diff --git a/frontend/src/services/api.ts b/frontend/src/services/api.ts
index 4479995..918dea8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/services/api.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/services/api.ts
@@ -25,49 +25,13 @@ api.interceptors.request.use((config) => {
   return config
 })
 
-// On 401 responses, attempt one silent token refresh. If that also
-// fails, clear stored credentials so the AuthContext falls back to the
-// login screen on its next render.
-let isRefreshing = false
-let refreshSubscribers: ((token: string) => void)[] = []
-
-api.interceptors.response.use(
-  (response) => response,
-  async (error) => {
-    const original = error.config
-    if (error.response?.status !== 401 || original._retry) {
-      return Promise.reject(error)
-    }
-
-    // Skip retry for auth endpoints themselves to avoid loops.
-    if (original.url?.startsWith('/auth/')) {
-      return Promise.reject(error)
-    }
-
-    original._retry = true
-
-    if (!isRefreshing) {
-      isRefreshing = true
-      // The refresh token lives in AuthContext memory, not in
-      // localStorage. The interceptor can't access it directly, so we
-      // rely on the AuthContext's scheduled refresh to keep the access
-      // token fresh. If the access token is truly expired and no
-      // refresh has happened, we just force a logout.
-      localStorage.removeItem('access_token')
-      isRefreshing = false
-      // Reject — AuthContext will detect the missing token and show login.
-      return Promise.reject(error)
-    }
-
-    // Another request is already refreshing — queue this one.
-    return new Promise((resolve) => {
-      refreshSubscribers.push((token: string) => {
-        original.headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${token}`
-        resolve(api(original))
-      })
-    })
-  },
-)
+// 401 handling lives in AuthContext.tsx, which mounts a response
+// interceptor that swaps an expired access_token via /auth/refresh and
+// retries the original request. We deliberately don't register a
+// competing interceptor here — an earlier version did, and it set
+// `original._retry = true` and nuked localStorage before AuthContext's
+// interceptor could run, so every 401 forced a logout instead of a
+// silent refresh.
 
 // Source Folders API. Source roots are config-driven now (PHOTO_DIRS in
 // .env → bootstrap on backend startup), so the UI only reads them and