diff --git a/src/app/src/renderer/utils/backendInstaller.ts b/src/app/src/renderer/utils/backendInstaller.ts
index ab1883383..1545aba82 100644
--- a/src/app/src/renderer/utils/backendInstaller.ts
+++ b/src/app/src/renderer/utils/backendInstaller.ts
@@ -662,6 +662,34 @@ function extractExplicitBackend(loadBody?: Record<string, unknown>): { recipe: s
   return null;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Wait for an in-flight model download started by another caller (or tab)
+ * instead of starting a second /pull that would race on the server.
+ */
+async function awaitExistingModelDownload(modelName: string): Promise<void> {
+  const downloadId = downloadTracker.getStableDownloadId(modelName, 'model');
+  downloadTracker.startServerPolling();
+
+  const serverDownloads = await downloadTracker.hydrateFromServer();
+  const active = serverDownloads.find(
+    item => item.model_name === modelName &&
+      (item.running === true || item.status === 'downloading'),
+  );
+  if (active) {
+    downloadTracker.applyServerDownload(active);
+  } else if (!downloadTracker.isActive(modelName)) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  await waitForServerDownloadTerminal(
+    downloadId,
+    modelName,
+    new AbortController(),
+    () => undefined,
+    Boolean(active),
+  );
+}
+
 /**
  * Universal pre-flight check for all inference requests.
  * Ensures backend is installed, model is downloaded, and model is loaded —
@@ -791,7 +819,12 @@ async function ensureModelReadyInternal(
 
     // Step 5: Pull model if not downloaded (shows in Download Manager)
     if (!isDownloaded) {
-      await pullModel(modelName, { declaredSizeGB: modelsData[modelName]?.size });
+      if (downloadTracker.isActive(modelName) ||
+          await downloadTracker.hasActiveServerDownload(modelName)) {
+        await awaitExistingModelDownload(modelName);
+      } else {
+        await pullModel(modelName, { declaredSizeGB: modelsData[modelName]?.size });
+      }
     }
 
     // Step 6: Load model into memory (merge loadBody if provided)
diff --git a/src/cpp/include/lemon/model_manager.h b/src/cpp/include/lemon/model_manager.h
index cdcf844dc..66ae5be8d 100644
--- a/src/cpp/include/lemon/model_manager.h
+++ b/src/cpp/include/lemon/model_manager.h
@@ -326,6 +326,13 @@ class ModelManager {
     bool refresh_user_models_from_disk_for_lookup(const std::string& model_name);
 
     void rebuild_public_model_aliases_locked();
+
+    // One download at a time per model. Concurrent /pull, /load, and auto-load
+    // paths otherwise race in HttpClient and corrupt shared .partial files.
+    std::shared_ptr<std::mutex> get_model_download_lock(const std::string& model_name);
+
+    std::mutex model_download_locks_mutex_;
+    std::map<std::string, std::weak_ptr<std::mutex>> model_download_locks_;
 };
 
 } // namespace lemon
diff --git a/src/cpp/server/model_manager.cpp b/src/cpp/server/model_manager.cpp
index 1036e6bb6..7171fc5f0 100644
--- a/src/cpp/server/model_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/cpp/server/model_manager.cpp
@@ -3137,6 +3137,19 @@ bool ModelManager::is_model_downloaded(const std::string& model_name) {
     return false;
 }
 
+std::shared_ptr<std::mutex> ModelManager::get_model_download_lock(const std::string& model_name) {
+    const std::string lock_key = resolve_model_name(model_name);
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> guard(model_download_locks_mutex_);
+    if (auto it = model_download_locks_.find(lock_key); it != model_download_locks_.end()) {
+        if (auto existing = it->second.lock()) {
+            return existing;
+        }
+    }
+    auto lock = std::make_shared<std::mutex>();
+    model_download_locks_[lock_key] = lock;
+    return lock;
+}
+
 void ModelManager::download_registered_model(const ModelInfo& info, bool do_not_upgrade, DownloadProgressCallback progress_callback) {
     // Cloud models have no local artifacts; "downloading" is a no-op.
     if (info.recipe == "cloud") {
@@ -3144,6 +3157,14 @@ void ModelManager::download_registered_model(const ModelInfo& info, bool do_not_
         return;
     }
 
+    auto model_lock = get_model_download_lock(info.model_name);
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> download_guard(*model_lock);
+
+    // Another caller may have finished while we waited for the model lock.
+    if (do_not_upgrade && is_model_downloaded(info.model_name)) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     // Use recipe-specific download paths
     if (info.recipe == "flm") {
         download_from_flm(info.checkpoint(), do_not_upgrade, progress_callback);
diff --git a/src/cpp/server/server.cpp b/src/cpp/server/server.cpp
index b95176957..2aa65226a 100644
--- a/src/cpp/server/server.cpp
+++ b/src/cpp/server/server.cpp
@@ -3426,8 +3426,33 @@ void Server::handle_pull(const httplib::Request& req, httplib::Response& res) {
             // response exactly as before.
             stream_download_operation(res, operation);
         } else {
-            // Legacy synchronous mode - blocks until complete
-            model_manager_->download_model(model_name, request_json, do_not_upgrade);
+            // Legacy synchronous mode - blocks until complete. Route through the
+            // shared download job registry so sync /pull deduplicates with any
+            // in-flight server-owned or SSE pull for the same model.
+            auto operation = [this, model_name, request_json, do_not_upgrade](DownloadProgressCallback progress_cb) {
+                model_manager_->download_model(model_name, request_json, do_not_upgrade, progress_cb);
+            };
+            auto job = start_download_job("model:" + model_name, "model", model_name, operation);
+            join_download_job(job);
+
+            std::string error_message;
+            std::string error_code;
+            {
+                std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(downloads_mutex_);
+                if (job->status == "error") {
+                    error_message = job->error;
+                    if (job->progress.contains("code") && job->progress["code"].is_string()) {
+                        error_code = job->progress["code"].get<std::string>();
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (!error_message.empty()) {
+                if (error_code == lemon::kUnknownModelErrorCode) {
+                    throw lemon::UnknownModelError(error_message);
+                }
+                throw std::runtime_error(error_message);
+            }
 
             nlohmann::json response = {{"status", "success"}, {"model_name", model_name}};
             res.set_content(response.dump(), "application/json");
diff --git a/src/cpp/server/utils/http_client.cpp b/src/cpp/server/utils/http_client.cpp
index 471f8040f..9bf99eb8b 100644
--- a/src/cpp/server/utils/http_client.cpp
+++ b/src/cpp/server/utils/http_client.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #include <cctype>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <memory>
+#include <mutex>
+#include <unordered_map>
 #include <vector>
 #include <mbedtls/md.h>
 
@@ -768,11 +770,51 @@ DownloadResult HttpClient::download_attempt(const std::string& url,
     return result;
 }
 
+// Serialize concurrent downloads to the same output path. Without this, two
+// callers (e.g. /pull and /load racing, or duplicate /pull requests) can both
+// write to the same .partial file and corrupt the on-disk bytes.
+struct PathDownloadLockRegistry {
+    std::mutex registry_mutex;
+    std::unordered_map<std::string, std::weak_ptr<std::mutex>> locks;
+
+    std::shared_ptr<std::mutex> acquire(const std::string& output_path) {
+        const std::string key = download_lock_key(output_path);
+        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> guard(registry_mutex);
+        if (auto it = locks.find(key); it != locks.end()) {
+            if (auto existing = it->second.lock()) {
+                return existing;
+            }
+        }
+        auto lock = std::make_shared<std::mutex>();
+        locks[key] = lock;
+        return lock;
+    }
+
+private:
+    static std::string download_lock_key(const std::string& output_path) {
+        fs::path path = path_from_utf8(output_path);
+        std::error_code ec;
+        fs::path normalized = fs::weakly_canonical(path, ec);
+        if (ec) {
+            normalized = fs::absolute(path, ec);
+            if (ec) {
+                normalized = path;
+            }
+        }
+        return path_to_utf8(normalized);
+    }
+};
+
+static PathDownloadLockRegistry g_path_download_locks;
+
 DownloadResult HttpClient::download_file(const std::string& url,
                                          const std::string& output_path,
                                          ProgressCallback callback,
                                          const std::map<std::string, std::string>& headers,
                                          const DownloadOptions& options) {
+    auto path_lock = g_path_download_locks.acquire(output_path);
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> path_guard(*path_lock);
+
     DownloadResult final_result;
     int retry_delay_ms = options.initial_retry_delay_ms;
     const ExpectedHash expected_hash = parse_expected_hash(options);