diff --git a/public/js/nextcloud.js b/public/js/nextcloud.js
index 6bdff768..7790fb44 100644
--- a/public/js/nextcloud.js
+++ b/public/js/nextcloud.js
@@ -64,25 +64,46 @@
   });
 
   // ── Sign in with Nextcloud ────────────────────────────────────────────
-  // Nextcloud's own login flow. The tab is opened from the click itself, before
-  // any await, or a popup blocker eats it — the request that fetches the URL is
-  // allowed to finish afterwards and point the already-open tab at it.
+  // Nextcloud's own login flow: ask our server to start one, send the person to
+  // the URL Nextcloud hands back, and poll until they finish.
+  //
+  // The first version opened a blank tab during the click and pointed it at the
+  // URL once the request came back, which is the usual way around a popup
+  // blocker. It cannot work here: this app sends
+  // Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin, so the handle to that tab is
+  // severed the moment it goes cross-origin, and assigning its location did
+  // nothing at all — a blank tab, and a button that looked broken.
+  //
+  // So no handle. window.open with 'noopener' needs none, and a click's user
+  // activation survives the fetch, so it is not treated as a popup. And the
+  // status line always offers the link itself, which works whatever the browser
+  // decides about opening windows.
   var pollTimer = null;
 
   function stopPolling(message, tone) {
     if (pollTimer) { clearInterval(pollTimer); pollTimer = null; }
+    setFlowStatus(message, tone);
+  }
+
+  function setFlowStatus(message, tone, link) {
     var status = document.getElementById('nc-login-flow-status');
-    if (status) {
-      status.textContent = message || '';
-      status.style.color = tone === 'bad' ? 'var(--red)' : tone === 'good' ? 'var(--green)' : 'var(--g600)';
-    }
+    if (!status) return;
+    status.textContent = message || '';
+    status.style.color = tone === 'bad' ? 'var(--red)' : tone === 'good' ? 'var(--green)' : 'var(--g600)';
+    if (!link) return;
+    status.appendChild(document.createTextNode(' '));
+    var a = document.createElement('a');
+    a.href = link;
+    a.target = '_blank';
+    a.rel = 'noopener noreferrer';
+    a.textContent = 'Open the sign-in page';
+    status.appendChild(a);
   }
 
   document.getElementById('btn-nc-login-flow').addEventListener('click', function () {
     var url = (document.getElementById('nc-url').value || '').trim();
     if (!url) { showToast('Enter your Nextcloud address first', 'error'); return; }
 
-    var tab = window.open('', '_blank');   // claimed while the click is still trusted
     stopPolling('Opening Nextcloud…');
 
     fetch('/api/nextcloud/login-flow/start', {
@@ -91,8 +112,10 @@
       .then(function (r) { return r.json(); })
       .then(function (data) {
         if (!data.success) throw new Error(data.error || 'Could not start sign-in');
-        if (tab) tab.location.href = data.loginUrl; else window.open(data.loginUrl, '_blank');
-        stopPolling('Waiting for you to finish signing in…');
+        // Opened without a handle, so COOP has nothing to sever. If the browser
+        // blocks it anyway, the link in the status line is the way through.
+        window.open(data.loginUrl, '_blank', 'noopener');
+        setFlowStatus('Waiting for you to finish signing in.', null, data.loginUrl);
 
         var until = Date.now() + 10 * 60 * 1000;
         pollTimer = setInterval(function () {
@@ -114,7 +137,6 @@
         }, 3000);
       })
       .catch(function (err) {
-        if (tab) tab.close();
         stopPolling(err.message, 'bad');
       });
   });
diff --git a/test/nextcloud-login-flow.test.js b/test/nextcloud-login-flow.test.js
index 26e567f1..9d7cacce 100644
--- a/test/nextcloud-login-flow.test.js
+++ b/test/nextcloud-login-flow.test.js
@@ -66,13 +66,35 @@ test('a flow expires, and starting again replaces the old one', () => {
   assert.match(start, /flow\.owner === req\.user\.id && key !== handle\) loginFlows\.delete\(key\)/);
 });
 
-test('the tab is opened while the click is still trusted', () => {
-  // Opening after an await is what a popup blocker stops.
+test('the sign-in tab is opened without a handle, which COOP would sever', () => {
+  // The original claimed a blank tab during the click and pointed it at the URL
+  // when the request came back — the usual way around a popup blocker, and
+  // broken here: this app sends Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin, so the
+  // handle dies as soon as the tab goes cross-origin and assigning its location
+  // did nothing. A blank tab, and a button that looked dead.
   const handler = ui.slice(ui.indexOf("btn-nc-login-flow"));
-  const open = handler.indexOf("window.open('', '_blank')");
-  const fetchAt = handler.indexOf("fetch('/api/nextcloud/login-flow/start'");
-  assert.ok(open > -1 && open < fetchAt, 'the tab must be claimed before the request');
-  assert.match(handler, /a popup blocker eats it|still trusted/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(handler, /window\.open\(''/, 'no blank tab claimed up front');
+  assert.doesNotMatch(handler, /tab\.location/, 'no handle to navigate');
+  assert.match(handler, /window\.open\(data\.loginUrl, '_blank', 'noopener'\)/);
+});
+
+test('the sign-in URL is also offered as a real link', () => {
+  // Whatever the browser decides about opening windows, there is a way through.
+  const handler = ui.slice(ui.indexOf("btn-nc-login-flow"));
+  assert.match(handler, /setFlowStatus\('Waiting for you to finish signing in\.', null, data\.loginUrl\)/);
+  assert.match(ui, /a\.rel = 'noopener noreferrer'/);
+  assert.match(ui, /a\.target = '_blank'/);
+  // Built as DOM, not spliced into innerHTML.
+  assert.match(ui, /function setFlowStatus\(message, tone, link\)[\s\S]{0,400}createElement\('a'\)/);
+});
+
+test('helmet still sends the COOP header this works around', () => {
+  // If this ever stops being true the workaround is harmless, but the comment
+  // explaining it would be wrong, and the old pattern would look safe again.
+  const server = read('server.js');
+  assert.match(server, /app\.use\(helmet\(\{/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(server, /crossOriginOpenerPolicy:\s*false/,
+    'COOP is on by default in helmet; turning it off would need its own reasoning');
 });
 
 test('polling stops: on success, on failure, and on a deadline', () => {