close: vi.fn(),
+    };
+    const first = resolveBrowserGpuMode("auto", { probeLifecycle: cancelled });
+    const second = resolveBrowserGpuMode("auto");
+    await expect(second).resolves.toBe("hardware");
+    await first;
+    await expect(resolveBrowserGpuMode("auto")).resolves.toBe("hardware");
+  });
+
   it("passes 'software' through unchanged without probing", async () => {
     const mode = await resolveBrowserGpuMode("software");
     expect(mode).toBe("software");
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/services/browserManager.ts b/packages/engine/src/services/browserManager.ts
index f1da7d9a3c..3bd9bfe242 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/services/browserManager.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/services/browserManager.ts
@@ -551,6 +551,7 @@ export const _closeBrowserAfterFailedProbeForTests = closeBrowserAfterFailedProb
 interface GpuProbeOutcome {
   mode: "software" | "hardware";
   cause?: "no-gpu" | "probe-error";
+  aborted?: true;
   /** Under WSL, what we checked on its GPU path (see describeWslGpuAccess). */
   wslAccess?: string[];
   /** Under WSL, Chrome reached the GPU only without WSLg's WAYLAND_DISPLAY. */
@@ -649,7 +650,8 @@ async function probeWebGlMode(
     return resolved === "hardware" ? { mode: "hardware" } : { mode: "software", cause: "no-gpu" };
   } catch (err) {
     logResolvedBrowserGpuMode("software", label + formatProbeFailure(err));
-    return { mode: "software", cause: "probe-error" };
+    const aborted = err instanceof Error && err.name === "AbortError";
+    return { mode: "software", cause: "probe-error", ...(aborted && { aborted }) };
   }
 }
 
@@ -717,15 +719,25 @@ function wslAccess(options: GpuProbeOptions): Pick<GpuProbeOutcome, "wslAccess">
  * safe failure mode; misclassifying toward hardware would error on the real
  * render.
  */
+async function sharedGpuProbe(options: GpuProbeOptions): Promise<GpuProbeOutcome> {
+  const shared = (_autoBrowserGpuModeCache ??= probeAutoBrowserGpuMode(options));
+  const outcome = await shared;
+  if (!outcome.aborted) return outcome;
+  if (_autoBrowserGpuModeCache === shared) _autoBrowserGpuModeCache = undefined;
+  const own = await probeAutoBrowserGpuMode(options);
+  if (!own.aborted) _autoBrowserGpuModeCache ??= Promise.resolve(own);
+  return own;
+}
+
 export function resolveBrowserGpuMode(
   mode: EngineConfig["browserGpuMode"],
   options: GpuProbeOptions = {},
 ): Promise<"software" | "hardware"> {
   if (mode === "software") return Promise.resolve(mode);
 
-  _autoBrowserGpuModeCache ??= probeAutoBrowserGpuMode(options);
+  const probe = sharedGpuProbe(options);
   if (mode === "auto") {
-    return _autoBrowserGpuModeCache.then((probed) => {
+    return probe.then((probed) => {
       if (probed.mode === "software" && probed.wslAccess && !_wslSoftwareNoteLogged) {
         _wslSoftwareNoteLogged = true;
         console.error(buildWslSoftwareNote(probed));
@@ -734,7 +746,7 @@ export function resolveBrowserGpuMode(
     });
   }
 
-  return _autoBrowserGpuModeCache.then((probed) => {
+  return probe.then((probed) => {
     // Warn once per cache lifetime, not once per caller: `createCaptureSession`
     // resolves the mode for the probe browser AND every parallel worker, so
     // an un-deduplicated warning prints N+1 times and buries itself.