diff --git a/src/frontend/src/components/ReleaseModal.tsx b/src/frontend/src/components/ReleaseModal.tsx
index 9ee851a2..c7548554 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/components/ReleaseModal.tsx
+++ b/src/frontend/src/components/ReleaseModal.tsx
@@ -1801,8 +1801,13 @@ const ReleaseModalSession = ({
                     </div>
                   </div>
 
-                  {/* Center: Results count from release sources */}
-                  <div className="flex flex-1 justify-center">
+                  {/* Results count from release sources. Deliberately not flex-1: a
+                      second growing child would halve the scrollable tab strip beside
+                      it, and it would claim that space even on tabs whose source
+                      reports no total (only direct_download does). Hidden below sm:
+                      the label is ~150px and the full-screen mobile modal has no room
+                      for it without pushing the tabs out of reach. */}
+                  <div className="hidden flex-none justify-center sm:flex">
                     {(() => {
                       const searchInfo = releasesBySource[activeTab]?.search_info?.[activeTab];
                       const totalCount = searchInfo?.total_results;
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/hooks/useSearch.ts b/src/frontend/src/hooks/useSearch.ts
index 9c0b003c..973a0382 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/hooks/useSearch.ts
+++ b/src/frontend/src/hooks/useSearch.ts
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ export function useSearch(options: UseSearchOptions): UseSearchReturn {
           setLastSearchQuery('');
           setHasMore(false);
           setTotalFound(0);
+          setDirectTotalResults(null);
           setCurrentPage(1);
           setResultsSourceUrl(undefined);
           setResultsSourceTitle(undefined);
@@ -219,10 +220,13 @@ export function useSearch(options: UseSearchOptions): UseSearchReturn {
 
         setIsSearching(true);
         setLastSearchQuery(query);
-        // Reset pagination for new search
+        // Reset pagination for new search. directTotalResults belongs to direct mode
+        // and is never written here, so without clearing it a count from an earlier
+        // direct search survives the mode switch and renders over these results.
         setCurrentPage(1);
         setHasMore(false);
         setTotalFound(0);
+        setDirectTotalResults(null);
 
         try {
           const result = await searchMetadata(