diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/dock_ui.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/dock_ui.rs
index 7f6588a6a..6523ff757 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/dock_ui.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/dock_ui.rs
@@ -533,6 +533,9 @@ impl EffectcraftApp {
         let typing = ctx.egui_wants_keyboard_input();
         let events = events.into_iter().filter(|event| !typing && !matches!(event, egui::Event::Text(_) | egui::Event::Ime(_)));
         self.forwarded.events.extend(events);
+        if handed_over_to_the_timeline(files.iter().map(|window| (window.panel, !window.dropped.is_empty()))) {
+            self.forwarded.dropped_on_timeline = true;
+        }
         self.forwarded.files.extend(files.into_iter().flat_map(|window| window.dropped));
         if !self.forwarded.events.is_empty() || !self.forwarded.files.is_empty() {
             ctx.request_repaint();
@@ -895,3 +898,33 @@ impl DockContent<PanelKind> for EffectContent<'_> {
         }
     }
 }
+
+/// Whether a handed-over *drop* named the Timeline. A floating window reports its hovered files
+/// too, so a drag that only passes over the Timeline window must not count: its flag would survive
+/// and send the next drop somewhere else. The panel comes from the window, which the main window's
+/// pointer can never reach (#2661).
+fn handed_over_to_the_timeline(drops: impl Iterator<Item = (PanelKind, bool)>) -> bool {
+    drops.into_iter().any(|(panel, has_files)| has_files && matches!(panel, PanelKind::Timeline))
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// A drop handed over by a floating window says which panel it landed on; only the Timeline
+    /// turns it into a layer instead of a project item. A window that only saw the file hover over
+    /// it carries no files and must not count, or its flag would outlive the drag (#2661).
+    #[test]
+    fn only_a_timeline_drop_is_handed_over_to_the_timeline() {
+        let cases = [
+            (vec![(PanelKind::Timeline, true)], true),
+            (vec![(PanelKind::Project, true)], false),
+            (vec![(PanelKind::Timeline, false)], false),
+            (vec![(PanelKind::Project, true), (PanelKind::Timeline, true)], true),
+            (vec![], false),
+        ];
+        for (windows, want) in cases {
+            assert_eq!(handed_over_to_the_timeline(windows.into_iter()), want, "{want}");
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs
index ad1842e3d..ca8c1fb01 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs
@@ -442,6 +442,10 @@ impl FileDialogsUp {
 pub(crate) struct ForwardedInput {
     pub(crate) events: Vec<egui::Event>,
     pub(crate) files: Vec<egui::DroppedFileHandle>,
+    /// Files handed over by a floating window whose panel under the pointer was the Timeline. The
+    /// paths lose the window they came from, so this keeps the one thing the import still needs
+    /// (#2661); each drop clears it.
+    pub(crate) dropped_on_timeline: bool,
 }
 
 /// Record the scale the viewer drew at (called by the viewer panel each pass).
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/prefs_live.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/prefs_live.rs
index cc283635f..b456dc7ce 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/prefs_live.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/prefs_live.rs
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ pub fn dropped_files(app: &mut EffectcraftApp, ui: &egui::Ui, bounds: Rect) {
         errors.push(crate::i18n::tr_args("Skipped {} dropped file(s) without a local path. Use File ▸ Import ▸ File…", &[&skipped]));
     }
 
+    // Taken once per drop frame, so a handed-over flag cannot survive into a later, unrelated
+    // drop (#2661).
+    let handed_by_a_floating_window = std::mem::take(&mut app.forwarded.dropped_on_timeline);
+
     let (proj, rest): (Vec<String>, Vec<String>) = paths.into_iter().partition(|p| {
         let l = p.to_ascii_lowercase();
         l.ends_with(".ecproj") || l.ends_with(".ecprojx")
@@ -88,13 +92,14 @@ pub fn dropped_files(app: &mut EffectcraftApp, ui: &egui::Ui, bounds: Rect) {
 
         // Dropping a file on the Timeline adds it to the composition the panel shows, as it does
         // on the viewer (#2588); the import decides the layer's position.
-        let over_timeline = ctx.input(|i| i.pointer.hover_pos()).is_some_and(|p| {
-            app.auto
-                .elements
-                .iter()
-                .find(|e| e.id == "panel.Timeline")
-                .is_some_and(|e| Rect::from_min_size(egui::pos2(e.rect[0], e.rect[1]), egui::vec2(e.rect[2], e.rect[3])).contains(p))
-        });
+        let over_timeline = handed_by_a_floating_window
+            || ctx.input(|i| i.pointer.hover_pos()).is_some_and(|p| {
+                app.auto
+                    .elements
+                    .iter()
+                    .find(|e| e.id == "panel.Timeline")
+                    .is_some_and(|e| Rect::from_min_size(egui::pos2(e.rect[0], e.rect[1]), egui::vec2(e.rect[2], e.rect[3])).contains(p))
+            });
 
         let at = if proj.is_empty() && !over_timeline {
             ctx.input(|i| i.pointer.hover_pos()).filter(|p| viewer.is_some_and(|v| v.contains(*p))).and_then(|p| crate::panels::viewer::screen_to_comp(&ctx, p))