diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/admin/SettingsPage.tsx b/frontend/src/pages/admin/SettingsPage.tsx
index 4337bd04..0450592f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/admin/SettingsPage.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/admin/SettingsPage.tsx
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ export const SettingsPage: React.FC = () => {
   const { t } = useTranslation();
   const [searchParams, setSearchParams] = useSearchParams();
   const { flags, isLoading: flagsLoading } = useFeatureFlags();
-  const { hasAnyPermission } = usePermissions();
+  const { hasAnyPermission, isLoading: permissionsLoading } = usePermissions();
 
   // Read ?tab=… on mount; default to Features per the redesign.
   const initialTab: TabType = isValidTab(searchParams.get('tab'))
@@ -288,7 +288,11 @@ export const SettingsPage: React.FC = () => {
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
   }, [flagsLoading, activeTab, flags.quotes, flags.bills, flags.contracts, flags.reminderEmails, flags.accounting, flags.whatsapp, flags.slideshow]);
 
-  if (isLoading) {
+  // Wait for the permissions context too: on a fresh/hard mount it starts out
+  // empty, which filters every nav group down to nothing and left `activeItem`
+  // undefined below (QA J.08 crash). `activeTab` is held in state, so a
+  // deep-linked ?tab= still lands on the right tab once permissions arrive.
+  if (isLoading || permissionsLoading) {
     return (
       <div className="flex items-center justify-center min-h-[400px]">
         <Loading size="lg" text={t('settings.loadingSettings')} />
@@ -483,7 +487,7 @@ export const SettingsPage: React.FC = () => {
         </aside>
 
         <div className="min-w-0">
-          {showSectionHeading && (
+          {showSectionHeading && activeItem && (
             <div className="mb-4 lg:mb-6 pb-3 border-b border-neutral-200 dark:border-neutral-700">
               <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
                 {/* Section heading icon stays neutral so the Settings
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/admin/__tests__/settingsPageMountRace.test.tsx b/frontend/src/pages/admin/__tests__/settingsPageMountRace.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..934538de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/admin/__tests__/settingsPageMountRace.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/**
+ * Settings crashed on a fresh/hard load of any non-default tab (QA J.08).
+ *
+ * The nav groups are permission-filtered, so before PermissionsContext has
+ * resolved every group filters to empty, `allItems[0]` is undefined, and the
+ * section heading's `<activeItem.icon />` throws. In-app SPA navigation never
+ * hit it because the context was already warm.
+ */
+import React from 'react';
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
+import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { MemoryRouter } from 'react-router-dom';
+import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from '@tanstack/react-query';
+
+vi.mock('react-i18next', async () => {
+  const actual = await vi.importActual<typeof import('react-i18next')>('react-i18next');
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    useTranslation: () => ({ t: (k: string, fb?: unknown) => (typeof fb === 'string' ? fb : k) }),
+  };
+});
+
+const flagsState = { flags: {} as Record<string, boolean>, isLoading: false };
+vi.mock('../../../contexts/FeatureFlagsContext', () => ({
+  useFeatureFlags: () => flagsState,
+  useFeatureEnabled: () => false,
+}));
+
+const permissionsState = { hasAnyPermission: (_: string[]) => true, isLoading: false };
+vi.mock('../../../contexts/PermissionsContext', () => ({
+  usePermissions: () => permissionsState,
+}));
+
+// The settings barrel pulls in every tab; stub it down to the shell's needs.
+vi.mock('../../../features/settings', () => {
+  const Stub = () => null;
+  return {
+    useSettingsState: () => ({ isLoading: false }),
+    FeaturesTab: Stub,
+    GeneralTab: Stub,
+    EventsTab: Stub,
+    StatusTab: Stub,
+    SecurityTab: Stub,
+    ImageSecurityTab: Stub,
+    CategoriesTab: Stub,
+    AnalyticsTab: Stub,
+    ModerationTab: Stub,
+    StylingTab: Stub,
+    SEOTab: Stub,
+    ThumbnailsTab: Stub,
+    DownloadsTab: Stub,
+    ApiTokensTab: Stub,
+    WebhooksTab: Stub,
+    AccountingTab: Stub,
+    WhatsAppTab: Stub,
+    SsoTab: Stub,
+  };
+});
+
+vi.mock('../EmailConfigPage', () => ({ EmailConfigPage: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../BrandingPage', () => ({ BrandingPage: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../EventTypesPage', () => ({ EventTypesPage: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../SlideshowSettingsPage', () => ({ SlideshowSettingsPage: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../BackupManagement', () => ({ BackupManagement: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../CMSPage', () => ({ CMSPage: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../settings/SettingsBusinessProfilePage', () => ({ SettingsBusinessProfilePage: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../settings/CrmSettingsPage', () => ({ CrmSettingsPage: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../settings/ReminderTemplatesPage', () => ({ ReminderTemplatesPage: () => null }));
+vi.mock('../contracts/BlockLibraryPage', () => ({ BlockLibraryPage: () => null }));
+
+import { SettingsPage } from '../SettingsPage';
+
+function renderAt(tab: string) {
+  const qc = new QueryClient({ defaultOptions: { queries: { retry: false } } });
+  return render(
+    <QueryClientProvider client={qc}>
+      <MemoryRouter initialEntries={[`/admin/settings?tab=${tab}`]}>
+        <SettingsPage />
+      </MemoryRouter>
+    </QueryClientProvider>
+  );
+}
+
+describe('SettingsPage fresh-mount permission race (QA J.08)', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    permissionsState.hasAnyPermission = () => true;
+    permissionsState.isLoading = false;
+  });
+
+  it('does not crash on a deep-linked tab while permissions are still loading', () => {
+    permissionsState.isLoading = true;
+    permissionsState.hasAnyPermission = () => false;
+
+    expect(() => renderAt('webhooks')).not.toThrow();
+    expect(screen.getByText('settings.loadingSettings')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('still lands on the deep-linked tab once permissions arrive', () => {
+    renderAt('webhooks');
+
+    expect(screen.getByRole('heading', { level: 2, name: 'Webhooks' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('does not crash when the role has no settings tab permissions at all', () => {
+    permissionsState.hasAnyPermission = () => false;
+
+    expect(() => renderAt('webhooks')).not.toThrow();
+    expect(screen.getByText('settings.title')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});