diff --git a/packages/host/app/services/matrix-service.ts b/packages/host/app/services/matrix-service.ts
index 329faef5cf..a02fb0c1de 100644
--- a/packages/host/app/services/matrix-service.ts
+++ b/packages/host/app/services/matrix-service.ts
@@ -2100,7 +2100,12 @@ export default class MatrixService extends Service {
     this._systemCard = undefined;
     this._systemCardLoadFailed = false;
     this.startedAtTs = -1;
-    this.#clientReadyDeferred = new Deferred<void>();
+    // `#clientReadyDeferred` is deliberately left alone. It gates on "the SDK
+    // has loaded and a client exists" — a condition this reset preserves, since
+    // the client is recreated synchronously above whenever the SDK is loaded.
+    // Replacing it with a fresh deferred would strand every post-logout
+    // `createRealmSession()` await: `loadSDK()`, the only fulfiller, runs once
+    // at boot and never re-runs.
   }
 
   private teardownClient() {
diff --git a/packages/host/tests/integration/matrix-service-relogin-test.ts b/packages/host/tests/integration/matrix-service-relogin-test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..75f75ee1e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/host/tests/integration/matrix-service-relogin-test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import type { RenderingTestContext } from '@ember/test-helpers';
+
+import { getService } from '@universal-ember/test-support';
+import { rawTimeout } from 'ember-concurrency';
+import { module, test } from 'qunit';
+
+import { baseRealm } from '@cardstack/runtime-common';
+
+import type MatrixService from '@cardstack/host/services/matrix-service';
+
+import {
+  testRealmURL,
+  setupIntegrationTestRealm,
+  setupLocalIndexing,
+} from '../helpers';
+
+import { setupBaseRealm } from '../helpers/base-realm';
+
+import { setupMockMatrix } from '../helpers/mock-matrix';
+
+import { setupRenderingTest } from '../helpers/setup';
+
+// `MatrixService` is a singleton whose client-ready barrier
+// (`#clientReadyDeferred`) is only fulfilled once, at boot, inside `loadSDK()`.
+// Logout stays in-app (a router transition, not a page reload) and its
+// `finally` runs `resetState()`, so the barrier must survive that reset: if it
+// were replaced with a fresh, never-fulfilled deferred, the next login's
+// `createRealmSession()` would await it forever and the auth page would never
+// progress. This test locks down the invariant that `createRealmSession()`
+// still resolves after a `resetState()`.
+module(
+  'Integration | matrix-service | re-login after logout',
+  function (hooks) {
+    setupRenderingTest(hooks);
+    setupLocalIndexing(hooks);
+
+    let mockMatrixUtils = setupMockMatrix(hooks, {
+      loggedInAs: '@testuser:localhost',
+      activeRealms: [baseRealm.url, testRealmURL],
+      autostart: true,
+    });
+
+    setupBaseRealm(hooks);
+
+    hooks.beforeEach(async function (this: RenderingTestContext) {
+      await setupIntegrationTestRealm({
+        mockMatrixUtils,
+        contents: {},
+      });
+    });
+
+    test('createRealmSession resolves after resetState (logout) instead of hanging', async function (assert) {
+      let matrixService = getService('matrix-service') as MatrixService;
+      await matrixService.ready;
+
+      // `logout()` runs `resetState()` in its `finally`. Drive that reset
+      // directly so the test doesn't depend on the full logout network
+      // roundtrip / router transition.
+      matrixService.resetState();
+
+      const TIMEOUT = Symbol('timeout');
+      let result = await Promise.race([
+        matrixService.createRealmSession(new URL(testRealmURL)),
+        rawTimeout(2000).then(() => TIMEOUT),
+      ]);
+
+      assert.notStrictEqual(
+        result,
+        TIMEOUT,
+        'createRealmSession settles after resetState — the clientReadyDeferred barrier survives the reset rather than being left pending',
+      );
+    });
+  },
+);
diff --git a/packages/matrix/tests/login.spec.ts b/packages/matrix/tests/login.spec.ts
index 34ccae82d7..cedb7f8594 100644
--- a/packages/matrix/tests/login.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/matrix/tests/login.spec.ts
@@ -358,6 +358,38 @@ test.describe('Login', () => {
     await expect(page.locator('[data-test-login-btn]')).toBeVisible();
   });
 
+  test('it can log back in after logout without a page reload', async ({
+    page,
+  }) => {
+    await login(page, username, password, { url: appURL });
+    await assertLoggedIn(page, {
+      displayName: username,
+      userId: credentials.userId,
+    });
+
+    await logout(page);
+    await assertLoggedOut(page);
+    // The login form renders as soon as auth is cleared, but logout finishes
+    // asynchronously with a router transition to index-root that remounts the
+    // form. Wait for that transition to land (the path leaves the realm route)
+    // before filling, or the fields get wiped mid-fill — faster than any real
+    // user could type.
+    await page.waitForURL((url) => url.pathname === '/');
+
+    // Logout stays in-app (a router transition, not a page reload), so this
+    // second login runs against the matrix client that logout's `resetState()`
+    // recreated rather than a freshly booted one.
+    await page.locator('[data-test-username-field]').fill(username);
+    await page.locator('[data-test-password-field]').fill(password);
+    await page.locator('[data-test-login-btn]').click();
+
+    await expect(page.locator('[data-test-workspace-chooser]')).toHaveCount(1);
+    await assertLoggedIn(page, {
+      displayName: username,
+      userId: credentials.userId,
+    });
+  });
+
   test('it shows an error when invalid credentials are provided', async ({
     page,
   }) => {