diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go
index 7ae7b4119..27f465f69 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go
@@ -91,10 +91,19 @@ func (self *RefreshHelper) RefreshFromWorker(options types.RefreshOptions) {
 }
 
 type refreshEnv struct {
-	// whether this is a background refresh (which selects the dispatch variant that
-	// doesn't count towards lazygit being busy)
+	// Whether everything this refresh dispatches uses the background task
+	// variants, which don't count towards lazygit being busy — so the refresh
+	// doesn't block switching repos. Set for refreshes initiated by a
+	// background routine, and for foreground ones that opted in via
+	// RefreshOptions.DontBlockRepoSwitch.
 	background bool
 
+	// Whether the refresh was initiated by an unattended background routine
+	// (RefreshOptions.Background) rather than by user activity. The files
+	// refresh uses this to decide whether git may take optional locks and
+	// persist its refreshed stat cache.
+	backgroundRoutine bool
+
 	// the repo generation captured when the refresh started
 	generation int
 
@@ -175,6 +184,13 @@ func (self *RefreshHelper) performRefresh(options types.RefreshOptions, calledFr
 		panic("Refresh called from a worker, or RefreshFromWorker called from the UI thread")
 	}
 
+	if options.Then != nil && options.DontBlockRepoSwitch {
+		// Then is not generation-guarded, so if a switch crossed the refresh it
+		// would run against the newly switched-to repo. A refresh carrying a
+		// Then must keep blocking switches.
+		panic("a refresh with a Then callback must not set DontBlockRepoSwitch")
+	}
+
 	// Capture the refresh's baseline once, here at the start: the repo
 	// generation that every scope's bounce is guarded against, and the git
 	// command instance the scopes run their commands through. The two are
@@ -186,9 +202,10 @@ func (self *RefreshHelper) performRefresh(options types.RefreshOptions, calledFr
 	// against the repo it started in, and the generation guard drops its
 	// writes.
 	env := refreshEnv{
-		background: options.Background,
+		background:        options.Background || options.DontBlockRepoSwitch,
+		backgroundRoutine: options.Background,
 	}
-	self.captureOnUIThread(calledFromWorker, options.Background, func() {
+	self.captureOnUIThread(calledFromWorker, env.background, func() {
 		env.generation = self.c.State().GetRepoGeneration()
 		env.git = self.c.Git()
 	})
@@ -1276,7 +1293,7 @@ func (self *RefreshHelper) refreshStateFiles(captured capturedFilesState, env re
 	files := env.git.Loaders.FileLoader.
 		GetStatusFiles(git_commands.GetStatusFileOptions{
 			ForceShowUntracked: captured.forceShowUntracked,
-			Background:         env.background,
+			Background:         env.backgroundRoutine,
 		})
 
 	conflictFileCount := 0
diff --git a/pkg/gui/gui.go b/pkg/gui/gui.go
index 533c01fbd..8776040e7 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/gui.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/gui.go
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) onNewRepo(startArgs appTypes.StartArgs, contextKey types.Context
 			}
 
 			gui.c.Log.Info("Receiving focus - refreshing")
-			gui.helpers.Refresh.Refresh(types.RefreshOptions{})
+			gui.helpers.Refresh.Refresh(types.RefreshOptions{DontBlockRepoSwitch: true})
 			return reloadErr
 		}
 
@@ -1031,7 +1031,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) runSubprocessWithSuspenseAndRefresh(subprocess *oscommands.CmdOb
 		return err
 	}
 
-	gui.c.Refresh(types.RefreshOptions{})
+	gui.c.Refresh(types.RefreshOptions{DontBlockRepoSwitch: true})
 
 	return nil
 }
@@ -1108,7 +1108,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) loadNewRepo() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	gui.c.Refresh(types.RefreshOptions{})
+	gui.c.Refresh(types.RefreshOptions{DontBlockRepoSwitch: true})
 
 	if err := gui.os.UpdateWindowTitle(); err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/pkg/gui/types/refresh.go b/pkg/gui/types/refresh.go
index 937c3a30e..c733e589e 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/types/refresh.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/types/refresh.go
@@ -94,4 +94,19 @@ type RefreshOptions struct {
 	// fast. Background refreshes leave the suppression in place: not persisting
 	// the stat-cache is the right trade-off for unattended work.
 	Background bool
+
+	// When true, this foreground refresh does not block switching repos while
+	// it is in flight. A refresh is switch-safe by construction — its git
+	// commands run against the repo it was started for, and the generation
+	// guard drops its model/view updates if the repo changed — but a refresh
+	// triggered by a user operation still blocks switching (its tasks count
+	// towards Busy()), because the operation's follow-up work isn't covered
+	// by those guards. A refresh that merely reloads state (on focus, after a
+	// repo switch, after returning from a subprocess) has no such follow-up,
+	// so it opts in here and a repo switch during it is allowed rather than
+	// refused with a toast.
+	//
+	// Must not be combined with Then: Then is not generation-guarded, so it
+	// would run against the newly switched-to repo.
+	DontBlockRepoSwitch bool
 }