diff --git a/docs/10-fps-limit.md b/docs/10-fps-limit.md
index aa57539..ff82e48 100644
--- a/docs/10-fps-limit.md
+++ b/docs/10-fps-limit.md
@@ -96,10 +96,15 @@ divisor cap reads its target exactly.
   re-issues it when the value or the panel's screen type changes
   (`injector.rs:717-722`); `set_frame_cap_target` (`lib.rs:322`) holds the target
   so the scan-out channel pushes a `FrameCapNote` to a subscribed shim.
-- **The shim enforces it** (`icd_shim/src/scanout.rs:118-140`): the next acquire
-  may start no sooner than one `1/target` period after the previous one, so the
-  guest blocks in `vkAcquireNextImageKHR` — the one point where waiting costs
-  neither rendered work nor display latency.
+- **The shim enforces it** (`icd_shim/src/scanout.rs:118-146`,
+  `next_acquire_after`): the next acquire may start no sooner than one
+  `1/target` period after the previous *deadline*, so the guest blocks in
+  `vkAcquireNextImageKHR` — the one point where waiting costs neither rendered
+  work nor display latency. The deadline, not the wake: the wait returns a hair
+  after it, and `max(prev, now) + period` made that hair part of every period
+  (a 60 cap read 59.78 on an Odin 3 menu, 60.00 once stepped from `prev`).
+  Only a guest a whole period behind is re-based on `now`, so no debt is
+  carried out of a stall.
 - **`-r` is not part of it**: the grid is the constant 1200 Hz, and no launch
   argument carries the limit. `--framerate-limit` is never built.
 
@@ -107,10 +112,11 @@ Open points:
 - **Divisor rounding bites the gamescope route only.** `nVblankDivisor =
   nRefreshHz / nTargetFPS` (`steamcompmgr.cpp:7040`, and `:10621` for the window's
   limited cycle) lands on the nearest divisor of the grid; the shim's floor is
-  exact.
+  exact (measured: 60.00 commits/s at a 60 cap).
 - **The client-visible refresh is the mode's.** `-r` reaches `g_nOutputRefresh`
   only transiently (`drm_unset_mode`, `:3680`), before `drm_set_mode` (`:3728`)
   overwrites it with the mode's rate — `_GAMESCOPE_DISPLAY_REFRESH_RATE_FEEDBACK`
   and `active_display_info` therefore carry the panel's rate, never the grid.
 - **Engagement feedback**: `gamescope_limiter.state` covers the gamescope route;
-  the shim logs `scanout frame cap: fps=… effective=…` (`scanout.rs:141-149`).
+  the shim logs `scanout frame cap: fps=… effective=…` (`scanout.rs:148-158`),
+  `effective` being the target in force once the note is adopted.
diff --git a/icd_shim/src/scanout.rs b/icd_shim/src/scanout.rs
index 7c63071..234f9f8 100644
--- a/icd_shim/src/scanout.rs
+++ b/icd_shim/src/scanout.rs
@@ -126,28 +126,35 @@ pub(crate) fn period_ns(target_fps: u32) -> u64 {
 ///
 /// The cap is applied here rather than to a release: a frame that may not start
 /// yet is the only point where waiting costs neither rendered work nor display
-/// latency. `max(prev, now) + period` holds the interval at the target when the
-/// guest is faster and lets it be its own rate when it is slower — never two
-/// frames closer than one period, and no debt carried out of a stall.
+/// latency. `prev + period` holds the interval at the target while the guest
+/// keeps up: the wait for `prev` returns a hair late, and that hair must not
+/// become the cadence (it did, as `max(prev, now) + period`: a 60 cap ran at
+/// 59.4). Once the guest is a whole period behind it is its own rate again,
+/// `now + period` — never two frames closer than one period, and no debt
+/// carried out of a stall.
 #[must_use]
 pub(crate) fn next_acquire_after(prev_ns: u64, now_ns: u64, period_ns: u64) -> u64 {
     if period_ns == 0 {
         return prev_ns;
     }
-    prev_ns.max(now_ns).saturating_add(period_ns)
+    if prev_ns != 0 && now_ns < prev_ns.saturating_add(period_ns) {
+        prev_ns + period_ns
+    } else {
+        now_ns.saturating_add(period_ns)
+    }
 }
 
 /// Adopt one frame-cap note: the target it carries.
 fn apply_note(note: FrameCapNote) {
-    // 0 while frame generation paces the session: log what is actually in force,
-    // not what the note carried.
+    NOTES_N.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    CAP_FPS.store(note.fps, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    // 0 while frame generation paces the session: log what is actually in force
+    // now that the note is adopted, not what it carried.
     crate::logf!(gndrm_obf::obf!(
         "scanout frame cap: fps={} effective={}",
         note.fps,
         target_fps()
     ));
-    NOTES_N.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
-    CAP_FPS.store(note.fps, Ordering::Relaxed);
 }
 
 /// The target in force, [`FPS_UNCAPPED`] when none has: read by the shim's
@@ -916,6 +923,19 @@ mod tests {
 
     /// The acquire schedule: one period after the previous start, never closer,
     /// and never later than the guest's own next frame when it is slower.
+    #[test]
+    fn the_cadence_does_not_carry_the_wakeup_overshoot() {
+        let period = 16_666_666;
+        let first = next_acquire_after(0, 1_000_000_000, period);
+        assert_eq!(first, 1_016_666_666);
+        // The wait returned 150 us late: the next deadline is still one period on.
+        let second = next_acquire_after(first, first + 150_000, period);
+        assert_eq!(second, first + period);
+        // A whole period late: no debt.
+        let third = next_acquire_after(second, second + period + 5_000_000, period);
+        assert_eq!(third, second + period + 5_000_000 + period);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn the_acquire_schedule_spaces_frame_starts() {
         let period = period_ns(40);