diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/timeline/TimelineEditor.tsx b/src/components/video-editor/timeline/TimelineEditor.tsx
index b4d3d351..b2a97a1e 100644
--- a/src/components/video-editor/timeline/TimelineEditor.tsx
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/timeline/TimelineEditor.tsx
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ import Item from "./Item";
 import KeyframeMarkers from "./KeyframeMarkers";
 import Row from "./Row";
 import TimelineWrapper from "./TimelineWrapper";
+import {
+	getTimelineContentMinHeightPx,
+	getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx,
+} from "./timelineLayout";
 import { type AudioPeaksData, useAudioPeaks } from "./useAudioPeaks";
 import { buildInteractionZoomSuggestions } from "./zoomSuggestionUtils";
 
@@ -702,12 +706,18 @@ function Timeline({
 			).sort((left, right) => getAnnotationTrackIndex(left) - getAnnotationTrackIndex(right)),
 		[annotationItems],
 	);
+	const timelineRowCount = 2 + annotationRowIds.length + audioRowIds.length;
+	const timelineRowsMinHeightPx = getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx(timelineRowCount);
+	const timelineContentMinHeightPx = getTimelineContentMinHeightPx(timelineRowCount);
 
 	return (
 		<div
 			ref={setRefs}
-			style={style}
-			className="select-none bg-editor-bg h-full min-h-0 relative cursor-pointer group flex flex-col"
+			style={{
+				...style,
+				minHeight: `max(100%, ${timelineContentMinHeightPx}px)`,
+			}}
+			className="select-none bg-editor-bg relative cursor-pointer group flex flex-col"
 			onClick={handleTimelineClick}
 		>
 			<div className="absolute inset-0 bg-[linear-gradient(to_right,hsl(var(--foreground)/0.03)_1px,transparent_1px)] bg-[length:20px_100%] pointer-events-none" />
@@ -720,7 +730,10 @@ function Timeline({
 				keyframes={keyframes}
 			/>
 
-			<div className="relative z-10 flex flex-1 min-h-0 flex-col">
+			<div
+				className="relative z-10 flex flex-1 min-h-0 flex-col"
+				style={{ minHeight: timelineRowsMinHeightPx }}
+			>
 				<Row id={CLIP_ROW_ID} isEmpty={clipItems.length === 0} hint="Press C to split clip">
 					{audioPeaks && <AudioWaveform peaks={audioPeaks} />}
 					<ClipMarkerOverlay videoDurationMs={videoDurationMs} />
diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/timeline/TimelineWrapper.tsx b/src/components/video-editor/timeline/TimelineWrapper.tsx
index 32a94565..fed0431c 100644
--- a/src/components/video-editor/timeline/TimelineWrapper.tsx
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/timeline/TimelineWrapper.tsx
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ export default function TimelineWrapper({
 			autoScroll={{ enabled: false }}
 			resizeHandleWidth={28}
 		>
-			<div className="relative h-full min-h-0">
+			<div className="relative min-h-full">
 				{children}
 				{/* Floating tooltip shown during drag/resize */}
 				<div
diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/timeline/timelineLayout.test.ts b/src/components/video-editor/timeline/timelineLayout.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..42cdd329
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/timeline/timelineLayout.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+	getTimelineContentMinHeightPx,
+	getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx,
+	TIMELINE_AXIS_HEIGHT_PX,
+	TIMELINE_ROW_MIN_HEIGHT_PX,
+} from "./timelineLayout";
+
+describe("timelineLayout", () => {
+	it("reserves vertical space for every rendered timeline row", () => {
+		expect(getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx(5)).toBe(5 * TIMELINE_ROW_MIN_HEIGHT_PX);
+		expect(getTimelineContentMinHeightPx(5)).toBe(
+			TIMELINE_AXIS_HEIGHT_PX + 5 * TIMELINE_ROW_MIN_HEIGHT_PX,
+		);
+	});
+
+	it("ignores invalid row counts", () => {
+		expect(getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx(-1)).toBe(0);
+		expect(getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx(Number.NaN)).toBe(0);
+		expect(getTimelineContentMinHeightPx(Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY)).toBe(
+			TIMELINE_AXIS_HEIGHT_PX,
+		);
+	});
+
+	it("floors fractional row counts", () => {
+		expect(getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx(2.9)).toBe(2 * TIMELINE_ROW_MIN_HEIGHT_PX);
+		expect(getTimelineContentMinHeightPx(2.9)).toBe(
+			TIMELINE_AXIS_HEIGHT_PX + 2 * TIMELINE_ROW_MIN_HEIGHT_PX,
+		);
+	});
+});
diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/timeline/timelineLayout.ts b/src/components/video-editor/timeline/timelineLayout.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bdf03a17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/timeline/timelineLayout.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+export const TIMELINE_AXIS_HEIGHT_PX = 32;
+export const TIMELINE_ROW_MIN_HEIGHT_PX = 28;
+
+function normalizeRowCount(rowCount: number) {
+	if (!Number.isFinite(rowCount)) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	return Math.max(0, Math.floor(rowCount));
+}
+
+export function getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx(rowCount: number) {
+	return normalizeRowCount(rowCount) * TIMELINE_ROW_MIN_HEIGHT_PX;
+}
+
+export function getTimelineContentMinHeightPx(rowCount: number) {
+	return TIMELINE_AXIS_HEIGHT_PX + getTimelineRowsMinHeightPx(rowCount);
+}