diff --git a/app/components/SearchBox.vue b/app/components/SearchBox.vue
index ce354da2..e5ae0df6 100644
--- a/app/components/SearchBox.vue
+++ b/app/components/SearchBox.vue
@@ -15,12 +15,22 @@ const emit = defineEmits(['blur', 'focus'])
 const router = useRouter()
 const route = useRoute()
 
+const searchInputRef = useTemplateRef('searchInputRef')
 const isSearchFocused = ref(false)
 
 const showSearchBar = computed(() => {
   return route.name !== 'index'
 })
 
+// Focus input when search bar becomes visible (e.g., when navigating from homepage)
+watch(showSearchBar, visible => {
+  if (visible) {
+    nextTick(() => {
+      searchInputRef.value?.focus()
+    })
+  }
+})
+
 // Local input value (updates immediately as user types)
 const searchQuery = ref((route.query.q as string) ?? '')
 
@@ -84,7 +94,7 @@ function handleSearchFocus() {
 
           <input
             id="header-search"
-            autofocus
+            ref="searchInputRef"
             v-model="searchQuery"
             type="search"
             name="q"
diff --git a/tests/interactions.spec.ts b/tests/interactions.spec.ts
index f8ab8ed5..b9293151 100644
--- a/tests/interactions.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/interactions.spec.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,26 @@ test.describe('Search Pages', () => {
     await expect(page.locator('input[type="search"]')).toBeFocused()
   })
 
+  test('/ (homepage) → search, keeps focus on search input', async ({ page, goto }) => {
+    await goto('/', { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded' })
+
+    const homeSearchInput = page.locator('#home-search')
+    await homeSearchInput.click()
+    await page.keyboard.type('vue')
+
+    // Wait for navigation to /search (debounce is 250ms)
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/search/, { timeout: 10000 })
+    await expect(page.locator('text=/found \\d+/i')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15000 })
+
+    // Home search input should be gone (we're on /search now)
+    await expect(homeSearchInput).not.toBeVisible()
+
+    // Header search input should now exist and be focused
+    const headerSearchInput = page.locator('#header-search')
+    await expect(headerSearchInput).toBeVisible()
+    await expect(headerSearchInput).toBeFocused()
+  })
+
   test('/settings → search, keeps focus on search input', async ({ page, goto }) => {
     await goto('/settings', { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded' })
 
@@ -43,7 +63,7 @@ test.describe('Search Pages', () => {
 
     await page.waitForLoadState('domcontentloaded')
 
-    await expect(page.locator('text=/found \\d+/i')).toBeVisible()
+    await expect(page.locator('text=/found \\d+/i')).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15000 })
 
     await expect(searchInput).toBeFocused()
   })