diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/manualEditGestureWatch.test.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/manualEditGestureWatch.test.ts
index 37144e0808..f59fbde8ce 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/manualEditGestureWatch.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/manualEditGestureWatch.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { JSDOM } from "jsdom";
 import { STUDIO_MANUAL_EDIT_GESTURE_ATTR } from "../editing/draftMarkers";
 import { createManualEditGestureWatch } from "./manualEditGestureWatch";
 
@@ -34,6 +35,28 @@ describe("manual-edit gesture watch", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("sees a gesture on an element adopted from another realm", async () => {
+    // The composition body is built in the editor window and moved into the
+    // preview document, so its nodes carry another realm's prototypes and
+    // `target instanceof Element` answers false for every one of them. A
+    // gesture on such an element must still be seen, or a parked transport
+    // never wakes while the user drags.
+    const foreign = new JSDOM("<!doctype html><html><body></body></html>");
+    const el = foreign.window.document.createElement("div");
+    document.body.appendChild(document.adoptNode(el as unknown as Node));
+    const watch = createManualEditGestureWatch(document, () => {});
+    try {
+      expect(el instanceof Element).toBe(false);
+      (el as unknown as Element).setAttribute(STUDIO_MANUAL_EDIT_GESTURE_ATTR, "token");
+      expect(watch.isActive()).toBe(true);
+      await flush();
+      (el as unknown as Element).removeAttribute(STUDIO_MANUAL_EDIT_GESTURE_ATTR);
+      expect(watch.isActive()).toBe(false);
+    } finally {
+      watch.disconnect();
+    }
+  });
+
   it("stops reporting a gesture whose element was torn out mid-drag", async () => {
     document.body.innerHTML = `<div id="a"></div>`;
     const watch = createManualEditGestureWatch(document, () => {});
diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/manualEditGestureWatch.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/manualEditGestureWatch.ts
index 6455039df7..a5be082806 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/manualEditGestureWatch.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/manualEditGestureWatch.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { STUDIO_MANUAL_EDIT_GESTURE_ATTR } from "../editing/draftMarkers";
+import { isElementNode } from "./domRealm";
 
 export interface ManualEditGestureWatch {
   /** True while any element in the document carries the gesture marker. */
@@ -53,7 +54,10 @@ export function createManualEditGestureWatch(
   const ingest = (records: MutationRecord[]): void => {
     for (const record of records) {
       const target = record.target;
-      if (!(target instanceof Element)) continue;
+      // Structural, not `instanceof`: the composition body is adopted into the
+      // preview frame, so its nodes answer to another realm's Element and an
+      // identity check silently skips every gesture. See domRealm.ts.
+      if (!isElementNode(target)) continue;
       if (target.hasAttribute(STUDIO_MANUAL_EDIT_GESTURE_ATTR)) marked.add(target);
       else marked.delete(target);
     }