diff --git a/web/src/playback/WatchPlaybackChrome.tsx b/web/src/playback/WatchPlaybackChrome.tsx
index 795f2352..6bad4471 100644
--- a/web/src/playback/WatchPlaybackChrome.tsx
+++ b/web/src/playback/WatchPlaybackChrome.tsx
@@ -710,8 +710,8 @@ export function WatchPlaybackHost() {
         return;
       }
 
-      // If already in post-roll (triggered early), just mark video as ended
-      // so PlayingNextScreen can start its autoplay countdown.
+      // If post-roll was shown before the video ended, wait for the real
+      // `ended` event before starting the autoplay countdown.
       if (modeRef.current === "post-roll") {
         setPostRollVideoEnded(true);
         return;
@@ -775,12 +775,7 @@ export function WatchPlaybackHost() {
         snapshot.duration - snapshot.currentTime <= POST_ROLL_SECONDS_BEFORE_END
       ) {
         postRollEnteredRef.current = true;
-        // Entering post-roll early pauses the underlying video to stop HLS from
-        // buffering the tail segment (see VideoPlayer's post-roll pause effect).
-        // A paused video never fires `ended`, so we must arm the autoplay
-        // countdown here rather than waiting for an `ended` event that will
-        // never arrive — otherwise the overlay shows but the countdown stalls.
-        setPostRollVideoEnded(true);
+        setPostRollVideoEnded(false);
         controller.enterPostRoll(requestKeyValue);
       }
     },
diff --git a/web/src/player/components/VideoPlayer.tsx b/web/src/player/components/VideoPlayer.tsx
index 2955dd76..9d557fbb 100644
--- a/web/src/player/components/VideoPlayer.tsx
+++ b/web/src/player/components/VideoPlayer.tsx
@@ -1150,18 +1150,6 @@ export function VideoPlayer({
     }
   }, [cancelNextEpisodeAutoPlay, displayMode]);
 
-  // Pause the underlying video when the post-roll overlay takes over so HLS
-  // stops buffering the tail segment. Without this, on end-of-series the
-  // player can visibly loop the last few seconds of the file while waiting
-  // for an `ended` event that HLS may never deliver cleanly.
-  useEffect(() => {
-    if (displayMode !== "postroll") return;
-    const video = videoRef.current;
-    if (video && !video.paused) {
-      video.pause();
-    }
-  }, [displayMode]);
-
   // -- Intro skip --
   const showIntroSkip = intro != null && currentTime >= intro.start && currentTime < intro.end;
   const showRecapSkip = recap != null && currentTime >= recap.start && currentTime < recap.end;