diff --git a/electron/previewClient/morphAssets.ts b/electron/previewClient/morphAssets.ts
index c62ef1be..44beccf2 100644
--- a/electron/previewClient/morphAssets.ts
+++ b/electron/previewClient/morphAssets.ts
@@ -180,28 +180,44 @@ export function loadStyles(page: Document): void {
 // to the page reaches the browser as a reload, which this patch replaces, and
 // nothing else would ever bring the page's new CSS: the canvas kept the
 // stylesheet the page loaded with, whatever the style panel wrote. The
-// rendering just fetched holds every dev stylesheet as the server compiled it
-// for this edit, so a live one whose text differs takes the new text. One
-// whose text is the same is left alone: a rewritten stylesheet restarts every
-// animation it defines, on every keystroke of a text edit.
-export function refreshDevStyles(page: Document): void {
-  const fresh = new Map<string, string>();
-  const served = page.querySelectorAll('style[data-vite-dev-id]');
-  for (let i = 0; i < served.length; i++) {
-    const id = served[i]?.getAttribute('data-vite-dev-id');
-    if (id !== null && id !== undefined) {
-      fresh.set(id, served[i]?.textContent ?? '');
-    }
-  }
+// rendering just fetched holds that stylesheet as the server compiled it for
+// this edit, so a live one takes the text the server has just changed. One the
+// server renders as it did before is left alone, for two reasons. A rewritten
+// stylesheet restarts every animation it defines, on every keystroke of a text
+// edit. And the server's text is not always the newest: a stylesheet that
+// reaches the page through a CSS \`@import\` is rendered from the server's
+// first compile for as long as it runs, while Vite hot-swaps the live one on
+// every write. Comparing against the live text put that first compile back on
+// each patch, and the canvas dropped every style edit made to such a file.
+export function refreshDevStyles(previous: Document, next: Document): void {
+  const before = devStyleTexts(previous);
+  const fresh = devStyleTexts(next);
   const live = document.querySelectorAll('style[data-vite-dev-id]');
   for (let i = 0; i < live.length; i++) {
     const style = live[i];
-    const text = fresh.get(style?.getAttribute('data-vite-dev-id') ?? '');
+    const id = style?.getAttribute('data-vite-dev-id') ?? '';
+    const text = fresh.get(id);
     if (style === undefined || text === undefined) {
       continue; // Not in this rendering: Vite's own, or a component that left.
     }
+    if (before.get(id) === text) {
+      continue; // The server did not change it: the live text is Vite's to keep.
+    }
     if (style.textContent !== text) {
       style.textContent = text;
     }
   }
 }
+
+// Each dev stylesheet of a server rendering, by the id Vite gave it.
+function devStyleTexts(page: Document): Map<string, string> {
+  const texts = new Map<string, string>();
+  const served = page.querySelectorAll('style[data-vite-dev-id]');
+  for (let i = 0; i < served.length; i++) {
+    const id = served[i]?.getAttribute('data-vite-dev-id');
+    if (id !== null && id !== undefined) {
+      texts.set(id, served[i]?.textContent ?? '');
+    }
+  }
+  return texts;
+}
diff --git a/electron/previewClient/morphClient.ts b/electron/previewClient/morphClient.ts
index d523bd09..cc07d525 100644
--- a/electron/previewClient/morphClient.ts
+++ b/electron/previewClient/morphClient.ts
@@ -148,11 +148,12 @@ async function update(): Promise<void> {
     patchAttrs(liveRoot, previousRoot, nextRoot);
     patchChildren(document.head, previousDocument.head, next.clean.head);
     patchChildren(document.body, previousDocument.body, next.clean.body);
+    const renderedBefore = previousDocument;
     previousDocument = next.clean;
     // After the patch, so a component that has just appeared is styled by the
     // time anything measures it — and running by the time anything clicks it.
     loadStyles(next.clean);
-    refreshDevStyles(next.clean);
+    refreshDevStyles(renderedBefore, next.clean);
     runScripts(added);
     const liveBody = document.body;
     const serverBody = next.withAnchors.body;
diff --git a/test/electron/previewClient/morph.test.js b/test/electron/previewClient/morph.test.js
index 9cf49321..2d806edc 100644
--- a/test/electron/previewClient/morph.test.js
+++ b/test/electron/previewClient/morph.test.js
@@ -554,10 +554,17 @@ const LIVE_TABS = (labels, active) =>
 // A page's <style> is inlined by the server, so its module was never imported
 // and Vite answers an edit to the page with a reload, not a stylesheet update.
 // The patch replaces that reload, so it is the only thing that can bring the new
-// CSS: a live dev stylesheet takes the text the server rendered this time. One
-// whose text did not change is not written at all — a rewritten stylesheet
-// restarts every animation it defines — and Vite's own stylesheets, which the
-// server's rendering does not carry, are left to Vite.
+// CSS: a live dev stylesheet takes the text the server has just changed. One
+// the server renders as it did before is not written at all — a rewritten
+// stylesheet restarts every animation it defines — and Vite's own stylesheets,
+// which the server's rendering does not carry, are left to Vite.
+//
+// "As it did before" is the server's previous rendering, not the live text. A
+// stylesheet reached through a CSS `@import` (global.css importing
+// utilities.css) is rendered from the server's first compile for as long as it
+// runs, while Vite hot-swaps the live one on every write. Compared against the
+// live text, each patch put that first compile back: a padding dragged in the
+// style panel reached the file and never the canvas.
 {
   const head = dom.window.document.head;
   const devStyle = (id, css) => {
@@ -569,21 +576,28 @@ const LIVE_TABS = (labels, active) =>
   const PAGE = '/src/pages/index.astro?astro&type=style&index=0&lang.css';
   const CARD = '/src/components/Card.astro?astro&type=style&index=0&lang.css';
   const OWN = '/src/styles/vite-only.css';
+  const SHEET = '/src/styles/global.css';
   const page = devStyle(PAGE, '.box { color: red; }');
   const card = devStyle(CARD, '.card { gap: 1rem; }');
   const own = devStyle(OWN, '.vite { margin: 0; }');
-  head.append(page, card, own);
-  const served = new dom.window.DOMParser().parseFromString(
-    '<!doctype html><html><head>' +
-      `<style data-vite-dev-id="${PAGE}">.box { color: blue; }</style>` +
-      `<style data-vite-dev-id="${CARD}">.card { gap: 1rem; }</style>` +
-      '</head><body></body></html>',
-    'text/html',
-  );
+  // Vite has hot-swapped this one since the server first compiled it.
+  const sheet = devStyle(SHEET, '.pad { padding: 3rem; }');
+  head.append(page, card, own, sheet);
+  const rendering = (pageCss) =>
+    new dom.window.DOMParser().parseFromString(
+      '<!doctype html><html><head>' +
+        `<style data-vite-dev-id="${PAGE}">${pageCss}</style>` +
+        `<style data-vite-dev-id="${CARD}">.card { gap: 1rem; }</style>` +
+        `<style data-vite-dev-id="${SHEET}">.pad { padding: 1rem; }</style>` +
+        '</head><body></body></html>',
+      'text/html',
+    );
+  const before = rendering('.box { color: red; }');
+  const served = rendering('.box { color: blue; }');
   const writes = [];
   const observer = new dom.window.MutationObserver((records) => writes.push(...records));
   observer.observe(head, { childList: true, subtree: true, characterData: true });
-  refreshDevStyles(served);
+  refreshDevStyles(before, served);
   writes.push(...observer.takeRecords());
   observer.disconnect();
   check(
@@ -600,6 +614,27 @@ const LIVE_TABS = (labels, active) =>
     'a stylesheet the rendering does not carry is left to Vite',
     own.textContent === '.vite { margin: 0; }',
   );
+  check(
+    'a stylesheet the server renders stale keeps the text Vite gave it',
+    sheet.textContent === '.pad { padding: 3rem; }',
+    sheet.textContent,
+  );
+  // A stylesheet new to the server's rendering has no earlier text to agree with.
+  const arrived = devStyle(CARD, '.card { gap: 0; }');
+  head.append(arrived);
+  const without = new dom.window.DOMParser().parseFromString(
+    '<!doctype html><html><head></head><body></body></html>',
+    'text/html',
+  );
+  card.remove();
+  refreshDevStyles(without, served);
+  check(
+    'a stylesheet the previous rendering lacked takes the server text',
+    arrived.textContent === '.card { gap: 1rem; }',
+    arrived.textContent,
+  );
+  arrived.remove();
+  head.append(card);
   check(
     'exactly one stylesheet was written',
     new Set(
@@ -612,6 +647,7 @@ const LIVE_TABS = (labels, active) =>
   page.remove();
   card.remove();
   own.remove();
+  sheet.remove();
 }
 
 if (failures.length) {