diff --git a/src/app_network.cpp b/src/app_network.cpp
index 2820483..383a8e7 100644
--- a/src/app_network.cpp
+++ b/src/app_network.cpp
@@ -3326,6 +3326,11 @@ void App::maybeProvisionChatIdentity()
     // isLocked()==false and fall through.
     if (state_.isLocked()) {
         if (chat_identity_provisioned_ || chat_service_.hasIdentity()) resetChatSession();
+        // A failure recorded before the lock was seen isn't final: lite opens an encrypted wallet
+        // LOCKED, but the model saying so arrives a moment later, so the first seed export fails with
+        // "locked" and used to disable chat for good. Re-arm for the next unlock, like lockLiteWallet().
+        // Nothing is retried while locked: this returns before any RPC or backend call.
+        chat_identity_unavailable_ = false;
         return;
     }
 
@@ -3338,6 +3343,7 @@ void App::maybeProvisionChatIdentity()
     if (supportsLiteBackend()) {
         // Lite: the backend's `seed` command returns the 24-word mnemonic synchronously.
         if (!lite_wallet_ || !lite_wallet_->walletOpen()) return;
+        if (!state_.encryption_state_known) return;  // wait for the first model's lock state
         wallet::LiteSeedResult seed = lite_wallet_->exportSeed();
         if (!seed.ok || seed.seedPhrase.empty()) {
             wallet::secureWipeLiteSecret(seed.seedPhrase);