diff --git a/packages/web-util/src/forms/AcceptTosForm.tsx b/packages/web-util/src/forms/AcceptTosForm.tsx
index b2ebdcaa9..d9e74e7a4 100644
--- a/packages/web-util/src/forms/AcceptTosForm.tsx
+++ b/packages/web-util/src/forms/AcceptTosForm.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { TalerFormAttributes } from "@gnu-taler/taler-util";
 import { Fragment, type ComponentChildren, h, type VNode } from "preact";
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "preact/hooks";
+import { useAutoFocus } from "../components/utils.js";
 import { useTranslationContext } from "../context/translation.js";
 import type { FormModel } from "../hooks/useForm.js";
 import {
@@ -114,6 +115,11 @@ function TermsReaderDialog(props: {
   onClose: () => void;
 }): VNode {
   const { onClose } = props;
+  // The parent passes a new onClose on every render; read it through a ref
+  // so that a re-render (e.g. when the terms finish loading) does not run the
+  // open/close effect again and pull focus back to the close button.
+  const onCloseRef = useRef(onClose);
+  onCloseRef.current = onClose;
   const { i18n } = useTranslationContext();
   const dialogRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const closeButtonRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement>(null);
@@ -143,7 +149,7 @@ function TermsReaderDialog(props: {
     const onKeyDown = (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
       if (event.key === "Escape") {
         event.preventDefault();
-        onClose();
+        onCloseRef.current();
         return;
       }
       const dialog = dialogRef.current;
@@ -170,7 +176,7 @@ function TermsReaderDialog(props: {
       document.body.style.overflow = previousOverflow;
       previousFocus.current?.focus();
     };
-  }, [onClose]);
+  }, []);
 
   async function downloadPdf(): Promise<void> {
     setDownloadState("loading");
@@ -358,6 +364,7 @@ export function AcceptTosForm(props: {
   const [error, setError] = useState<ReaderError>();
   const request = useRef<AbortController>();
   const readButton = useRef<HTMLButtonElement>(null);
+  useAutoFocus(props.focus, () => readButton.current);
 
   useEffect(
     () => () => {
@@ -460,7 +467,6 @@ export function AcceptTosForm(props: {
             disabled={props.disabled}
             class="mt-5 inline-flex min-h-11 items-center justify-center rounded-md bg-indigo-600 px-4 py-2.5 text-sm font-semibold text-white shadow-sm hover:bg-indigo-500 disabled:cursor-default disabled:opacity-50 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:outline-indigo-600"
             onClick={openReader}
-            autofocus={props.focus}
           >
             {hasRead ? readAgainLabel : readLabel}
           </button>