diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/app/control.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/app/control.rs
index 525c5419c..2f608971b 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/app/control.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/app/control.rs
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ impl LightcraftApp {
         if self.pending_gestures.len() >= MAX_PENDING_GESTURES {
             return Err(format!("{}: {MAX_PENDING_GESTURES} control gestures are already pending", method));
         }
+        // refused at once, without waiting for a layout or taking a pending slot
+        crate::control::check_gesture_numbers(&method, &params)?;
         let now = self.tick_now_ms();
         self.pending_gestures.push(PendingGesture {
             method,
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/control.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/control.rs
index 25bc00812..4b704069c 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/control.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/control.rs
@@ -607,8 +607,9 @@ const MAX_GESTURE_NUMBER: f64 = 1e6;
 /// ±[`MAX_GESTURE_NUMBER`]. A larger one turns into an infinite or NaN `f32` position or scroll
 /// delta: egui asserts on NaN positions, and a release build would hand them to every widget.
 /// `count` and `steps` are clamped where they are read instead, and `ui.zoom`'s `factor` (a
-/// multiplier, not a position) is checked and clamped by its own branch.
-fn check_gesture_numbers(method: &str, p: &Value) -> Result<(), String> {
+/// multiplier, not a position) is checked and clamped by its own branch. Checked when a request
+/// is admitted and again here, for callers that resolve a gesture directly.
+pub(crate) fn check_gesture_numbers(method: &str, p: &Value) -> Result<(), String> {
     fn check(method: &str, key: &str, v: &Value) -> Result<(), String> {
         match v {
             Value::Number(n) if !matches!(key, "count" | "steps" | "factor") => match n.as_f64() {
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/tests/lifecycle_037.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/tests/lifecycle_037.rs
index eb24e9b7a..d994b9300 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/tests/lifecycle_037.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/tests/lifecycle_037.rs
@@ -930,6 +930,13 @@ fn gestures_refuse_numbers_that_are_not_screen_positions() {
     crate::control::gesture_events(&mut app, &ctx, "ui.drag", &serde_json::json!({"x": 1.0, "toX": 999_999.0, "steps": 1e12})).unwrap();
     assert!(!app.synthetic.is_empty());
 
+    // refused when the request is admitted: no pending slot, no wait for a layout
+    let (tx, rx) = reply_channel();
+    let e = app.admit_gesture(&ctx, "ui.click".into(), serde_json::json!({"x": 1e308}), tx).expect_err("refused at admission");
+    assert!(e.contains("between"), "{e}");
+    assert!(app.pending_gestures.is_empty());
+    drop(rx);
+
     // through the whole control channel, as an agent sends it: an error, not a panic
     let mut h = Headless::new(self::app(), [800.0, 600.0], 1.0);
     h.step();