diff --git a/builtin/runtime/compile.lua b/builtin/runtime/compile.lua
index 20300cc..22fc643 100644
--- a/builtin/runtime/compile.lua
+++ b/builtin/runtime/compile.lua
@@ -893,11 +893,16 @@ local function start_run(slot, cmdline, opts)
   -- not preempt the requested panel. Compile output is passive, so it
   -- takes `select = false` explicitly.
   --
-  -- A recompile reaches here with NO `display` (only cmdline/cwd are
-  -- stored in `_last`), so the raw switch below would put this buffer in
-  -- the selected DOCUMENT window while the panel still shows it — the
-  -- duplicate presentation this arc removes elsewhere. Detect that the
-  -- buffer already owns the panel slot and keep it there.
+  -- A recompile REPLAYS `_last`, which since Stage 3 carries `display`
+  -- alongside cmdline/cwd — an opt-out that did not survive replay
+  -- would silently revert to the panel on the next `g`. So an explicit
+  -- `display = "current"` reaches here again on a recompile, and must
+  -- still take the raw switch below.
+  --
+  -- The `display_omitted` arm remains for the genuinely omitted case:
+  -- it keeps a buffer that already owns the panel slot in the panel
+  -- rather than duplicating it into the selected DOCUMENT window while
+  -- the panel still shows it.
   --
   -- Gated on OMISSION, never on an explicit value: `display = "current"`
   -- is the documented user-facing opt-out from the Stage 3 default flip,
diff --git a/docs/bottom-panel-stage3-framing.md b/docs/bottom-panel-stage3-framing.md
index fa59cf2..18ba3b3 100644
--- a/docs/bottom-panel-stage3-framing.md
+++ b/docs/bottom-panel-stage3-framing.md
@@ -572,9 +572,12 @@ One branch, `bottom-panel-stage3`:
    measurement is the first commit's evidence, not the flip.* Classify
    each mover per §1.6a's rule before writing a line of the fix.
 2. **Land `resolve_adopter_display`** (Q#S3-1) with all four callers
-   still passing their CURRENT defaults, so the unification is provably
-   behaviour-preserving before anything flips. Decide and pin the
-   non-string normalization here.
+   still passing their CURRENT defaults, so nothing flips yet. It is
+   **default-preserving with one intentional normalization**, not
+   "behaviour-preserving" — every adopter keeps its default and the
+   suite is byte-identical to baseline, but terminal's invalid-input
+   behaviour moves deliberately (§1.6b). Decide and pin that
+   normalization here, since no existing assertion can catch it.
 3. **Flip the three sites** by changing only the `default` argument at
    listview, compile and terminal — dired keeps `"current"` — with
    per-adopter `select`.
diff --git a/tests/compile_mode_crdt_acceptance.rs b/tests/compile_mode_crdt_acceptance.rs
index ba79d49..a6970d9 100644
--- a/tests/compile_mode_crdt_acceptance.rs
+++ b/tests/compile_mode_crdt_acceptance.rs
@@ -105,6 +105,13 @@ where
 /// the daemon broadcasts a snapshot for the newly-CRDT-backed buffer
 /// and via the active-buffer-follow path). Re-seats the replica's
 /// mirror on that buffer.
+///
+/// **Bottom-panel Stage 3:** this is why the runs below pass an explicit
+/// `display = "current"`. The default now places compile output in the
+/// panel with `select = false`, so the ACTIVE buffer never becomes
+/// `*compilation*` — and the active-buffer-follow path named above is
+/// what publishes the snapshot this function waits for. The subject
+/// here is CRDT convergence of a generated buffer, not placement.
 fn adopt_next_buffer(replica: &mut Replica, what: &str) {
     let deadline = std::time::Instant::now() + Duration::from_secs(10);
     loop {
@@ -188,7 +195,7 @@ fn compile_run_converges_and_replica_edit_triggers_recovery() {
             name = "test.compile",
             description = "compile-mode CRDT fixture trigger",
             fn = function()
-                pmacs.compile.run("sh {script}", {{ cwd = "{dir}" }})
+                pmacs.compile.run("sh {script}", {{ cwd = "{dir}", display = "current" }})
             end,
         }}
         pmacs.keymap.bind {{ scope = "global", sequence = "C-c 9", command = "test.compile" }}
@@ -275,7 +282,7 @@ fn r3f1_unicode_cr_backspace_survive_crdt_replication() {
             name = "test.compile-unicode",
             description = "round-3 unicode fixture trigger",
             fn = function()
-                pmacs.compile.run("sh {script}", {{ cwd = "{dir}" }})
+                pmacs.compile.run("sh {script}", {{ cwd = "{dir}", display = "current" }})
             end,
         }}
         pmacs.keymap.bind {{ scope = "global", sequence = "C-c 8", command = "test.compile-unicode" }}
@@ -327,7 +334,7 @@ fn r4f1_column_rewrites_replicate_and_converge() {
             name = "test.compile-columns",
             description = "round-4 column-rewrite fixture trigger",
             fn = function()
-                pmacs.compile.run("sh {script}", {{ cwd = "{dir}" }})
+                pmacs.compile.run("sh {script}", {{ cwd = "{dir}", display = "current" }})
             end,
         }}
         pmacs.keymap.bind {{ scope = "global", sequence = "C-c 7", command = "test.compile-columns" }}