diff --git a/templates/base/head_navbar.tmpl b/templates/base/head_navbar.tmpl
index 447f78565e..5b8593ec43 100644
--- a/templates/base/head_navbar.tmpl
+++ b/templates/base/head_navbar.tmpl
@@ -152,31 +152,29 @@
 	</div><!-- end full right menu -->
 
 	{{$activeStopwatch := and .PageGlobalData (call .PageGlobalData.GetActiveStopwatch)}}
-	{{if $activeStopwatch}}
-		<div class="active-stopwatch-popup tippy-target">
-			<div class="flex-text-block tw-p-3">
-				<a class="stopwatch-link flex-text-block muted" href="{{$activeStopwatch.IssueLink}}">
-					{{svg "octicon-issue-opened" 16}}
-					<span class="stopwatch-issue">{{$activeStopwatch.RepoSlug}}#{{$activeStopwatch.IssueIndex}}</span>
-				</a>
-				<div class="tw-flex tw-gap-1">
-					<form class="stopwatch-commit form-fetch-action" method="post" action="{{$activeStopwatch.IssueLink}}/times/stopwatch/stop">
-						<button
-							type="submit"
-							class="ui button mini compact basic icon tw-mr-0"
-							data-tooltip-content="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.issues.stop_tracking"}}"
-						>{{svg "octicon-square-fill"}}</button>
-					</form>
-					<form class="stopwatch-cancel form-fetch-action" method="post" action="{{$activeStopwatch.IssueLink}}/times/stopwatch/cancel">
-						<button
-							type="submit"
-							class="ui button mini compact basic icon tw-mr-0"
-							data-tooltip-content="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.issues.cancel_tracking"}}"
-						>{{svg "octicon-trash"}}</button>
-					</form>
-				</div>
+	<div class="active-stopwatch-popup tippy-target">
+		<div class="flex-text-block tw-p-3">
+			<a class="stopwatch-link flex-text-block muted" href="{{if $activeStopwatch}}{{$activeStopwatch.IssueLink}}{{end}}">
+				{{svg "octicon-issue-opened" 16}}
+				<span class="stopwatch-issue">{{if $activeStopwatch}}{{$activeStopwatch.RepoSlug}}#{{$activeStopwatch.IssueIndex}}{{end}}</span>
+			</a>
+			<div class="tw-flex tw-gap-1">
+				<form class="stopwatch-commit form-fetch-action" method="post" action="{{if $activeStopwatch}}{{$activeStopwatch.IssueLink}}/times/stopwatch/stop{{end}}">
+					<button
+						type="submit"
+						class="ui button mini compact basic icon tw-mr-0"
+						data-tooltip-content="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.issues.stop_tracking"}}"
+					>{{svg "octicon-square-fill"}}</button>
+				</form>
+				<form class="stopwatch-cancel form-fetch-action" method="post" action="{{if $activeStopwatch}}{{$activeStopwatch.IssueLink}}/times/stopwatch/cancel{{end}}">
+					<button
+						type="submit"
+						class="ui button mini compact basic icon tw-mr-0"
+						data-tooltip-content="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "repo.issues.cancel_tracking"}}"
+					>{{svg "octicon-trash"}}</button>
+				</form>
 			</div>
 		</div>
-	{{end}}
+	</div>
 </nav>
 {{template "base/head_banner"}}
diff --git a/templates/base/head_navbar_icons.tmpl b/templates/base/head_navbar_icons.tmpl
index 89b02389fc..e0c997b88a 100644
--- a/templates/base/head_navbar_icons.tmpl
+++ b/templates/base/head_navbar_icons.tmpl
@@ -3,14 +3,12 @@
 {{if and $data $data.IsSigned}}{{/* data may not exist, for example: rendering 503 page before the PageGlobalData middleware */}}
 	{{- $activeStopwatch := call $data.GetActiveStopwatch -}}
 	{{- $notificationUnreadCount := call $data.GetNotificationUnreadCount -}}
-	{{if $activeStopwatch}}
-	<a class="item active-stopwatch {{$itemExtraClass}}" href="{{$activeStopwatch.IssueLink}}" title="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "active_stopwatch"}}" data-seconds="{{$activeStopwatch.Seconds}}">
+	<a class="item active-stopwatch{{if not $activeStopwatch}} tw-hidden{{end}} {{$itemExtraClass}}" {{if $activeStopwatch}}href="{{$activeStopwatch.IssueLink}}" data-seconds="{{$activeStopwatch.Seconds}}"{{end}} title="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "active_stopwatch"}}">
 		<div class="tw-relative">
 			{{svg "octicon-stopwatch"}}
 			<span class="header-stopwatch-dot"></span>
 		</div>
 	</a>
-	{{end}}
 	<a class="item {{$itemExtraClass}}" href="{{AppSubUrl}}/notifications" data-tooltip-content="{{ctx.Locale.Tr "notifications"}}">
 		<div class="tw-relative">
 			{{svg "octicon-bell"}}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/events.test.ts b/tests/e2e/events.test.ts
index 61f1a3c881..bab3430945 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/events.test.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/events.test.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ test.describe('events', () => {
     await Promise.all([apiDeleteUser(request, commenter), apiDeleteUser(request, owner)]);
   });
 
-  test('stopwatch', async ({page, request}) => {
+  test('stopwatch visible at page load', async ({page, request}) => {
     const name = `ev-sw-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 6)}`;
     const headers = apiUserHeaders(name);
 
@@ -51,6 +51,28 @@ test.describe('events', () => {
     await apiDeleteUser(request, name);
   });
 
+  test('stopwatch appears via real-time push', async ({page, request}) => {
+    const name = `ev-sw-push-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 6)}`;
+    const headers = apiUserHeaders(name);
+
+    await apiCreateUser(request, name);
+    await apiCreateRepo(request, {name, headers});
+    await apiCreateIssue(request, name, name, {title: 'events stopwatch push test', headers});
+
+    // Login before starting stopwatch — page loads without active stopwatch
+    await loginUser(page, name);
+
+    const stopwatch = page.locator('.active-stopwatch.not-mobile');
+    await expect(stopwatch).toBeHidden();
+
+    // Start stopwatch after page is loaded — icon should appear via WebSocket push
+    await apiStartStopwatch(request, name, name, 1, {headers});
+    await expect(stopwatch).toBeVisible({timeout: 15000});
+
+    // Cleanup
+    await apiDeleteUser(request, name);
+  });
+
   test('logout propagation', async ({browser, request}) => {
     const name = `ev-logout-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 6)}`;
 
diff --git a/web_src/js/features/stopwatch.ts b/web_src/js/features/stopwatch.ts
index 6fa8fbbdf3..75f6290735 100644
--- a/web_src/js/features/stopwatch.ts
+++ b/web_src/js/features/stopwatch.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ export function initStopwatch() {
       interactive: true,
       hideOnClick: true,
       theme: 'default',
+      onShow(instance) {
+        // Re-clone so the tooltip always reflects the latest stopwatch state,
+        // even when the icon became visible via a real-time WebSocket push.
+        instance.setContent(stopwatchPopup.cloneNode(true) as Element);
+      },
     });
   }