diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/captionOverrides.test.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/captionOverrides.test.ts
index 03d981d50..e62cf5f5a 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/captionOverrides.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/captionOverrides.test.ts
@@ -183,4 +183,55 @@ describe("caption state declaration", () => {
     expect(tweens[0].color).toBe("#eee");
     expect(tweens[1].color).toBe("#111");
   });
+
+  it("does not let a declared tween poison the baseline for undeclared ones", async () => {
+    // The baseline exists to guess about tweens the declaration has NOT spoken to. Deriving it from
+    // a tween declared "active" makes every undeclared same-state tween compare against a colour
+    // that has explicitly said it is not the dim reference — so the one genuinely dim tween here
+    // gets classified active and receives the wrong override.
+    const tweens = installGsapMockWithTweens([
+      { color: "#eee", data: { captionState: "active" } },
+      { color: "#111" },
+    ]);
+    installCaptionOverrideFetch([{ wordIndex: 0, dimColor: "#dim", activeColor: "#active" }]);
+    document.body.innerHTML = `<div class="caption-group"><span id="w0">Hi</span></div>`;
+
+    applyCaptionOverrides();
+    await flushCaptionOverrides();
+
+    expect(tweens[0].color).toBe("#active");
+    expect(tweens[1].color).toBe("#dim");
+  });
+
+  it("prefers a declared dim tween as the baseline over an undeclared one", async () => {
+    const tweens = installGsapMockWithTweens([
+      { color: "#aaa" },
+      { color: "#bbb", data: { captionState: "dim" } },
+    ]);
+    installCaptionOverrideFetch([{ wordIndex: 0, dimColor: "#dim", activeColor: "#active" }]);
+    document.body.innerHTML = `<div class="caption-group"><span id="w0">Hi</span></div>`;
+
+    applyCaptionOverrides();
+    await flushCaptionOverrides();
+
+    // #bbb is the declared dim reference, so the undeclared #aaa is not dim.
+    expect(tweens[0].color).toBe("#active");
+    expect(tweens[1].color).toBe("#dim");
+  });
+
+  it("falls through to the heuristic for a malformed declaration", async () => {
+    // A typo, a primitive, or a null must never ship a broken composition — an unrecognised value
+    // is not a state, so classification continues as if nothing was declared.
+    for (const data of [{ captionState: "typo" }, { captionState: 42 }, null, "notAnObject"]) {
+      const tweens = installGsapMockWithTweens([{ color: "#222", data }, { color: "#fff" }]);
+      installCaptionOverrideFetch([{ wordIndex: 0, dimColor: "#dim", activeColor: "#active" }]);
+      document.body.innerHTML = `<div class="caption-group"><span id="w0">Hi</span></div>`;
+
+      applyCaptionOverrides();
+      await flushCaptionOverrides();
+
+      expect(tweens[0].color).toBe("#dim");
+      expect(tweens[1].color).toBe("#active");
+    }
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/captionOverrides.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/captionOverrides.ts
index ac3640fe3..1cd713b37 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/captionOverrides.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/captionOverrides.ts
@@ -138,21 +138,26 @@ export function applyCaptionOverrides(): void {
         if (override.fontWeight !== undefined) styleProps.fontWeight = override.fontWeight;
         if (override.fontFamily !== undefined) styleProps.fontFamily = override.fontFamily;
 
-        // Replace color values in existing GSAP tweens.
-        // Instead of relying on timeline position order (fragile if custom
-        // color tweens exist), we classify each tween by comparing its
-        // target color to the current computed color of the element.
-        // Tweens that match the current color are "dim" tweens; tweens
-        // with a different color are "active" tweens.
+        // Replace color values in existing GSAP tweens, classified in two layers.
+        //
+        // A tween that DECLARES its state is taken at its word. Anything undeclared falls back to
+        // colour equality against a dim reference — a guess, and the reason the declaration exists:
+        // two states sharing a colour make every tween look dim.
+        //
+        // The reference is drawn only from tweens the guess still applies to (a declared "dim" one
+        // if present, else the first undeclared one). Deriving it from a tween declared "active"
+        // would compare undeclared siblings against a colour that has explicitly said it is not the
+        // dim reference.
         if (override.activeColor || override.dimColor) {
           const allTweens = gsap.getTweensOf(el);
           const colorTweens = allTweens
             .filter((tw) => tw.vars.color !== undefined)
             .sort((a, b) => a.startTime() - b.startTime());
 
-          // Use the first tween's color as the dim baseline — if no tweens,
-          // fall back to computed style.
-          const dimBaseline = colorTweens[0] ? String(colorTweens[0].vars.color) : "";
+          const dimReference =
+            colorTweens.find((tw) => declaredCaptionState(tw) === "dim") ??
+            colorTweens.find((tw) => declaredCaptionState(tw) === undefined);
+          const dimBaseline = dimReference ? String(dimReference.vars.color) : "";
 
           for (const tw of colorTweens) {
             // A declaration wins over the colour guess, per tween, so a composition can declare