diff --git a/pkg/gui/gui_common.go b/pkg/gui/gui_common.go
index 69ec44781..80b2b9ded 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/gui_common.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/gui_common.go
@@ -58,7 +58,18 @@ func (self *guiCommon) PauseBackgroundRefreshes(pause bool) {
 	self.gui.BackgroundRoutineMgr.PauseBackgroundRefreshes(pause)
 }
 
+// assertOnUIThread panics (in debug builds) if called from a worker goroutine.
+// Use it to guard accessors for state that only the UI thread may touch, so
+// that a stray worker access fails deterministically -- and points at itself --
+// rather than surfacing later as a probabilistic data race.
+func (self *guiCommon) assertOnUIThread(accessor string) {
+	if self.GetConfig().GetDebug() && !self.GocuiGui().IsUIThread() {
+		panic(accessor + " accessed from a worker")
+	}
+}
+
 func (self *guiCommon) Context() types.IContextMgr {
+	self.assertOnUIThread("Context()")
 	return self.gui.State.ContextMgr
 }
 
@@ -113,6 +124,7 @@ func (self *guiCommon) Modes() *types.Modes {
 }
 
 func (self *guiCommon) Model() *types.Model {
+	self.assertOnUIThread("Model()")
 	return self.gui.State.Model
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/gui/gui_driver.go b/pkg/gui/gui_driver.go
index 31094b253..7bd31d93d 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/gui_driver.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/gui_driver.go
@@ -92,7 +92,10 @@ func (self *GuiDriver) Keys() config.KeybindingConfig {
 }
 
 func (self *GuiDriver) CurrentContext() types.Context {
-	return self.gui.c.Context().Current()
+	// Read the context manager directly rather than through c.Context(): the
+	// driver runs on the test goroutine, not the UI thread, so it must bypass
+	// the UI-thread assertion that accessor carries.
+	return self.gui.State.ContextMgr.Current()
 }
 
 func (self *GuiDriver) ContextForView(viewName string) types.Context {