diff --git a/app/smartphone/src/main/java/com/m3u/smartphone/ui/AppViewModel.kt b/app/smartphone/src/main/java/com/m3u/smartphone/ui/AppViewModel.kt
index baddda108..0f4865bc1 100644
--- a/app/smartphone/src/main/java/com/m3u/smartphone/ui/AppViewModel.kt
+++ b/app/smartphone/src/main/java/com/m3u/smartphone/ui/AppViewModel.kt
@@ -88,6 +88,23 @@ class AppViewModel @Inject constructor(
                     }
             }
         }
+        // Cache before the combine below, not after.
+        //
+        // A PagingData straight out of a Pager can only ever be collected once.
+        // combine re-emits the latest value of every source whenever any single
+        // one of them changes, and extensionSearchResults always emits twice per
+        // query — an empty placeholder, then the actual results. That hands the
+        // same PagingData downstream a second time, and Paging throws:
+        //
+        //   IllegalStateException: Attempt to collect twice from pageEventFlow
+        //
+        // The crash killed the process on the first keystroke, which is why
+        // searching looked like it simply returned nothing.
+        //
+        // cachedIn turns the stream into a multicast one that tolerates being
+        // collected again; the filter and insertHeaderItem below are re-applied
+        // on each collection, which is exactly what we want.
+        .cachedIn(viewModelScope)
 
     private val extensionSearchResults = searchQueries
         .mapLatestSearchResults { query ->
@@ -112,7 +129,7 @@ class AppViewModel @Inject constructor(
                 item = ChannelWithProgramme(channel = channel, programme = null)
             )
         }
-    }.cachedIn(viewModelScope)
+    }
 
     private fun refreshProgrammes() {
         viewModelScope.launch {
diff --git a/app/smartphone/src/test/java/com/m3u/smartphone/ui/AppViewModelSearchPagingTest.kt b/app/smartphone/src/test/java/com/m3u/smartphone/ui/AppViewModelSearchPagingTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aebe61722
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/smartphone/src/test/java/com/m3u/smartphone/ui/AppViewModelSearchPagingTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+package com.m3u.smartphone.ui
+
+import androidx.paging.Pager
+import androidx.paging.PagingConfig
+import androidx.paging.PagingData
+import androidx.paging.PagingDataEvent
+import androidx.paging.PagingDataPresenter
+import androidx.paging.PagingSource
+import androidx.paging.PagingState
+import androidx.paging.cachedIn
+import androidx.paging.insertHeaderItem
+import kotlinx.coroutines.CoroutineScope
+import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
+import kotlinx.coroutines.SupervisorJob
+import kotlinx.coroutines.cancel
+import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.Flow
+import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableSharedFlow
+import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.collectLatest
+import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.combine
+import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
+import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
+import kotlinx.coroutines.withTimeout
+import kotlinx.coroutines.yield
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertTrue
+import org.junit.Test
+import kotlin.coroutines.EmptyCoroutineContext
+
+/**
+ * The search screen merges a Pager with extension results through [combine].
+ *
+ * combine re-emits the latest value of every source whenever any single one of
+ * them changes, so the very same PagingData reaches the collector more than
+ * once — and a PagingData taken straight from a Pager may only be collected
+ * once. Without a cachedIn in between, Paging throws and the crash takes the
+ * whole process down on the first keystroke.
+ */
+class AppViewModelSearchPagingTest {
+    @Test
+    fun `a cached stream tolerates the re-emission combine causes`() = runBlocking {
+        withTimeout(TEST_TIMEOUT_MILLIS) {
+            val scope = CoroutineScope(Dispatchers.Unconfined + SupervisorJob())
+            val promoted = MutableSharedFlow<List<String>>(replay = 1)
+            val presenter = SilentPagingDataPresenter()
+
+            val collection = launch {
+                combinedSearchResults(
+                    local = pagerFlow().cachedIn(scope),
+                    promoted = promoted,
+                ).collectLatest(presenter::collectFrom)
+            }
+
+            // The empty placeholder every search emits before its results land.
+            promoted.emit(emptyList())
+            settle()
+            assertEquals(listOf("local"), presenter.snapshot().items)
+
+            // The results themselves: same PagingData, second collection.
+            promoted.emit(listOf("promoted"))
+            settle()
+            assertEquals(listOf("promoted", "local"), presenter.snapshot().items)
+
+            collection.cancel()
+            scope.cancel()
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `an uncached stream is rejected on that second collection`() = runBlocking {
+        withTimeout(TEST_TIMEOUT_MILLIS) {
+            val promoted = MutableSharedFlow<List<String>>(replay = 1)
+            val presenter = SilentPagingDataPresenter()
+            var failure: Throwable? = null
+
+            val collection = launch {
+                runCatching {
+                    combinedSearchResults(
+                        local = pagerFlow(),
+                        promoted = promoted,
+                    ).collectLatest(presenter::collectFrom)
+                }.onFailure { failure = it }
+            }
+
+            promoted.emit(emptyList())
+            settle()
+            promoted.emit(listOf("promoted"))
+            settle()
+
+            val message = failure?.message.orEmpty()
+            assertTrue(
+                "expected Paging to reject the second collection, got: $failure",
+                message.contains("collect twice", ignoreCase = true),
+            )
+            collection.cancel()
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** Mirrors how AppViewModel folds promoted results onto the paged ones. */
+    private fun combinedSearchResults(
+        local: Flow<PagingData<String>>,
+        promoted: Flow<List<String>>,
+    ): Flow<PagingData<String>> = combine(local, promoted) { paging, items ->
+        items.asReversed().fold(paging) { acc, item -> acc.insertHeaderItem(item = item) }
+    }
+
+    private fun pagerFlow(): Flow<PagingData<String>> = Pager(
+        config = PagingConfig(pageSize = 20, enablePlaceholders = false),
+    ) {
+        SinglePagePagingSource(listOf("local"))
+    }.flow
+
+    /** Paging hops between dispatchers; give those hops room to complete. */
+    private suspend fun settle() = repeat(SETTLE_PASSES) { yield() }
+
+    private class SinglePagePagingSource(
+        private val items: List<String>,
+    ) : PagingSource<Int, String>() {
+        override fun getRefreshKey(state: PagingState<Int, String>): Int? = null
+
+        override suspend fun load(params: LoadParams<Int>): LoadResult<Int, String> =
+            LoadResult.Page(data = items, prevKey = null, nextKey = null)
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Presents nothing — the point is that collecting happens at all. The base
+     * class keeps the snapshot up to date on its own.
+     */
+    private class SilentPagingDataPresenter : PagingDataPresenter<String>(
+        mainContext = EmptyCoroutineContext,
+    ) {
+        override suspend fun presentPagingDataEvent(event: PagingDataEvent<String>) = Unit
+    }
+
+    private companion object {
+        const val TEST_TIMEOUT_MILLIS = 10_000L
+        const val SETTLE_PASSES = 50
+    }
+}