diff --git a/tests/quickshell/settings-hyprland-write-contract.sh b/tests/quickshell/settings-hyprland-write-contract.sh
index d69846f..f56e002 100755
--- a/tests/quickshell/settings-hyprland-write-contract.sh
+++ b/tests/quickshell/settings-hyprland-write-contract.sh
@@ -149,8 +149,23 @@ sleep 0.3
 qs_for_harness ipc call settings-system-test applyJson \
     '{"windowRounding": 7, "gapsOut": 23, "blurEnabled": false, "inactiveOpacity": 0.85}' >/dev/null
 
+# 10 seconds, not 4. The write path verifies each option by reading it back off
+# the compositor and retries a refused batch, so a busy machine legitimately
+# takes longer than a quick apply -- and this contract runs in a suite alongside
+# other tests driving the same compositor. Failing at 4 seconds reported a
+# product bug ("did not reach the compositor") for what was queueing.
+# Re-issued periodically, because this contract and the LIVE shell both write to
+# the same compositor. When the running Panama re-applies its own preferences --
+# which it does on any store change -- it overwrites the values this test just
+# set, and the read-back below then sees Panama's shipped defaults with the
+# writer reporting no error at all. That combination is the signature: a
+# rejected write leaves an error, a clobbered one does not.
 typed=false
-for _ in $(seq 1 40); do
+for attempt in $(seq 1 100); do
+    if (( attempt % 30 == 0 )); then
+        qs_for_harness ipc call settings-system-test applyJson \
+            '{"windowRounding": 7, "gapsOut": 23, "blurEnabled": false, "inactiveOpacity": 0.85}' >/dev/null
+    fi
     if [[ "$(read_option decoration:rounding)" == "7" \
        && "$(hyprctl -j getoption general:gaps_out | jq -r .css | awk '{print $1}')" == "23" \
        && "$(hyprctl -j getoption decoration:blur:enabled | jq -r .bool)" == "false" \
@@ -161,10 +176,14 @@ for _ in $(seq 1 40); do
     sleep 0.1
 done
 if [[ "$typed" != true ]]; then
+    # Report what the writer thinks as well as what the compositor holds. Those
+    # two disagreeing is a rejected write; both showing defaults is a write that
+    # never happened, and the messages should not look identical.
     fail "a typed batch did not reach the compositor: rounding=$(read_option decoration:rounding), \
 gaps=$(hyprctl -j getoption general:gaps_out | jq -r .css), \
 blur=$(hyprctl -j getoption decoration:blur:enabled | jq -r .bool), \
-opacity=$(hyprctl -j getoption decoration:inactive_opacity | jq -r .float)"
+opacity=$(hyprctl -j getoption decoration:inactive_opacity | jq -r .float), \
+writer-reported error=\"$(qs_for_harness ipc call settings-system-test status | jq -r .lastError)\""
 fi
 
 # Verification must recognise those shapes as success, not report them rejected.