diff --git a/web/src/audio.ts b/web/src/audio.ts
index 24ad83ec..c705b197 100644
--- a/web/src/audio.ts
+++ b/web/src/audio.ts
@@ -323,6 +323,11 @@ Alpine.data("audioReader", () => ({
         const audio = this.audio();
         if (audio && !audio.getAttribute("src") && this.tracks[0]) {
           audio.setAttribute("src", this.tracks[0].url);
+          // Setting src resets playbackRate to the element default —
+          // re-apply, mirroring the seekTo() src-swap path. Without this
+          // the pill said 1.5× while audio actually played at 1× after
+          // every reload (surfaced by the speed-list browser check).
+          audio.playbackRate = this.speed;
         }
       }
       if (progress.ok) {
@@ -351,6 +356,7 @@ Alpine.data("audioReader", () => ({
       if (audio && !audio.getAttribute("src") && this.fileUrl) {
         this.tracks = [{ url: this.fileUrl, start: 0, end: 0 }];
         audio.setAttribute("src", this.fileUrl);
+        audio.playbackRate = this.speed;
       }
     }
   },