diff --git a/features/scripts/utils/nomarchy-restart-waybar b/features/scripts/utils/nomarchy-restart-waybar
index 041c848..0e4f690 100755
--- a/features/scripts/utils/nomarchy-restart-waybar
+++ b/features/scripts/utils/nomarchy-restart-waybar
@@ -1,13 +1,22 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-# Waybar is provided as a Home Manager user service
-# (programs.waybar.systemd.enable = true), so the right way to restart it is
-# via systemd. `pkill + uwsm-app` races with HM's sd-switch on theme changes
-# and sometimes lands the new waybar without a full environment, producing
-# the "wrong colors after theme switch" symptom.
+# Reload waybar in place when it's already running. SIGUSR2 makes waybar
+# re-read its config.jsonc and CSS (including @import-ed files like
+# ~/.config/nomarchy/current/theme/waybar.css that theme-switch rewrites)
+# without destroying its layer-shell surface. A full systemctl restart
+# tears the surface down and creates a new one back-to-back, leaving a
+# frame or two where Hyprland hasn't cleared the dead surface yet — that's
+# the "old on top of new with artifacts" you see after a theme switch on
+# the live ISO.
+if pgrep -x waybar >/dev/null; then
+  exec pkill -SIGUSR2 -x waybar
+fi
 
-if systemctl --user list-unit-files waybar.service >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-  exec systemctl --user restart waybar.service
+# Not running yet — start it. Prefer the HM systemd user unit
+# (programs.waybar.systemd.enable = true). `systemctl cat` returns
+# non-zero when the unit doesn't exist; `list-unit-files` does not.
+if systemctl --user cat waybar.service >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  exec systemctl --user start waybar.service
 fi
 
 # Fallback for systems where waybar isn't managed by systemd.