diff --git a/Sources/ConfigureSheetController.swift b/Sources/ConfigureSheetController.swift
index 4790dad..c4b91d0 100644
--- a/Sources/ConfigureSheetController.swift
+++ b/Sources/ConfigureSheetController.swift
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ final class ConfigureSheetController: NSObject {
 
     let window: NSWindow
 
-    private var settings = NecoSaverSettings.load()
+    private var settings = NecoSaverSettings.standard
     private let onDismiss: (_ saved: Bool) -> Void
     private var rows: [Row] = []
     private let pictureCheckbox = NSButton(checkboxWithTitle: "Picture:", target: nil, action: nil)
@@ -38,10 +38,29 @@ final class ConfigureSheetController: NSObject {
         )
         super.init()
         window.title = "NecoSaver"
+        // ARC owns this window through `window`; leaving the default on would let a
+        // host that closes the sheet release it a second time.
+        window.isReleasedWhenClosed = false
         buildInterface()
+        reload()
+    }
+
+    /// Re-reads the stored settings into the controls. The same sheet is handed to
+    /// the host every time it asks, so this is what makes the second opening show
+    /// what is stored rather than where the first one was left.
+    func reload() {
+        settings = Self.stored()
         refresh()
     }
 
+    /// The saved settings, with the picture seeded the same way the saver seeds it,
+    /// so the field shows the path the cats are actually walking on.
+    private static func stored() -> NecoSaverSettings {
+        var settings = NecoSaverSettings.load()
+        settings.seedPicturePath(with: Wallpaper.desktopPicturePath(for: nil) ?? "")
+        return settings
+    }
+
     // MARK: - Interface
 
     private func buildInterface() {
diff --git a/Sources/NecoSaverView.swift b/Sources/NecoSaverView.swift
index e7bd530..c514c14 100644
--- a/Sources/NecoSaverView.swift
+++ b/Sources/NecoSaverView.swift
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ import ScreenSaver
 @objc(NecoSaverView)
 final class NecoSaverView: ScreenSaverView {
     private let engine: NecoSaverEngine
-    /// Held strongly: the host releases its reference once the sheet is up, and a
-    /// deallocated controller takes the sheet's targets with it.
+    /// Built once and kept: the host releases its reference once the sheet is up,
+    /// and a deallocated controller takes the sheet's window and targets with it.
     private var sheetController: ConfigureSheetController?
 
     override init?(frame: NSRect, isPreview: Bool) {
@@ -62,19 +62,26 @@ final class NecoSaverView: ScreenSaverView {
         true
     }
 
+    /// Hosts read this more than once, and can replace the view between reading it
+    /// and presenting it. Building a controller per read would hand back a window
+    /// whose only owner was dropped by the very next read — and the sheet then
+    /// simply never appears. One controller, kept, re-reading the settings each
+    /// time it is handed over.
     override var configureSheet: NSWindow? {
-        let controller = ConfigureSheetController { [weak self] saved in
-            guard let self else { return }
-            if saved {
-                engine.apply(settings())
-                loadWallpaper()
-            }
-            sheetController = nil
-        }
+        let controller = sheetController ?? makeSheetController()
         sheetController = controller
+        controller.reload()
         return controller.window
     }
 
+    private func makeSheetController() -> ConfigureSheetController {
+        ConfigureSheetController { [weak self] saved in
+            guard let self, saved else { return }
+            engine.apply(settings())
+            loadWallpaper()
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Reads a picture only when one is going to be drawn — decoding one costs
     /// several megabytes that a grey backdrop has no use for.
     private func loadWallpaper() {