diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/GitHubItemDialog.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/GitHubItemDialog.tsx
index 6f449118a..b8cd117d6 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/GitHubItemDialog.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/GitHubItemDialog.tsx
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ import CommentMarkdown from '@/components/sidebar/CommentMarkdown'
 import { detectLanguage } from '@/lib/language-detect'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
 import { buildDiffTree, type DiffTreeNode } from '@/components/pr-diff-tree'
-import { CHECK_COLOR, CHECK_ICON } from '@/components/right-sidebar/checks-helpers'
+import { CHECK_COLOR, CHECK_ICON } from '@/components/right-sidebar/checks-panel-content'
 import {
   filterPRCommentsByAudience,
   getPRCommentAudienceCounts,
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/ChecksPanel.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/ChecksPanel.tsx
index 1e644af9a..b401307d2 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/ChecksPanel.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/ChecksPanel.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import {
   MergeConflictNotice,
   ChecksList,
   PRCommentsList
-} from './checks-helpers'
+} from './checks-panel-content'
 import { ENTRY_REFRESH_GRACE_MS, shouldEntryRefresh } from './checks-entry-refresh'
 import type { PRInfo, PRCheckDetail, PRComment } from '../../../../shared/types'
 
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ export default function ChecksPanel(): React.JSX.Element {
   const [commentsLoading, setCommentsLoading] = useState(false)
   const [emptyRefreshing, setEmptyRefreshing] = useState(false)
   const [isRefreshing, setIsRefreshing] = useState(false)
+  const [conflictDetailsRefreshing, setConflictDetailsRefreshing] = useState(false)
   const [editingTitle, setEditingTitle] = useState(false)
   const [titleDraft, setTitleDraft] = useState('')
   const [titleSaving, setTitleSaving] = useState(false)
@@ -67,6 +68,7 @@ export default function ChecksPanel(): React.JSX.Element {
     setTitleSaving(false)
     setIsRefreshing(false)
     setEmptyRefreshing(false)
+    setConflictDetailsRefreshing(false)
     conflictSummaryRefreshKeyRef.current = null
   }
 
@@ -108,6 +110,7 @@ export default function ChecksPanel(): React.JSX.Element {
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!repo || isFolder || !branch || !pr || pr.mergeable !== 'CONFLICTING') {
       conflictSummaryRefreshKeyRef.current = null
+      setConflictDetailsRefreshing(false)
       return
     }
 
@@ -121,7 +124,17 @@ export default function ChecksPanel(): React.JSX.Element {
     // them so we don't keep rendering cached branch summaries or empty file
     // lists from an older payload.
     conflictSummaryRefreshKeyRef.current = refreshKey
-    void fetchPRForBranch(repo.path, branch, { force: true, linkedPRNumber: linkedPR })
+    setConflictDetailsRefreshing(true)
+    void fetchPRForBranch(repo.path, branch, { force: true, linkedPRNumber: linkedPR }).finally(
+      () => {
+        // Why: fetchPRForBranch updates the PR cache before resolving, which
+        // can rerun this effect. Only the current refresh key may clear the
+        // spinner so stale requests don't race newer worktrees/branches.
+        if (conflictSummaryRefreshKeyRef.current === refreshKey) {
+          setConflictDetailsRefreshing(false)
+        }
+      }
+    )
   }, [repo, isFolder, branch, pr, linkedPR, fetchPRForBranch])
 
   // Fetch checks via cached store method
@@ -580,7 +593,10 @@ export default function ChecksPanel(): React.JSX.Element {
       </div>
 
       <ConflictingFilesSection pr={pr} />
-      <MergeConflictNotice pr={pr} />
+      <MergeConflictNotice
+        pr={pr}
+        isRefreshingConflictDetails={isRefreshing || conflictDetailsRefreshing}
+      />
       {/* Why: when the PR has merge conflicts and no checks have been fetched,
           showing "No checks configured" is misleading — checks may exist but
           simply cannot run until conflicts are resolved. Hide the empty state. */}
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/SourceControl.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/SourceControl.tsx
index 0af146ae5..7047bf1e8 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/SourceControl.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/SourceControl.tsx
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ import {
   requestEditorSaveQuiesce
 } from '@/components/editor/editor-autosave'
 import { getConnectionId } from '@/lib/connection-context'
-import { PullRequestIcon } from './checks-helpers'
+import { PullRequestIcon } from './checks-panel-content'
 import type {
   DiffComment,
   GitBranchChangeEntry,
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-panel-content.test.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-panel-content.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1d8017fbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-panel-content.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import React from 'react'
+import { renderToStaticMarkup } from 'react-dom/server'
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import type { PRInfo } from '../../../../shared/types'
+import { MergeConflictNotice } from './checks-panel-content'
+
+function makePR(overrides: Partial<PRInfo> = {}): PRInfo {
+  return {
+    number: 42,
+    title: 'Conflicting PR',
+    state: 'open',
+    url: 'https://github.com/acme/widgets/pull/42',
+    checksStatus: 'pending',
+    updatedAt: '2026-05-14T00:00:00Z',
+    mergeable: 'CONFLICTING',
+    ...overrides
+  }
+}
+
+function renderNotice(pr: PRInfo, isRefreshingConflictDetails = false): string {
+  return renderToStaticMarkup(
+    React.createElement(MergeConflictNotice, { pr, isRefreshingConflictDetails })
+  )
+}
+
+describe('MergeConflictNotice', () => {
+  it('does not claim conflict details are refreshing after the refresh has settled', () => {
+    const markup = renderNotice(makePR())
+
+    expect(markup).toContain('Conflict file details are unavailable')
+    expect(markup).not.toContain('Refreshing conflict details')
+  })
+
+  it('shows refreshing copy while conflict details are actively refreshing', () => {
+    const markup = renderNotice(makePR(), true)
+
+    expect(markup).toContain('Refreshing conflict details')
+  })
+
+  it('hides when the conflicting file list is available', () => {
+    const markup = renderNotice(
+      makePR({
+        conflictSummary: {
+          baseRef: 'main',
+          baseCommit: 'abc1234',
+          commitsBehind: 2,
+          files: ['src/conflict.ts']
+        }
+      })
+    )
+
+    expect(markup).toBe('')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-helpers.tsx b/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-panel-content.tsx
similarity index 98%
rename from src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-helpers.tsx
rename to src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-panel-content.tsx
index b907dd7df..8dce02260 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-helpers.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/checks-panel-content.tsx
@@ -101,7 +101,13 @@ export function ConflictingFilesSection({ pr }: { pr: PRInfo }): React.JSX.Eleme
 }
 
 /** Fallback shown when GitHub reports merge conflicts but no file list is available yet. */
-export function MergeConflictNotice({ pr }: { pr: PRInfo }): React.JSX.Element | null {
+export function MergeConflictNotice({
+  pr,
+  isRefreshingConflictDetails
+}: {
+  pr: PRInfo
+  isRefreshingConflictDetails: boolean
+}): React.JSX.Element | null {
   if (pr.mergeable !== 'CONFLICTING' || (pr.conflictSummary?.files.length ?? 0) > 0) {
     return null
   }
@@ -111,7 +117,11 @@ export function MergeConflictNotice({ pr }: { pr: PRInfo }): React.JSX.Element |
       <div className="text-[11px] font-medium text-foreground">
         This branch has conflicts that must be resolved
       </div>
-      <div className="mt-1 text-[11px] text-muted-foreground">Refreshing conflict details…</div>
+      <div className="mt-1 text-[11px] text-muted-foreground">
+        {isRefreshingConflictDetails
+          ? 'Refreshing conflict details…'
+          : 'Conflict file details are unavailable'}
+      </div>
     </div>
   )
 }