diff --git a/src/lib/exporter/finalizationTimeout.test.ts b/src/lib/exporter/finalizationTimeout.test.ts
index ccc53ffe..91728291 100644
--- a/src/lib/exporter/finalizationTimeout.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/exporter/finalizationTimeout.test.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
 import {
+	advanceFinalizationProgress,
 	type FinalizationProgressWatchdog,
 	getExportFinalizationIdleTimeoutMs,
 	getExportFinalizationTimeoutMs,
+	INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE,
 	withFinalizationTimeout,
 } from "./finalizationTimeout";
 
@@ -160,4 +162,31 @@ describe("finalizationTimeout", () => {
 			vi.useRealTimers();
 		}
 	});
+
+	it("only marks finalization as progressed when normalized progress increases", () => {
+		const initial = advanceFinalizationProgress({
+			renderProgress: 99,
+			audioProgress: 0.5,
+			state: INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE,
+		});
+		expect(initial.progressed).toBe(true);
+		expect(initial.lastRenderProgress).toBe(99);
+		expect(initial.lastAudioProgress).toBe(0.5);
+
+		const repeated = advanceFinalizationProgress({
+			renderProgress: 99,
+			audioProgress: 0.5,
+			state: initial,
+		});
+		expect(repeated.progressed).toBe(false);
+
+		const advanced = advanceFinalizationProgress({
+			renderProgress: 100,
+			audioProgress: 0.5,
+			state: repeated,
+		});
+		expect(advanced.progressed).toBe(true);
+		expect(advanced.lastRenderProgress).toBe(100);
+		expect(advanced.lastAudioProgress).toBe(0.5);
+	});
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/exporter/finalizationTimeout.ts b/src/lib/exporter/finalizationTimeout.ts
index b098e411..86b7e9dd 100644
--- a/src/lib/exporter/finalizationTimeout.ts
+++ b/src/lib/exporter/finalizationTimeout.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@ export type FinalizationTimeoutWorkload = "default" | "audio";
 export type FinalizationProgressWatchdog = {
 	refreshProgress: () => void;
 };
+export type FinalizationProgressState = {
+	lastRenderProgress: number;
+	lastAudioProgress: number;
+};
 
 const BASE_FINALIZATION_TIMEOUT_MS = 10 * 60_000;
 const AUDIO_TIMEOUT_HEADROOM_PER_OUTPUT_SECOND_MS = 500;
@@ -10,6 +14,11 @@ const MIN_PROGRESS_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS = 90_000;
 const MAX_PROGRESS_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS = 5 * 60_000;
 const PROGRESS_IDLE_TIMEOUT_FRACTION = 0.25;
 
+export const INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE: FinalizationProgressState = {
+	lastRenderProgress: -1,
+	lastAudioProgress: -1,
+};
+
 export function getExportFinalizationTimeoutMs({
 	effectiveDurationSec,
 	workload = "default",
@@ -57,6 +66,35 @@ export function getExportFinalizationIdleTimeoutMs({
 	);
 }
 
+export function advanceFinalizationProgress({
+	renderProgress,
+	audioProgress,
+	state,
+}: {
+	renderProgress: number;
+	audioProgress?: number;
+	state: FinalizationProgressState;
+}): FinalizationProgressState & { progressed: boolean } {
+	const normalizedRenderProgress = Math.max(0, Math.min(renderProgress, 100));
+	const normalizedAudioProgress =
+		typeof audioProgress === "number" && Number.isFinite(audioProgress)
+			? Math.max(0, Math.min(audioProgress, 1))
+			: null;
+	const nextRenderProgress = Math.max(state.lastRenderProgress, normalizedRenderProgress);
+	const nextAudioProgress =
+		normalizedAudioProgress === null
+			? state.lastAudioProgress
+			: Math.max(state.lastAudioProgress, normalizedAudioProgress);
+
+	return {
+		progressed:
+			nextRenderProgress > state.lastRenderProgress ||
+			nextAudioProgress > state.lastAudioProgress,
+		lastRenderProgress: nextRenderProgress,
+		lastAudioProgress: nextAudioProgress,
+	};
+}
+
 export async function withFinalizationTimeout<T>({
 	promise,
 	stage,
diff --git a/src/lib/exporter/modernVideoExporter.ts b/src/lib/exporter/modernVideoExporter.ts
index bc76be17..35db408d 100644
--- a/src/lib/exporter/modernVideoExporter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/exporter/modernVideoExporter.ts
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ import {
 	getWebCodecsKeyFrameInterval,
 } from "./exportTuning";
 import {
+	advanceFinalizationProgress,
 	type FinalizationProgressWatchdog,
 	type FinalizationTimeoutWorkload,
+	INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE,
 	withFinalizationTimeout,
 } from "./finalizationTimeout";
 import { FrameRenderer as ModernFrameRenderer } from "./modernFrameRenderer";
@@ -155,6 +157,8 @@ export class ModernVideoExporter {
 	private finalizationTimeMs = 0;
 	private processedFrameCount = 0;
 	private activeFinalizationProgressWatchdog: FinalizationProgressWatchdog | null = null;
+	private lastFinalizationRenderProgress = INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE.lastRenderProgress;
+	private lastFinalizationAudioProgress = INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE.lastAudioProgress;
 	private lastProgressSampleTimeMs = 0;
 	private lastProgressSampleFrame = 0;
 
@@ -1156,7 +1160,19 @@ export class ModernVideoExporter {
 		renderProgress: number,
 		audioProgress?: number,
 	) {
-		this.activeFinalizationProgressWatchdog?.refreshProgress();
+		const nextProgress = advanceFinalizationProgress({
+			renderProgress,
+			audioProgress,
+			state: {
+				lastRenderProgress: this.lastFinalizationRenderProgress,
+				lastAudioProgress: this.lastFinalizationAudioProgress,
+			},
+		});
+		if (nextProgress.progressed) {
+			this.activeFinalizationProgressWatchdog?.refreshProgress();
+		}
+		this.lastFinalizationRenderProgress = nextProgress.lastRenderProgress;
+		this.lastFinalizationAudioProgress = nextProgress.lastAudioProgress;
 		this.reportProgress(totalFrames, totalFrames, "finalizing", renderProgress, audioProgress);
 	}
 
@@ -1600,6 +1616,9 @@ export class ModernVideoExporter {
 		this.finalizationTimeMs = 0;
 		this.processedFrameCount = 0;
 		this.activeFinalizationProgressWatchdog = null;
+		this.lastFinalizationRenderProgress =
+			INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE.lastRenderProgress;
+		this.lastFinalizationAudioProgress = INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE.lastAudioProgress;
 		this.effectiveDurationSec = 0;
 		this.lastProgressSampleTimeMs = 0;
 		this.lastProgressSampleFrame = 0;
diff --git a/src/lib/exporter/videoExporter.ts b/src/lib/exporter/videoExporter.ts
index e213e83b..ebcad040 100644
--- a/src/lib/exporter/videoExporter.ts
+++ b/src/lib/exporter/videoExporter.ts
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ import type {
 } from "@/components/video-editor/types";
 import { AudioProcessor, isAacAudioEncodingSupported } from "./audioEncoder";
 import {
+	advanceFinalizationProgress,
 	type FinalizationProgressWatchdog,
 	type FinalizationTimeoutWorkload,
+	INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE,
 	withFinalizationTimeout,
 } from "./finalizationTimeout";
 import { FrameRenderer } from "./frameRenderer";
@@ -113,6 +115,8 @@ export class VideoExporter {
 	private maxNativeWriteInFlight = 1;
 	private nativeEncoderError: Error | null = null;
 	private activeFinalizationProgressWatchdog: FinalizationProgressWatchdog | null = null;
+	private lastFinalizationRenderProgress = INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE.lastRenderProgress;
+	private lastFinalizationAudioProgress = INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE.lastAudioProgress;
 
 	constructor(config: VideoExporterConfig) {
 		this.config = config;
@@ -882,7 +886,19 @@ export class VideoExporter {
 		renderProgress: number,
 		audioProgress?: number,
 	) {
-		this.activeFinalizationProgressWatchdog?.refreshProgress();
+		const nextProgress = advanceFinalizationProgress({
+			renderProgress,
+			audioProgress,
+			state: {
+				lastRenderProgress: this.lastFinalizationRenderProgress,
+				lastAudioProgress: this.lastFinalizationAudioProgress,
+			},
+		});
+		if (nextProgress.progressed) {
+			this.activeFinalizationProgressWatchdog?.refreshProgress();
+		}
+		this.lastFinalizationRenderProgress = nextProgress.lastRenderProgress;
+		this.lastFinalizationAudioProgress = nextProgress.lastAudioProgress;
 		this.reportProgress(totalFrames, totalFrames, "finalizing", renderProgress, audioProgress);
 	}
 
@@ -1138,6 +1154,9 @@ export class VideoExporter {
 		this.muxer = null;
 		this.audioProcessor = null;
 		this.activeFinalizationProgressWatchdog = null;
+		this.lastFinalizationRenderProgress =
+			INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE.lastRenderProgress;
+		this.lastFinalizationAudioProgress = INITIAL_FINALIZATION_PROGRESS_STATE.lastAudioProgress;
 		this.encodeQueue = 0;
 		this.pendingMuxing = Promise.resolve();
 		this.nativePendingWrite = Promise.resolve();