diff --git a/TalerWallet1/Views/Sheets/Payment/PaymentScan.swift b/TalerWallet1/Views/Sheets/Payment/PaymentScan.swift
index 6cf7b899..95c8d184 100644
--- a/TalerWallet1/Views/Sheets/Payment/PaymentScan.swift
+++ b/TalerWallet1/Views/Sheets/Payment/PaymentScan.swift
@@ -103,7 +103,8 @@ struct PaymentScan: View, Sendable {
                                      hasDone: true,                 // conclude payment
                                     showDone: .prominent,
                                          url: url,
-                                 withActions: false)
+                                 withActions: false,
+                             expectPayDialog: true)   // reserve the commit slot
 #if TALER_NIGHTLY2
 //            if let preparePayResult {
                 let status = preparePayResult.status
diff --git a/TalerWallet1/Views/Transactions/TransactionSummaryList.swift b/TalerWallet1/Views/Transactions/TransactionSummaryList.swift
index d475186d..7a609769 100755
--- a/TalerWallet1/Views/Transactions/TransactionSummaryList.swift
+++ b/TalerWallet1/Views/Transactions/TransactionSummaryList.swift
@@ -35,6 +35,14 @@ struct TransactionSummaryList: View {
     let showDone: TalerButtonStyleType?
     let url: URL?                           // the scanned talerURL from PaymentView
     let withActions: Bool                   // true if called from pending or history, or refund
+    /// true when the caller already knows this sheet is going to be a payment
+    /// dialog, before wallet-core has said so.
+    ///
+    /// Without it the bar cannot reserve the commit slot: for the first few
+    /// hundred milliseconds `talerTX` is still the dummy transaction, so
+    /// `isPayDialog` is false and the bar shows "Done" -- in the very place
+    /// that is about to hold "Pay <amount> now".
+    var expectPayDialog: Bool = false
 
     @EnvironmentObject private var controller: Controller
     @EnvironmentObject private var model: WalletModel
@@ -346,26 +354,58 @@ struct TransactionSummaryList: View {
             .listStyle(myListStyle.style).anyView
             .background(FullBackground())
             .navigationBarBackButtonHidden(hasDone)
-            .interactiveDismissDisabled(hasDone && !isPayDialog)     // can only use "Done" button to dismiss
+            // "Done" is the only way out of a concluded transaction -- but a
+            // payment sheet whose commit button is still disabled must not be a
+            // trap, so a sheet the caller expects to become a pay dialog stays
+            // swipe-dismissable.
+            .interactiveDismissDisabled(hasDone && !isPayDialog && !expectPayDialog)
             .safeAreaInset(edge: .bottom) {
                 let cancelButton = Button("Cancel") { dismissTop(stack.push()) }
                     .buttonStyle(TalerButtonStyle(type: .bordered))
                     .padding(is26 ? .horizontal : .all)
+                // A payment sheet's bar has two slots that never trade places:
+                // the commit action on top, the dismiss action below it.
+                //
+                // It used to have one slot, and that slot showed "Done", then
+                // "Cancel", then "Pay <amount> now" as wallet-core answered --
+                // 118 ms apart in a recorded run, which is less than the time
+                // between deciding to press something and pressing it.  Both
+                // directions hurt: aiming for "Done" and paying, or aiming for
+                // "Pay" and instead filing the order away unpaid among the
+                // scanned codes, where it is hard to find again.
+                //
+                // So the commit slot exists from the start and is merely
+                // disabled until the amount is known, and "Cancel" has a place
+                // of its own instead of borrowing the commit slot.
+                let payPlaceholder = Button(String(localized: "Pay…",
+                        comment: "disabled until wallet-core returns the amount")) { }
+                    .buttonStyle(TalerButtonStyle(type: .prominent, disabled: true))
+                    .disabled(true)
+                    .accessibilityHint(Text("Waiting for the amount to pay.",
+                                            comment: "a11y"))
+                    .padding(is26 ? .horizontal : .all)
                 let bottomButton = ZStack {
-                    if isPayDialog, case .payment(let paymentTransaction) = talerTX {
-                        let details = paymentTransaction.details
-                        if let effective, let terms = details.contractTerms, isFinished == false {
-                            let formatted = effective.formatted(currencyInfo)
-                            PaySafeArea(symLog: symLog,
-                                         stack: stack.push(),
-                                         terms: terms,
-                                  amountString: formatted.0,
-                                    amountA11y: formatted.1,
-                                    isFinished: $isFinished,
-                                        payNow: $payNow)
-                        } else {
+                    if expectPayDialog || isPayDialog {
+                        VStack(spacing: 0) {
+                            if isPayDialog, case .payment(let paymentTransaction) = talerTX {
+                                let details = paymentTransaction.details
+                                if let effective, let terms = details.contractTerms, isFinished == false {
+                                    let formatted = effective.formatted(currencyInfo)
+                                    PaySafeArea(symLog: symLog,
+                                                 stack: stack.push(),
+                                                 terms: terms,
+                                          amountString: formatted.0,
+                                            amountA11y: formatted.1,
+                                            isFinished: $isFinished,
+                                                payNow: $payNow)
+                                } else {
+                                    payPlaceholder
+                                }
+                            } else {
+                                payPlaceholder
+                            }
                             cancelButton
-                        } // Cancel
+                        }
                     } else if let showDone {
                         Button("Done") { dismissTop(stack.push()) }
                             .buttonStyle(TalerButtonStyle(type: showDone))