diff --git a/lib/routers/ws_highway.py b/lib/routers/ws_highway.py
index c420780b..9466f827 100644
--- a/lib/routers/ws_highway.py
+++ b/lib/routers/ws_highway.py
@@ -1036,6 +1036,13 @@ def _fill_scale_degree(wire: dict, n, t: float) -> None:
         except WebSocketDisconnect:
             pass
 
+    except WebSocketDisconnect:
+        # A client that navigates away / closes the tab mid-stream is routine,
+        # not an error. Without this, the disconnect falls through to the blanket
+        # handler below and logs `highway_ws unhandled error` for every send point
+        # (the inner guard only covers the post-`ready` keep-alive loop). Matches
+        # the two localized WebSocketDisconnect guards in the streaming body.
+        return
     except Exception as e:
         log.exception("highway_ws unhandled error for %s", filename)
         try:
diff --git a/tests/test_ws_highway_disconnect.py b/tests/test_ws_highway_disconnect.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3e97df0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_ws_highway_disconnect.py
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+"""A client that disconnects mid-stream is routine, not a logged error.
+
+The highway WS streams ~15 message batches before its keep-alive loop. A
+disconnect during that streaming used to fall through to the blanket
+`except Exception` and log `highway_ws unhandled error`. The dedicated
+`except WebSocketDisconnect: return` makes it quiet.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import importlib
+import json
+import logging
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+import yaml
+from fastapi import WebSocketDisconnect
+
+
+def _write_sloppak(dlc_root):
+    pak = dlc_root / "disc.sloppak"
+    pak.mkdir(parents=True)
+    (pak / "arrangements").mkdir()
+    (pak / "arrangements" / "lead.json").write_text(json.dumps({
+        "notes": [], "chords": [], "anchors": [], "handshapes": [],
+        "templates": [], "beats": [{"time": 0.0, "measure": 1}],
+        "sections": [{"name": "intro", "number": 1, "time": 0.0}],
+    }))
+    (pak / "manifest.yaml").write_text(yaml.safe_dump({
+        "title": "Disc", "artist": "T", "album": "", "year": 2026, "duration": 10.0,
+        "arrangements": [{"id": "lead", "name": "Lead", "file": "arrangements/lead.json"}],
+        "stems": [],
+    }, sort_keys=False))
+    return pak
+
+
+class _DisconnectingWS:
+    """Accepts, then raises WebSocketDisconnect on the first streamed send —
+    i.e. a client that drops mid-stream."""
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.sends = 0
+
+    async def accept(self):
+        pass
+
+    async def send_json(self, data):
+        self.sends += 1
+        # Raise only on the FIRST send. If the handler wrongly kept streaming
+        # after catching the disconnect, later sends would succeed and `sends`
+        # would climb past 1 — the exactly-one assertion catches that.
+        if self.sends == 1:
+            raise WebSocketDisconnect(code=1001)
+
+    async def receive_text(self):
+        raise WebSocketDisconnect(code=1001)
+
+    async def close(self):
+        pass
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def server(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    (tmp_path / "dlc").mkdir()
+    monkeypatch.setenv("CONFIG_DIR", str(tmp_path / "config"))
+    monkeypatch.setenv("DLC_DIR", str(tmp_path / "dlc"))
+    monkeypatch.setenv("FEEDBACK_SKIP_STARTUP_TASKS", "1")
+    sys.modules.pop("server", None)
+    mod = importlib.import_module("server")
+    yield mod, tmp_path / "dlc"
+    conn = getattr(getattr(mod, "meta_db", None), "conn", None)
+    if conn is not None:
+        getattr(mod, "_join_background_db_threads", lambda: None)()
+        conn.close()
+    sys.modules.pop("server", None)
+
+
+class _Capture(logging.Handler):
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.messages = []
+
+    def emit(self, record):
+        self.messages.append(record.getMessage())
+
+
+def test_midstream_disconnect_is_not_logged_as_error(server):
+    """The first streamed send (`loading`) raises WebSocketDisconnect; the
+    handler must return quietly, not log `highway_ws unhandled error`.
+
+    A raw handler on `feedBack.server` is used rather than pytest's `caplog`
+    because `configure_logging()` (run at server import) reroutes that logger
+    through the structlog pipeline, which caplog's fixture doesn't observe.
+    """
+    _server, dlc = server
+    _write_sloppak(dlc)
+    from routers.ws_highway import highway_ws
+
+    cap = _Capture()
+    cap.setLevel(logging.ERROR)
+    lg = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+    lg.addHandler(cap)
+    try:
+        ws = _DisconnectingWS()
+        asyncio.run(highway_ws(ws, "disc.sloppak", arrangement=0))  # must not raise
+    finally:
+        lg.removeHandler(cap)
+
+    assert ws.sends == 1, f"handler kept streaming after the disconnect ({ws.sends} sends)"
+    unhandled = [m for m in cap.messages if "highway_ws unhandled error" in m]
+    assert not unhandled, f"disconnect logged as unhandled error: {unhandled}"