diff --git a/frontend/src/components/tree-editor/TreeCanvasNode.tsx b/frontend/src/components/tree-editor/TreeCanvasNode.tsx
index 66f83233..3a3cb005 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/tree-editor/TreeCanvasNode.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/tree-editor/TreeCanvasNode.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useState, useCallback } from 'react'
+import { useState, useCallback, useEffect } from 'react'
 import {
   HelpCircle,
   Zap,
@@ -97,13 +97,22 @@ export function TreeCanvasNode({
     cloneNodeWithoutChildren(node)
   )
 
-  // Reset draft if node changes while editing (e.g. store update from undo)
+  // Reset draft if node ID changes (e.g. navigating between nodes)
   const [lastNodeId, setLastNodeId] = useState(node.id)
   if (node.id !== lastNodeId) {
     setDraft(cloneNodeWithoutChildren(node))
     setLastNodeId(node.id)
   }
 
+  // Re-sync draft from store whenever the card is opened, so stale next_node_id
+  // values (written back after stub creation) don't cause duplicate stubs on re-save
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (isExpanded) {
+      setDraft(cloneNodeWithoutChildren(node))
+    }
+  // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+  }, [isExpanded])
+
   const handleDraftUpdate = useCallback((updates: Partial<TreeStructure>) => {
     setDraft((prev) => ({ ...prev, ...updates }))
   }, [])