diff --git a/docs/LAYOUT.md b/docs/LAYOUT.md
index f50ae2f..d3ebbe4 100644
--- a/docs/LAYOUT.md
+++ b/docs/LAYOUT.md
@@ -141,11 +141,12 @@ which is correct always, just not free.
 
 **Size invalidation travels upward before drawing; drawing itself travels only
 downward.** Every active widget retains the direct children whose size it read
-through `DrawResult::size()` or `Painter::known_len`. Before a frame draws,
-`redraw_updates` follows only those dependency edges from each dirty child and
-marks the affected ancestors dirty. It then selects the highest dirty roots and
-draws them top-down. Drawing never synchronously invalidates or invokes a
-parent, so there is no layout recursion and no provisional child draw on a
+through `DrawResult::size()` or `Painter::known_len`. `redraw_updates` takes
+one id from the dirty set, follows only those dependency edges upward and marks
+that path dirty, then redraws its highest already-dirty ancestor. Drawing that
+ancestor consumes the marks of every dirty descendant it reaches; the loop
+then takes whatever remains. Drawing never synchronously invalidates or invokes
+a parent, so there is no layout recursion and no provisional child draw on a
 different layer.
 
 An exact `size_hint` stops propagation when both axes still equal the retained
diff --git a/iris/core/src/ui/render_state.rs b/iris/core/src/ui/render_state.rs
index 7495d43..78107b5 100644
--- a/iris/core/src/ui/render_state.rs
+++ b/iris/core/src/ui/render_state.rs
@@ -40,10 +40,10 @@ pub struct UiRenderState {
 
     old_root: Option<WidgetId>,
     resized: bool,
-    /// It used to only ever be inserted into, and `redraw` removed the id
-    /// *before* testing for it, which made the test constant `false`: the
-    /// guard could never fire and the set grew by one entry per widget
-    /// ever drawn and was never emptied.
+    /// Widgets whose `draw` call is on the stack now. A reentrant draw would
+    /// create two retained primitive sets with one owner, so it is rejected;
+    /// completed draws are removed immediately and are instead tracked by
+    /// consuming their outstanding dirty mark.
     draw_started: HashSet<WidgetId>,
     /// Widgets which asked from inside `draw` to be drawn on the following
     /// frame. Kept separate from `Widgets::needs_redraw` until `update_at`
@@ -824,49 +824,42 @@ impl UiRenderState {
     }
 
     pub fn redraw_updates(&mut self, rsc: &mut dyn UiRsc) {
-        while rsc.widgets().has_updates() {
-            let pending: Vec<_> = rsc.widgets().needs_redraw.iter().copied().collect();
-            for mut child in pending {
-                for _ in 0..PARENT_CHAIN_LIMIT {
-                    if self.size_matches_hints(child, rsc) {
-                        break;
-                    }
-                    let Some(parent) = self.active.get(&child).and_then(|active| active.parent)
-                    else {
-                        break;
-                    };
-                    let depends = self
-                        .active
-                        .get(&parent)
-                        .is_some_and(|active| active.size_dependencies.contains(&child));
-                    if !depends {
-                        break;
-                    }
-                    rsc.widgets_mut().needs_redraw.insert(parent);
-                    child = parent;
+        while let Some(id) = rsc.widgets().needs_redraw.iter().next().copied() {
+            // A parent which read this child's size must lay out again before
+            // the changed child is drawn. Mark the whole dependent path so
+            // drawing its highest member reaches every dirty descendant.
+            let mut child = id;
+            for _ in 0..PARENT_CHAIN_LIMIT {
+                if self.size_matches_hints(child, rsc) {
+                    break;
                 }
+                let Some(parent) = self.active.get(&child).and_then(|active| active.parent) else {
+                    break;
+                };
+                let depends = self
+                    .active
+                    .get(&parent)
+                    .is_some_and(|active| active.size_dependencies.contains(&child));
+                if !depends {
+                    break;
+                }
+                rsc.widgets_mut().needs_redraw.insert(parent);
+                child = parent;
             }
 
-            let dirty: Vec<_> = rsc.widgets().needs_redraw.iter().copied().collect();
-            let mut roots = Vec::new();
-            for id in dirty {
-                let mut ancestor = self.active.get(&id).and_then(|active| active.parent);
-                let mut covered = false;
-                for _ in 0..PARENT_CHAIN_LIMIT {
-                    let Some(parent) = ancestor else { break };
-                    if rsc.widgets().needs_redraw.contains(&parent) {
-                        covered = true;
-                        break;
-                    }
-                    ancestor = self.active.get(&parent).and_then(|active| active.parent);
-                }
-                if !covered {
-                    roots.push(id);
+            // Prefer an already-dirty ancestor. Its draw either consumes this
+            // mark on the way down or leaves it for the next loop iteration if
+            // a retained intermediate subtree means it never reaches here.
+            let mut root = id;
+            let mut ancestor = self.active.get(&id).and_then(|active| active.parent);
+            for _ in 0..PARENT_CHAIN_LIMIT {
+                let Some(parent) = ancestor else { break };
+                if rsc.widgets().needs_redraw.contains(&parent) {
+                    root = parent;
                 }
+                ancestor = self.active.get(&parent).and_then(|active| active.parent);
             }
-            for id in roots {
-                self.redraw(id, rsc);
-            }
+            self.redraw(root, rsc);
         }
         rsc.free();
     }