diff --git a/src/components/Layout.tsx b/src/components/Layout.tsx
index 01f5cb8..a5f24c2 100644
--- a/src/components/Layout.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Layout.tsx
@@ -708,17 +708,27 @@ export function Layout({ children, noPadding }: LayoutProps) {
           <div className="flex items-center gap-1 flex-shrink-0">
             {/* Notifications (crew invites & membership requests) */}
             {user && <NotificationBell />}
-            {/* User menu when logged in / Login button when not */}
-            {user ? (
-              <MobileHeaderUserMenu 
-                pubkey={user.pubkey} 
+            {/* User menu when logged in / Login button when not.
+                IMPORTANT: LoginArea hosts the SignupDialog. The signup flow logs
+                the user in at the *first* step (to publish their profile), then
+                continues to the profile + recovery steps. If we unmount LoginArea
+                the instant `user` becomes truthy, the dialog is destroyed and the
+                skater is dumped on the map with no recovery step — the exact bug
+                reported. So we keep LoginArea mounted always and just hide its
+                trigger when logged in; MobileHeaderUserMenu becomes the visible
+                control. The dialog renders in a portal, so hiding the trigger is
+                purely cosmetic and never interrupts an in-progress signup. */}
+            {user && (
+              <MobileHeaderUserMenu
+                pubkey={user.pubkey}
                 onLogout={() => removeLogin(currentAccount?.id || '')}
                 onSetStatus={() => setShowStatusDialog(true)}
                 onAddAccount={() => setShowAddAccount(true)}
               />
-            ) : (
-              <LoginArea compact className="flex flex-row gap-1" />
             )}
+            <div className={cn(user && 'hidden')}>
+              <LoginArea compact className="flex flex-row gap-1" />
+            </div>
             
             <Sheet open={mobileMenuOpen} onOpenChange={setMobileMenuOpen}>
               <SheetTrigger asChild>
diff --git a/src/pages/OnboardingPage.tsx b/src/pages/OnboardingPage.tsx
index 12b01db..732957e 100644
--- a/src/pages/OnboardingPage.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/OnboardingPage.tsx
@@ -215,14 +215,17 @@ export default function OnboardingPage() {
             <FeaturePill emoji="👥" label="Crews" />
           </div>
 
-          {/* Primary CTA */}
-          {!user ? (
-            <div className="flex flex-col items-center gap-3">
-              <p className="text-sm text-gray-500 uppercase tracking-wider font-bold mb-1">Create your free account</p>
-              <LoginArea className="flex justify-center" />
-              <p className="text-xs text-gray-600 mt-2">No email. No password. Own your identity forever.</p>
-            </div>
-          ) : (
+          {/* Primary CTA.
+              LoginArea (which hosts the multi-step SignupDialog) is kept mounted
+              even after login and merely hidden — otherwise logging in at the
+              first signup step would unmount the dialog and skip the profile +
+              recovery steps. */}
+          <div className={cn('flex-col items-center gap-3', user ? 'hidden' : 'flex')}>
+            <p className="text-sm text-gray-500 uppercase tracking-wider font-bold mb-1">Create your free account</p>
+            <LoginArea className="flex justify-center" />
+            <p className="text-xs text-gray-600 mt-2">No email. No password. Own your identity forever.</p>
+          </div>
+          {user && (
             <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-3 justify-center">
               <Link to="/map">
                 <Button size="lg" className="bg-[#ff0040] hover:bg-[#ff0040]/90 gap-2 font-black uppercase shadow-[0_0_30px_rgba(255,0,64,0.3)]">