diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 1a0c6a8..237fc0d 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2026-08-24 21:41 UTC — cache category tree walk (fixes ~1s picker lag)
+2026-08-24 23:00 UTC — fix video resize handle drifting off-screen
diff --git a/templates/lesson_view.html b/templates/lesson_view.html
index 62d977d..80fc9c9 100644
--- a/templates/lesson_view.html
+++ b/templates/lesson_view.html
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@
             background: #000;
             min-width: 320px;
             min-height: 200px;
+            max-height: 80vh;
         }
         .resize-hint {
             text-align: center;
@@ -764,9 +765,21 @@
                     })
                     .catch(() => { applyingStoredSize = false; });
 
+                // Only persist a size when the user is actually dragging the
+                // corner handle - a bare ResizeObserver fires on ANY rendered
+                // size change, including the page's own responsive
+                // max-width/max-height clamping on window/viewport resize,
+                // which isn't a user resize at all and would otherwise get
+                // saved right back as if it were.
+                let userResizing = false;
+                video.addEventListener('mousedown', () => { userResizing = true; });
+                window.addEventListener('mouseup', () => {
+                    setTimeout(() => { userResizing = false; }, 200);
+                });
+
                 if (window.ResizeObserver) {
                     const observer = new ResizeObserver(() => {
-                        if (applyingStoredSize) return;
+                        if (applyingStoredSize || !userResizing) return;
                         clearTimeout(resizeSaveTimeout);
                         resizeSaveTimeout = setTimeout(() => {
                             const rect = video.getBoundingClientRect();