diff --git a/server/src/fetch/html.rs b/server/src/fetch/html.rs
index 20c2b6539ef8bab2ec5bc106c44af20229ce2bff..94cafb07e5465035e80674203fc95b0838a6d06a 100644
--- a/server/src/fetch/html.rs
+++ b/server/src/fetch/html.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use crate::{
     html::sanitize::entity_body_html,
     nsfw::{node_is_nsfw, nsfw_entity_gate},
     path_types::ItemId,
-    reddit::{is_children_fetchable, is_fetchable, is_ranked_fetchable},
+    reddit::{is_children_fetchable, is_fetchable, is_ranked_fetchable, FetchKind},
     reducer::NodeState,
     render::reddit::is_reddit_post,
     ui_action::UI_RPC_FIELD,
@@ -70,7 +70,10 @@ fn fetch_button(item: &ItemId, kind: &str, label: &str, fetching: bool) -> Marku
 
 /// Reddit/API import controls — `POST /ui` with `fetch_entity` returns an SSE
 /// stream whose events are JS snippets to `eval`.
-pub fn fetch_entity_panel(item: &ItemId, node: &NodeState, fetching: bool) -> Markup {
+///
+/// When `fetching` is `Some(kind)`, only the button for that kind shows the
+/// loading state; sibling fetch buttons stay interactive.
+pub fn fetch_entity_panel(item: &ItemId, node: &NodeState, fetching: Option<FetchKind>) -> Markup {
     let has_data = node.data.is_some();
     let self_ok = is_fetchable(item);
     let children_ok = is_children_fetchable(item);
@@ -78,7 +81,10 @@ pub fn fetch_entity_panel(item: &ItemId, node: &NodeState, fetching: bool) -> Ma
     if !self_ok && !children_ok && !ranked_ok {
         return html! {};
     }
-    let self_label = if fetching {
+    let self_fetching = fetching == Some(FetchKind::SelfEntity);
+    let children_fetching = fetching == Some(FetchKind::Children);
+    let ranked_fetching = fetching == Some(FetchKind::Ranked);
+    let self_label = if self_fetching {
         "Fetching…"
     } else if has_data {
         "Refresh this"
@@ -88,17 +94,22 @@ pub fn fetch_entity_panel(item: &ItemId, node: &NodeState, fetching: bool) -> Ma
     html! {
         div id="fetch-controls" class="fetch-controls" {
             @if self_ok {
-                (fetch_button(item, "self", self_label, fetching))
+                (fetch_button(item, "self", self_label, self_fetching))
             }
             @if children_ok {
-                (fetch_button(item, "children", if fetching { "Fetching…" } else { "Fetch posts" }, fetching))
+                (fetch_button(
+                    item,
+                    "children",
+                    if children_fetching { "Fetching…" } else { "Fetch posts" },
+                    children_fetching
+                ))
             }
             @if ranked_ok {
                 (fetch_button(
                     item,
                     "ranked",
-                    if fetching { "Fetching…" } else { "Refresh ranking" },
-                    fetching
+                    if ranked_fetching { "Fetching…" } else { "Refresh ranking" },
+                    ranked_fetching
                 ))
             }
         }
@@ -106,7 +117,12 @@ pub fn fetch_entity_panel(item: &ItemId, node: &NodeState, fetching: bool) -> Ma
 }
 
 /// Entity card + fetch control (morph target [`entity_section_selector`]).
-pub fn entity_section(item: &ItemId, node: &NodeState, fetching: bool, nsfw_ok: bool) -> Markup {
+pub fn entity_section(
+    item: &ItemId,
+    node: &NodeState,
+    fetching: Option<FetchKind>,
+    nsfw_ok: bool,
+) -> Markup {
     let gated = node_is_nsfw(node) && !nsfw_ok;
     html! {
         section class="entity-section demo-panel" data-entity-section=(item.as_str()) {
@@ -138,7 +154,7 @@ mod tests {
             }),
             ..Default::default()
         };
-        let html = entity_section(&node.id, &node, false, false).into_string();
+        let html = entity_section(&node.id, &node, None, false).into_string();
         assert!(html.contains("NSFW content is hidden until you opt in."));
         assert!(
             html.contains("Yes, I am 18+"),
@@ -151,4 +167,36 @@ mod tests {
             "gated entity should not show fetch controls: {html}"
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn only_active_fetch_button_shows_loading_state() {
+        let id = ItemId::from_url("https://reddit.com/r/rust").unwrap();
+        let node = NodeState {
+            id: id.clone(),
+            ..Default::default()
+        };
+        let html = fetch_entity_panel(&id, &node, Some(FetchKind::Children)).into_string();
+        assert!(
+            html.contains("disabled"),
+            "active fetch button should be disabled: {html}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            html.contains(">Fetching…</button>"),
+            "active fetch button should show loading label: {html}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            html.contains(">Fetch from Reddit</button>"),
+            "sibling self button must stay idle: {html}"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            !html.contains("disabled\">Fetch from Reddit"),
+            "sibling self button must not be disabled: {html}"
+        );
+        // Children button is the only disabled one; self stays enabled.
+        let disabled_count = html.matches("disabled").count();
+        assert_eq!(
+            disabled_count, 1,
+            "exactly one button should be disabled while fetching: {html}"
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/fetch/mod.rs b/server/src/fetch/mod.rs
index 4b117e4493369fe28bc2402c2cbcb358689c4c48..717e814542ac521a08646fccc7ed54ecfca460de 100644
--- a/server/src/fetch/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/fetch/mod.rs
@@ -95,7 +95,10 @@ pub fn fetch_entity_stream(
             let node = tree.get(&id).unwrap_or(&empty);
             let sel = html::entity_section_selector(&id);
             JsBuilder::new()
-                .morph_selector(&sel, html::entity_section(&id, node, true, nsfw_ok))
+                .morph_selector(
+                    &sel,
+                    html::entity_section(&id, node, Some(kind), nsfw_ok),
+                )
                 .build()
         };
         yield Ok(js_event(fetching_js));
@@ -131,7 +134,7 @@ pub fn fetch_entity_stream(
                 let node = tree.get(&id).unwrap_or(&empty);
                 let sel = html::entity_section_selector(&id);
                 let mut b = JsBuilder::new()
-                    .morph_selector(&sel, html::entity_section(&id, node, false, nsfw_ok));
+                    .morph_selector(&sel, html::entity_section(&id, node, None, nsfw_ok));
                 if kind == FetchKind::Children || kind == FetchKind::Ranked {
                     b = b.morph_selector(
                         "#ranking-panel",
@@ -146,7 +149,7 @@ pub fn fetch_entity_stream(
                 let node = tree.get(&id).unwrap_or(&empty);
                 let sel = html::entity_section_selector(&id);
                 let js = JsBuilder::new()
-                    .morph_selector(&sel, html::entity_section(&id, node, false, nsfw_ok))
+                    .morph_selector(&sel, html::entity_section(&id, node, None, nsfw_ok))
                     .raw(&error_js(&format!("Reddit rate limit — retry in {reset_secs}s.")))
                     .build();
                 yield Ok(js_event(js));
@@ -157,7 +160,7 @@ pub fn fetch_entity_stream(
                 let node = tree.get(&id).unwrap_or(&empty);
                 let sel = html::entity_section_selector(&id);
                 let js = JsBuilder::new()
-                    .morph_selector(&sel, html::entity_section(&id, node, false, nsfw_ok))
+                    .morph_selector(&sel, html::entity_section(&id, node, None, nsfw_ok))
                     .raw(&error_js(&format!("Fetch failed: {msg}")))
                     .build();
                 yield Ok(js_event(js));
diff --git a/server/src/html/mod.rs b/server/src/html/mod.rs
index 6ad49d4b7a96bf60007ff5c9281959c32f994b54..319907cdf879befc5bfb2b7b0e304fb06ecdc195 100644
--- a/server/src/html/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/mod.rs
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ async fn item_page(state: AppState, uri: Uri, item: ItemId, jar: CookieJar) -> M
             @if gated {
                 (nsfw_enter_panel(&return_to))
             } @else {
-                (entity_section(&item, node, false, nsfw_ok))
+                (entity_section(&item, node, None, nsfw_ok))
                 @if let Some(href) = vote_link {
                     p class="vote-cta" {
                         a class="btn-primary" href=(href) data-testid="vote-children" { "Vote on children" }
diff --git a/server/src/html/vote.rs b/server/src/html/vote.rs
index 7286ad162acaf04ff4cc4496efb6934728ab9cbc..0452eb75b043c88ae6cd30bf40a59307825fbe22 100644
--- a/server/src/html/vote.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/vote.rs
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ fn vote_compare_item_card(
     .expect("skip item rpc json");
     html! {
         div class=(format!("vote-compare-side {side_class}")) {
-            (entity_section(item, &node, false, nsfw_ok))
+            (entity_section(item, &node, None, nsfw_ok))
             form class="vote-skip-form" method="POST" action="/ui" {
                 input type="hidden" name=(UI_RPC_FIELD) value=(skip_rpc);
                 button type="submit" class="btn-secondary vote-skip"