diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index ea91cefa55239a162aa9d1df2bb096eef8cc2bf3..b7e32c6e36ef95eaf8836154c085dd3c3f99736a 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -614,6 +614,7 @@ func convertToLLMMessage(msg generated.Message) (llm.Message, error) {
 
 // notifySubscribers sends conversation metadata updates (e.g., slug changes) to subscribers.
 // This is used when only the conversation data changes, not the messages.
+// Uses Broadcast instead of Publish to avoid racing with message sequence IDs.
 func (s *Server) notifySubscribers(ctx context.Context, conversationID string) {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	manager, exists := s.activeConversations[conversationID]
@@ -635,30 +636,14 @@ func (s *Server) notifySubscribers(ctx context.Context, conversationID string) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// For conversation-only updates, we need to get the latest sequence ID
-	// to properly notify subscribers, but we send an empty message list
-	var latestSequenceID int64
-	err = s.db.Queries(ctx, func(q *generated.Queries) error {
-		messages, err := q.ListMessages(ctx, conversationID)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if len(messages) > 0 {
-			latestSequenceID = messages[len(messages)-1].SequenceID
-		}
-		return nil
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		s.logger.Error("Failed to get latest sequence ID", "conversationID", conversationID, "error", err)
-		return
-	}
-
-	// Publish conversation update with no new messages
+	// Broadcast conversation update with no new messages.
+	// Using Broadcast instead of Publish ensures this metadata-only update
+	// doesn't race with notifySubscribersNewMessage which uses Publish with sequence IDs.
 	streamData := StreamResponse{
 		Messages:     nil, // No new messages, just conversation update
 		Conversation: conversation,
 	}
-	manager.subpub.Publish(latestSequenceID, streamData)
+	manager.subpub.Broadcast(streamData)
 
 	// Also notify conversation list subscribers (e.g., slug change)
 	s.publishConversationListUpdate(ConversationListUpdate{
diff --git a/server/sse_immediacy_test.go b/server/sse_immediacy_test.go
index ddfdc39846e557a4e7d664988f46fd482666f215..432aa4ec9d67857f5089cc7e8de383cc2b850e2c 100644
--- a/server/sse_immediacy_test.go
+++ b/server/sse_immediacy_test.go
@@ -379,31 +379,37 @@ func TestSSEUserMessageWithExistingConnection(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// We should receive an update with the user message within 500ms
 	// (well before the 5 second LLM delay)
-	select {
-	case update := <-updates:
-		// Check that the update contains the user message
-		foundUserMsg := false
-		for _, msg := range update.Messages {
-			if msg.Type == string(db.MessageTypeUser) && msg.LlmData != nil {
-				var llmMsg llm.Message
-				if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(*msg.LlmData), &llmMsg); err == nil {
-					for _, content := range llmMsg.Content {
-						if content.Type == llm.ContentTypeText && strings.Contains(content.Text, "delay: 5") {
-							foundUserMsg = true
-							break
+	// Note: We may receive other updates first (e.g., ConversationListUpdate for slug changes),
+	// so we need to keep checking until we find the user message or timeout.
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(500 * time.Millisecond)
+	foundUserMsg := false
+
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) && !foundUserMsg {
+		select {
+		case update := <-updates:
+			// Check if this update contains the user message
+			for _, msg := range update.Messages {
+				if msg.Type == string(db.MessageTypeUser) && msg.LlmData != nil {
+					var llmMsg llm.Message
+					if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(*msg.LlmData), &llmMsg); err == nil {
+						for _, content := range llmMsg.Content {
+							if content.Type == llm.ContentTypeText && strings.Contains(content.Text, "delay: 5") {
+								foundUserMsg = true
+								break
+							}
 						}
 					}
 				}
 			}
+		case <-time.After(50 * time.Millisecond):
+			// Keep waiting
 		}
-		if !foundUserMsg {
-			t.Error("received update but it didn't contain the user message")
-			t.Logf("update had %d messages", len(update.Messages))
-		} else {
-			t.Log("SUCCESS: received user message via subpub immediately")
-		}
-	case <-time.After(500 * time.Millisecond):
+	}
+
+	if !foundUserMsg {
 		t.Error("BUG: did not receive subpub update with user message within 500ms")
 		t.Log("This means notifySubscribers is failing or not being called after user message is recorded")
+	} else {
+		t.Log("SUCCESS: received user message via subpub immediately")
 	}
 }