diff --git a/hosts/ocaml/bin/sx_server.ml b/hosts/ocaml/bin/sx_server.ml
index 00f3c0bd..a848516b 100644
--- a/hosts/ocaml/bin/sx_server.ml
+++ b/hosts/ocaml/bin/sx_server.ml
@@ -2017,9 +2017,6 @@ let http_mode port =
       in
       match work with
       | Some (fd, path, headers) ->
-        (* ~10M steps ≈ 3-5 seconds of CEK evaluation *)
-        Atomic.set Sx_ref._step_count 0;
-        Atomic.set Sx_ref._step_limit 10_000_000;
         let response =
           try
             let is_ajax = List.exists (fun (k, _) -> k = "sx-request" || k = "hx-request") headers in
@@ -2035,7 +2032,6 @@ let http_mode port =
             Printf.eprintf "[render] Error for %s: %s\n%!" path (Printexc.to_string e);
             http_response ~status:500 "<h1>Internal Server Error</h1>"
         in
-        Atomic.set Sx_ref._step_limit 0;
         write_response fd response
       | None -> ()
     done
diff --git a/hosts/ocaml/lib/sx_ref.ml b/hosts/ocaml/lib/sx_ref.ml
index f42dc9c7..aedf1284 100644
--- a/hosts/ocaml/lib/sx_ref.ml
+++ b/hosts/ocaml/lib/sx_ref.ml
@@ -30,12 +30,6 @@ let _last_error_kont : value ref = ref Nil
 
 (* === Transpiled from evaluator (frames + eval + CEK) === *)
 
-(* Per-domain step limit (0 = no limit).
-   Set by the HTTP render worker before each page render.
-   Checked every 4096 CEK steps in cek_run. *)
-let _step_limit : int Atomic.t = Atomic.make 0
-let _step_count : int Atomic.t = Atomic.make 0
-
 (* make-cek-state *)
 let rec make_cek_state control env kont =
   (CekState { cs_control = control; cs_env = env; cs_kont = kont; cs_phase = "eval"; cs_value = Nil })
@@ -378,29 +372,13 @@ and sf_provide args env =
 and expand_macro mac raw_args env =
   (let local = (env_merge ((macro_closure (mac))) (env)) in (let () = ignore ((List.iter (fun pair -> ignore ((env_bind local (sx_to_string (first (pair))) (if sx_truthy ((prim_call "<" [(nth (pair) ((Number 1.0))); (len (raw_args))])) then (nth (raw_args) ((nth (pair) ((Number 1.0))))) else Nil)))) (sx_to_list (List (List.mapi (fun i p -> let i = Number (float_of_int i) in (List [p; i])) (sx_to_list (macro_params (mac)))))); Nil)) in (let () = ignore ((if sx_truthy ((macro_rest_param (mac))) then (env_bind local (sx_to_string (macro_rest_param (mac))) (prim_call "slice" [raw_args; (len ((macro_params (mac))))])) else Nil)) in (trampoline ((eval_expr ((macro_body (mac))) (local)))))))
 
-(* cek-run — iterative loop to avoid JS stack overflow in WASM *)
+(* cek-run *)
 and cek_run state =
-  let s = ref state in
-  (try
-    let n = ref 0 in
-    while not (match cek_terminal_p !s with Bool true -> true | _ -> false) do
-      s := cek_step !s;
-      incr n;
-      if !n land 4095 = 0 then begin
-        let lim = Atomic.get _step_limit in
-        if lim > 0 && !n >= lim then
-          raise (Eval_error (Printf.sprintf "Render step limit exceeded (%d steps)" !n));
-        if !n land 1048575 = 0 then
-          Printf.eprintf "[cek] %d steps, phase=%s control=%s\n%!" !n
-            (match cek_phase !s with String p -> p | _ -> "?")
-            (String.sub (Sx_runtime.value_to_str (cek_control !s)) 0
-              (min 80 (String.length (Sx_runtime.value_to_str (cek_control !s)))))
-      end
-    done;
-    cek_value !s
-  with Eval_error msg ->
-    (if !_last_error_kont = Nil then _last_error_kont := cek_kont !s);
-    raise (Eval_error msg))
+  (if sx_truthy ((cek_terminal_p (state))) then (cek_value (state)) else
+   try cek_run ((cek_step (state)))
+   with Eval_error msg ->
+     (if !_last_error_kont = Nil then _last_error_kont := cek_kont state);
+     raise (Eval_error msg))
 
 (* cek-step *)
 and cek_step state =