diff --git a/src/desktop.ts b/src/desktop.ts
index d7f3e8da2..9f45385b3 100644
--- a/src/desktop.ts
+++ b/src/desktop.ts
@@ -100,10 +100,10 @@ import type {
 } from './window-links/types';
 import { createUnfocusEffectRegistrySync } from './effects/server-sync';
 import { createWindowLinkRendererRegistrySync } from './window-links/server-sync';
+import { ensureWindowLinkVisuals } from './window-links/ensure-visuals';
 import { startUnfocusEngine } from './effects/unfocus-engine';
 import { startWindowRevealEngine } from './reveals/engine';
 import { createDockRailRendererSync } from './dock-rail/server-sync';
-import { loadVendorScript } from './wallpapers/vendor-loader';
 import { installDockConstellationSentinel } from './dock-constellation/sentinel';
 import {
 	type WindowThemeDef,
@@ -3542,12 +3542,18 @@ function init(): void {
 			HOOKS.WINDOW_LINK_GROUPS_CHANGED,
 			'desktop-mode/window-link-visuals-sentinel',
 			() => {
-				if ( visualsRequested || ! config.windowLinkVisualsBundleUrl ) {
+				if ( visualsRequested ) {
 					return;
 				}
 				visualsRequested = true;
-				void loadVendorScript( config.windowLinkVisualsBundleUrl )
-					.then( () => {
+				// Shared with the Preferences "Link style" picker, which
+				// needs the same bundle for its registrations alone —
+				// whichever asks second shares the first one's fetch.
+				void ensureWindowLinkVisuals()
+					.then( ( loaded ) => {
+						if ( ! loaded ) {
+							return;
+						}
 						window.openStationWindowLinkVisuals?.start( {
 							manager,
 							osSettings,
diff --git a/src/settings/sections/effects.ts b/src/settings/sections/effects.ts
index f8b533060..699eead54 100644
--- a/src/settings/sections/effects.ts
+++ b/src/settings/sections/effects.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import {
 	subscribeWindowLinkRenderers,
 	WINDOW_LINK_RENDERER_NONE as LINKS_NONE,
 } from '../../window-links/renderer-registry';
+import { ensureWindowLinkVisuals } from '../../window-links/ensure-visuals';
 import {
 	listWindowReveals,
 	REVEAL_DURATION_AUTO,
@@ -291,6 +292,18 @@ export function buildEffectsSection( ctx: SettingsCtx ): HTMLElement {
 		paint();
 	} );
 
+	// The built-in `svg-splines` renderer registers itself as a
+	// load-time side effect of the visuals bundle, which the shell only
+	// fetches once two windows actually relate. Until then this list
+	// holds nothing but `None`, while the stored value is still
+	// `svg-splines` — and a `<os-select>` asked to show a value no
+	// option carries renders blank. Pull the bundle in when the tab is
+	// on screen so the dropdown can describe the setting that is
+	// actually in force; the subscription above repaints when the
+	// registrations land. Failure is survivable — the list simply stays
+	// as it was — so the rejection is swallowed rather than surfaced.
+	void ensureWindowLinkVisuals().catch( () => {} );
+
 	const observer = new MutationObserver( () => {
 		if ( ! wrapper.isConnected ) {
 			unsubscribe();
diff --git a/src/window-links/ensure-visuals.ts b/src/window-links/ensure-visuals.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1f519caf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/window-links/ensure-visuals.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/**
+ * OpenStation — on-demand loader for the window-link visuals bundle.
+ *
+ * `window-link-visuals[.min].js` carries the render host, its geometry
+ * and the built-in `svg-splines` renderer. It is deliberately lazy:
+ * `src/desktop.ts` pulls it in on the first relation group the engine
+ * reports, so a session whose windows never relate never pays for it.
+ *
+ * That laziness had one victim. The bundle is also what REGISTERS
+ * `svg-splines` into the renderer registry (registration is a load-time
+ * side effect — see `visuals-entry.ts`), and OpenStation Preferences
+ * builds its "Link style" dropdown from that same registry. Open
+ * Preferences in a session where no two windows had yet related, and
+ * the registry held nothing: the only option was `None`, the stored
+ * value was still `svg-splines`, and `<os-select>` — asked to display a
+ * value no option carries — rendered blank. The setting looked broken
+ * while working perfectly.
+ *
+ * So both callers route through here: the sentinel in `desktop.ts`
+ * that needs the host in order to draw, and the settings section that
+ * needs only the registrations in order to list them. `loadVendorScript`
+ * de-duplicates by URL, so whichever arrives second shares the first
+ * one's fetch, and the registry's `createSharedStore` backing means the
+ * registration is visible to every bundle regardless of who triggered
+ * it.
+ */
+
+import type { DesktopConfig } from '../types';
+import { loadVendorScript } from '../wallpapers/vendor-loader';
+
+let inflight: Promise< boolean > | null = null;
+
+/**
+ * Load the visuals bundle, once.
+ *
+ * Resolves `true` when the bundle is in the page (or already was),
+ * `false` when there is no bundle URL to load — a site old enough not
+ * to ship one, where the caller should simply carry on without it.
+ *
+ * A failed load clears the memo so a later caller can retry rather
+ * than being stuck with a registry that will never fill.
+ */
+export function ensureWindowLinkVisuals(): Promise< boolean > {
+	if ( inflight ) {
+		return inflight;
+	}
+
+	if ( window.openStationWindowLinkVisuals ) {
+		inflight = Promise.resolve( true );
+		return inflight;
+	}
+
+	const config = (
+		window as unknown as { openStationConfig?: DesktopConfig }
+	).openStationConfig;
+	const url = config?.windowLinkVisualsBundleUrl;
+	if ( ! url ) {
+		return Promise.resolve( false );
+	}
+
+	inflight = loadVendorScript( url )
+		.then( () => true )
+		.catch( ( err ) => {
+			inflight = null;
+			throw err;
+		} );
+	return inflight;
+}
+
+/** Test-only: forget the in-flight memo. */
+export function __resetWindowLinkVisualsForTests(): void {
+	inflight = null;
+}
diff --git a/tests/vitest/window-link-ensure-visuals.test.ts b/tests/vitest/window-link-ensure-visuals.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7088db45f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/vitest/window-link-ensure-visuals.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/**
+ * The visuals bundle is lazy, and it is also what registers the
+ * built-in `svg-splines` renderer. Preferences builds its "Link style"
+ * dropdown from that registry, so opening Preferences before any two
+ * windows related left the select with only `None` while the stored
+ * value was `svg-splines` — and it rendered blank.
+ *
+ * These pin the shared loader both callers now route through.
+ */
+
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import * as vendorLoader from '../../src/wallpapers/vendor-loader';
+import {
+	ensureWindowLinkVisuals,
+	__resetWindowLinkVisualsForTests,
+} from '../../src/window-links/ensure-visuals';
+
+type Carrier = {
+	openStationConfig?: { windowLinkVisualsBundleUrl?: string };
+	openStationWindowLinkVisuals?: unknown;
+};
+
+const w = window as unknown as Carrier;
+
+describe( 'ensureWindowLinkVisuals', () => {
+	beforeEach( () => {
+		__resetWindowLinkVisualsForTests();
+		delete w.openStationWindowLinkVisuals;
+		w.openStationConfig = {
+			windowLinkVisualsBundleUrl: 'https://example.test/visuals.js',
+		};
+		vi.spyOn( vendorLoader, 'loadVendorScript' ).mockResolvedValue(
+			undefined,
+		);
+	} );
+
+	afterEach( () => {
+		vi.restoreAllMocks();
+	} );
+
+	it( 'loads the bundle from the config URL', async () => {
+		await expect( ensureWindowLinkVisuals() ).resolves.toBe( true );
+
+		expect( vendorLoader.loadVendorScript ).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+			'https://example.test/visuals.js',
+		);
+	} );
+
+	it( 'loads once however many callers ask', async () => {
+		// The Preferences picker and the shell's groups-changed
+		// sentinel can both ask, in either order.
+		await Promise.all( [
+			ensureWindowLinkVisuals(),
+			ensureWindowLinkVisuals(),
+		] );
+		await ensureWindowLinkVisuals();
+
+		expect( vendorLoader.loadVendorScript ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 1 );
+	} );
+
+	it( 'does not re-fetch a bundle the page already has', async () => {
+		w.openStationWindowLinkVisuals = { start: () => {} };
+
+		await expect( ensureWindowLinkVisuals() ).resolves.toBe( true );
+
+		expect( vendorLoader.loadVendorScript ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+	} );
+
+	it( 'resolves false, without throwing, when no bundle URL is configured', async () => {
+		w.openStationConfig = {};
+
+		await expect( ensureWindowLinkVisuals() ).resolves.toBe( false );
+		expect( vendorLoader.loadVendorScript ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+	} );
+
+	it( 'clears the memo after a failure so a later caller can retry', async () => {
+		vi.mocked( vendorLoader.loadVendorScript ).mockRejectedValueOnce(
+			new Error( 'offline' ),
+		);
+
+		await expect( ensureWindowLinkVisuals() ).rejects.toThrow( 'offline' );
+		await expect( ensureWindowLinkVisuals() ).resolves.toBe( true );
+		expect( vendorLoader.loadVendorScript ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 2 );
+	} );
+} );