diff --git a/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager+Execution.swift b/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager+Execution.swift
index d908b2f7..e312809e 100644
--- a/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager+Execution.swift
+++ b/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager+Execution.swift
@@ -91,6 +91,33 @@ extension DownloadManager {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Creates a download task, catching CFNetwork's Objective-C exceptions. If the
+    /// session turns out to be invalidated, builds a fresh one and tries once more,
+    /// so a dead session doesn't fail every download until relaunch (#975).
+    private func makeDownloadTask(
+        _ make: (URLSession) -> URLSessionDownloadTask
+    ) -> (URLSessionDownloadTask?, NSException?) {
+        func attempt() -> (URLSessionDownloadTask?, NSException?) {
+            var caughtException: NSException?
+            var task: URLSessionDownloadTask?
+            let success = tryCatchObjCException({
+                task = make(self.urlSession)
+            }, &caughtException)
+            return (success ? task : nil, caughtException)
+        }
+
+        let first = attempt()
+        guard first.0 == nil,
+              first.1?.reason?.localizedCaseInsensitiveContains("invalidated") == true else {
+            return first
+        }
+
+        LoggingService.shared.logDownload("[Downloads] Session was invalidated, recreating before retry")
+        urlSession = nil
+        setupSession()
+        return attempt()
+    }
+
     /// Start a download task for a specific stream phase
     func startStreamDownload(
         downloadID: UUID,
@@ -115,13 +142,9 @@ extension DownloadManager {
         let task: URLSessionDownloadTask
 
         if let resumeData {
-            var caughtException: NSException?
-            var resumeTask: URLSessionDownloadTask?
-            let success = tryCatchObjCException({
-                resumeTask = self.urlSession.downloadTask(withResumeData: resumeData)
-            }, &caughtException)
+            let (resumeTask, caughtException) = makeDownloadTask { $0.downloadTask(withResumeData: resumeData) }
 
-            guard success, let resumeTask else {
+            guard let resumeTask else {
                 LoggingService.shared.logDownloadError(
                     "[Downloads] NSException creating resume task (\(phase))",
                     error: DownloadError.downloadFailed("CFNetwork exception: \(caughtException?.reason ?? "unknown")")
@@ -160,13 +183,9 @@ extension DownloadManager {
                 }
             }
 
-            var caughtException: NSException?
-            var newTask: URLSessionDownloadTask?
-            let success = tryCatchObjCException({
-                newTask = self.urlSession.downloadTask(with: request)
-            }, &caughtException)
+            let (newTask, caughtException) = makeDownloadTask { $0.downloadTask(with: request) }
 
-            guard success, let newTask else {
+            guard let newTask else {
                 LoggingService.shared.logDownloadError(
                     "[Downloads] NSException creating download task (\(phase))",
                     error: DownloadError.downloadFailed("CFNetwork exception: \(caughtException?.reason ?? "unknown")")
diff --git a/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager+URLSession.swift b/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager+URLSession.swift
index 81e40c8c..93dde781 100644
--- a/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager+URLSession.swift
+++ b/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager+URLSession.swift
@@ -206,6 +206,12 @@ extension DownloadManager: URLSessionDownloadDelegate {
         }
     }
 
+    nonisolated func urlSession(_ session: URLSession, didBecomeInvalidWithError error: Error?) {
+        Task { @MainActor in
+            self.handleSessionInvalidated(session, error: error)
+        }
+    }
+
     nonisolated func urlSessionDidFinishEvents(forBackgroundURLSession session: URLSession) {
         // Called when all background tasks are complete
         // Could be used to update UI or show notification
diff --git a/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager.swift b/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager.swift
index b7278933..f9875dc2 100644
--- a/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager.swift
+++ b/Yattee/Services/Downloads/DownloadManager.swift
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ final class DownloadManager: NSObject {
     let minimumValidFileSize: Int64 = 1024  // 1 KB
 
     var urlSession: URLSession!
+    /// Callers waiting for a replaced background session to finish invalidating,
+    /// keyed by session. A new session with the same identifier must not be
+    /// created while the old one is still alive.
+    var sessionInvalidationWaiters: [ObjectIdentifier: CheckedContinuation<Void, Never>] = [:]
     /// Tracks video download tasks by download ID
     var videoTasks: [UUID: URLSessionDownloadTask] = [:]
     /// Tracks audio download tasks by download ID
@@ -110,7 +114,7 @@ final class DownloadManager: NSObject {
         // to ensure we have the correct cellular access setting before creating the session.
     }
 
-    private func setupSession() {
+    func setupSession() {
         let config = URLSessionConfiguration.background(
             withIdentifier: AppIdentifiers.downloadSession
         )
@@ -193,8 +197,14 @@ final class DownloadManager: NSObject {
         }
 
         // 3. Invalidate the old session (use finishTasksAndInvalidate since downloads are already paused)
-        urlSession?.finishTasksAndInvalidate()
-        urlSession = nil
+        //    and wait for it to go away: a background session created with the same identifier
+        //    while the old one is still invalidating hands out tasks that throw "Task created in
+        //    a session that has been invalidated" (#975).
+        if let oldSession = urlSession {
+            urlSession = nil
+            oldSession.finishTasksAndInvalidate()
+            await waitForInvalidation(of: oldSession)
+        }
 
         // 4. Create new session with updated cellular config
         setupSession()
@@ -218,6 +228,36 @@ final class DownloadManager: NSObject {
     }
     #endif
 
+    /// Suspends until the delegate reports `session` invalidated, or a timeout passes.
+    private func waitForInvalidation(of session: URLSession, timeout: TimeInterval = 5) async {
+        let key = ObjectIdentifier(session)
+        await withCheckedContinuation { continuation in
+            sessionInvalidationWaiters[key] = continuation
+            Task { @MainActor [weak self] in
+                try? await Task.sleep(for: .seconds(timeout))
+                guard let waiter = self?.sessionInvalidationWaiters.removeValue(forKey: key) else { return }
+                LoggingService.shared.logDownload("[Downloads] Session invalidation timed out, continuing")
+                waiter.resume()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Called from the URLSession delegate when a session becomes invalid.
+    func handleSessionInvalidated(_ session: URLSession, error: Error?) {
+        LoggingService.shared.logDownload(
+            "[Downloads] Session invalidated",
+            details: "current: \(session === urlSession), error: \(error?.localizedDescription ?? "none")"
+        )
+        sessionInvalidationWaiters.removeValue(forKey: ObjectIdentifier(session))?.resume()
+
+        // The live session died without us replacing it; build a fresh one so
+        // new downloads don't keep failing until the app is relaunched.
+        if session === urlSession {
+            urlSession = nil
+            setupSession()
+        }
+    }
+
     // MARK: - Auto Download
 
     /// Automatically enqueue a video for download using the preferred quality setting.