diff --git a/hosts/ocaml/bin/sx_server.ml b/hosts/ocaml/bin/sx_server.ml
index 9e4ab1b6..66816226 100644
--- a/hosts/ocaml/bin/sx_server.ml
+++ b/hosts/ocaml/bin/sx_server.ml
@@ -1499,9 +1499,7 @@ let http_render_page env path =
           | [e] -> e | [] -> Nil | _ -> List (Symbol "<>" :: body_exprs) in
         Sx_render.render_to_html_streaming body_expr env
       with e ->
-        Printf.eprintf "[http-ssr] failed: %s\n%!" (Printexc.to_string e);
-        (* Fallback: minimal layout structure so client can mount *)
-        "<div class=\"max-w-screen-2xl mx-auto py-1 px-1\"><div id=\"filter\"></div><main class=\"max-w-full\" id=\"root-panel\"><div class=\"md:min-h-0\"></div></main></div>"
+        Printf.eprintf "[http-ssr] failed: %s\n%!" (Printexc.to_string e); ""
     in
     let t3 = Unix.gettimeofday () in
     (* Phase 3: Shell — render directly to buffer for zero-copy output *)
@@ -1621,25 +1619,14 @@ let http_inject_shell_statics env static_dir sx_sxc =
     | _ -> ()
   ) env.bindings;
   let raw_defs = Buffer.contents buf in
-  (* Escape </script inside component-defs. The HTML parser for
-     <script type="text/sx"> scans for </script> (case-insensitive) to
-     close the tag. Replace </ with <\/ when followed by 's' or 'S'.
-     The \/ is treated as / by the SX parser. *)
-  let component_defs =
-    let len = String.length raw_defs in
-    let out = Buffer.create (len + 256) in
-    let i = ref 0 in
-    while !i < len do
-      if !i + 2 < len && raw_defs.[!i] = '<' && raw_defs.[!i + 1] = '/'
-         && (raw_defs.[!i + 2] = 's' || raw_defs.[!i + 2] = 'S') then begin
-        Buffer.add_string out "<\\/";
-        i := !i + 2
-      end else begin
-        Buffer.add_char out raw_defs.[!i];
-        i := !i + 1
-      end
-    done;
-    Buffer.contents out in
+  (* Don't inline component-defs — serve from /static/sx-components.sx.
+     Inlining breaks because SX source can contain literal </script> which
+     the HTML parser uses to close the tag prematurely. *)
+  let component_defs = "" in
+  (* Cache the raw defs for the /static/sx-components.sx endpoint *)
+  Hashtbl.replace static_cache "/static/sx-components.sx"
+    (Printf.sprintf "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Type: text/sx; charset=utf-8\r\nContent-Length: %d\r\nCache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable\r\n\r\n%s"
+      (String.length raw_defs) raw_defs);
   let component_hash = Digest.string component_defs |> Digest.to_hex in
   (* Compute file hashes for cache busting *)
   let sx_js_hash = file_hash (static_dir ^ "/scripts/sx-browser.js") in
@@ -1704,7 +1691,16 @@ let http_inject_shell_statics env static_dir sx_sxc =
   ignore (env_bind env "__shell-body-scripts" Nil);
   ignore (env_bind env "__shell-inline-css" Nil);
   ignore (env_bind env "__shell-inline-head-js" Nil);
-  ignore (env_bind env "__shell-init-sx" Nil);
+  (* init-sx: trigger client-side render when sx-root is empty (SSR failed).
+     The boot code hydrates existing islands but doesn't do fresh render.
+     This script forces a render from page-sx after boot completes. *)
+  ignore (env_bind env "__shell-init-sx" (String
+    "document.addEventListener('sx:boot-done', function() { \
+     var root = document.getElementById('sx-root'); \
+     if (root && !root.innerHTML.trim() && typeof SX !== 'undefined' && SX.renderPage) { \
+       SX.renderPage(); \
+     } \
+     });"));
   Printf.eprintf "[sx-http] Shell statics: defs=%d hash=%s css=%d js=%s wasm=%s\n%!"
     (String.length component_defs) component_hash (String.length sx_css) sx_js_hash wasm_hash
 
diff --git a/hosts/ocaml/lib/sx_render.ml b/hosts/ocaml/lib/sx_render.ml
index 92bc351a..d8201501 100644
--- a/hosts/ocaml/lib/sx_render.ml
+++ b/hosts/ocaml/lib/sx_render.ml
@@ -258,21 +258,8 @@ and render_list_to_html head args env =
        | Component c when c.c_affinity = "client" -> ""  (* skip client-only *)
        | Component _ -> render_component v args env
        | Island _i ->
-         (* Islands: try SSR via the SX render-to-html from adapter-html.sx.
-            It handles deref/signal/computed through the CEK correctly,
-            and renders island bodies with hydration markers.
-            On failure, emit a placeholder — client hydrates from SX source. *)
-         (try
-           let call_expr = List (Symbol name :: args) in
-           let quoted = List [Symbol "quote"; call_expr] in
-           let render_call = List [Symbol "render-to-html"; quoted; Env env] in
-           let result = Sx_ref.eval_expr render_call (Env env) in
-           (match result with
-            | String s | RawHTML s -> s
-            | _ -> value_to_string result)
-         with _e ->
-           (* Placeholder — client will hydrate this island *)
-           Printf.sprintf "<span data-sx-island=\"%s\"></span>" _i.i_name)
+         (* Islands are client-rendered — emit placeholder for hydration *)
+         Printf.sprintf "<span data-sx-island=\"%s\"></span>" _i.i_name
        | Macro m ->
          let expanded = expand_macro m args env in
          do_render_to_html expanded env
@@ -516,16 +503,10 @@ and render_list_buf buf head args env =
        | Component c when c.c_affinity = "client" -> ()
        | Component _ -> render_component_buf buf v args env
        | Island _i ->
-         (try
-           let call_expr = List (Symbol name :: args) in
-           let quoted = List [Symbol "quote"; call_expr] in
-           let render_call = List [Symbol "render-to-html"; quoted; Env env] in
-           let result = Sx_ref.eval_expr render_call (Env env) in
-           (match result with
-            | String s | RawHTML s -> Buffer.add_string buf s
-            | _ -> Buffer.add_string buf (value_to_string result))
-         with _e ->
-           Buffer.add_string buf (Printf.sprintf "<span data-sx-island=\"%s\"></span>" _i.i_name))
+         (* Islands are client-rendered — emit placeholder for hydration.
+            SSR of island bodies is unreliable (client-only symbols like
+            signals, DOM refs) and can cascade errors. *)
+         Buffer.add_string buf (Printf.sprintf "<span data-sx-island=\"%s\"></span>" _i.i_name)
        | Macro m ->
          let expanded = expand_macro m args env in
          render_to_buf buf expanded env