diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/Workshop.jsx b/packages/client/src/components/Workshop.jsx
index 6a5b819..160aae9 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/Workshop.jsx
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/Workshop.jsx
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import React, { useState, useEffect, useCallback } from 'react';
 import { workshop as workshopApi } from '../services/api.js';
 import { useAuth } from '../services/AuthContext.jsx';
-import { state, deserialize, emit } from '../engine/state.js';
-import { stopAudio, rebuildGraph } from '../engine/audioEngine.js';
+import { state, deserialize } from '../engine/state.js';
+import { rebuildGraph } from '../engine/audioEngine.js';
 import { getPresets } from '../engine/presets.js';
 
 const TAGS = ['ambient', 'bass', 'drums', 'pad', 'lead', 'fx', 'chiptune', 'experimental'];
@@ -171,14 +171,11 @@ export default function Workshop({ onSwitchToSandbox, onSwitchToGame, onSwitchTo
   const handleLoad = (patch) => {
     if (!patch.data) return;
 
-    // Stop audio, clean state, then load
-    if (state.isRunning) stopAudio();
-
-    // Deep clone to avoid reference issues
+    // Deep clone and load — same pattern as loadPreset()
+    // Don't stop audio first: rebuildGraph destroys and recreates all nodes
     const cleanData = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(patch.data));
     deserialize(cleanData);
-    rebuildGraph();
-    emit();
+    if (state.isRunning) rebuildGraph();
 
     onSwitchToSandbox?.();
   };