diff --git a/plugin/subminer/process.lua b/plugin/subminer/process.lua
index e3119c4..f736bb6 100644
--- a/plugin/subminer/process.lua
+++ b/plugin/subminer/process.lua
@@ -70,8 +70,17 @@ function M.create(ctx)
 		state.auto_play_ready_timeout = nil
 	end
 
+	local function clear_auto_play_ready_osd_timer()
+		local timer = state.auto_play_ready_osd_timer
+		if timer and timer.kill then
+			timer:kill()
+		end
+		state.auto_play_ready_osd_timer = nil
+	end
+
 	local function disarm_auto_play_ready_gate()
 		clear_auto_play_ready_timeout()
+		clear_auto_play_ready_osd_timer()
 		state.auto_play_ready_gate_armed = false
 	end
 
@@ -88,10 +97,18 @@ function M.create(ctx)
 	local function arm_auto_play_ready_gate()
 		if state.auto_play_ready_gate_armed then
 			clear_auto_play_ready_timeout()
+			clear_auto_play_ready_osd_timer()
 		end
 		state.auto_play_ready_gate_armed = true
 		mp.set_property_native("pause", true)
 		show_osd("Loading subtitle annotations...")
+		if type(mp.add_periodic_timer) == "function" then
+			state.auto_play_ready_osd_timer = mp.add_periodic_timer(2.5, function()
+				if state.auto_play_ready_gate_armed then
+					show_osd("Loading subtitle annotations...")
+				end
+			end)
+		end
 		subminer_log("info", "process", "Pausing playback until SubMiner overlay/tokenization readiness signal")
 		state.auto_play_ready_timeout = mp.add_timeout(AUTO_PLAY_READY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, function()
 			if not state.auto_play_ready_gate_armed then
@@ -287,7 +304,7 @@ function M.create(ctx)
 				)
 			end
 
-			if attempt == 1 then
+			if attempt == 1 and not state.auto_play_ready_gate_armed then
 				show_osd("Starting...")
 			end
 			state.overlay_running = true
diff --git a/plugin/subminer/state.lua b/plugin/subminer/state.lua
index d4eb4de..ff227d8 100644
--- a/plugin/subminer/state.lua
+++ b/plugin/subminer/state.lua
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ function M.new()
 		},
 		auto_play_ready_gate_armed = false,
 		auto_play_ready_timeout = nil,
+		auto_play_ready_osd_timer = nil,
 	}
 end
 
diff --git a/scripts/test-plugin-start-gate.lua b/scripts/test-plugin-start-gate.lua
index cfbc349..fb3a372 100644
--- a/scripts/test-plugin-start-gate.lua
+++ b/scripts/test-plugin-start-gate.lua
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ local function run_plugin_scenario(config)
 		osd = {},
 		logs = {},
 		property_sets = {},
+		periodic_timers = {},
 	}
 
 	local function make_mp_stub()
@@ -90,10 +91,32 @@ local function run_plugin_scenario(config)
 			end
 		end
 
-		function mp.add_timeout(_seconds, callback)
-			if callback then
+		function mp.add_timeout(seconds, callback)
+			local timeout = {
+				killed = false,
+			}
+			function timeout:kill()
+				self.killed = true
+			end
+
+			local delay = tonumber(seconds) or 0
+			if callback and delay < 5 then
 				callback()
 			end
+			return timeout
+		end
+
+		function mp.add_periodic_timer(seconds, callback)
+			local timer = {
+				seconds = seconds,
+				killed = false,
+				callback = callback,
+			}
+			function timer:kill()
+				self.killed = true
+			end
+			recorded.periodic_timers[#recorded.periodic_timers + 1] = timer
+			return timer
 		end
 
 		function mp.register_script_message(name, fn)
@@ -531,10 +554,22 @@ do
 		has_osd_message(recorded.osd, "SubMiner: Loading subtitle annotations..."),
 		"pause-until-ready auto-start should show loading OSD message"
 	)
+	assert_true(
+		not has_osd_message(recorded.osd, "SubMiner: Starting..."),
+		"pause-until-ready auto-start should avoid replacing loading OSD with generic starting OSD"
+	)
 	assert_true(
 		has_osd_message(recorded.osd, "SubMiner: Subtitle annotations loaded"),
 		"autoplay-ready should show loaded OSD message"
 	)
+	assert_true(
+		#recorded.periodic_timers == 1,
+		"pause-until-ready auto-start should create periodic loading OSD refresher"
+	)
+	assert_true(
+		recorded.periodic_timers[1].killed == true,
+		"autoplay-ready should stop periodic loading OSD refresher"
+	)
 end
 
 do