diff --git a/docs/account.md b/docs/account.md
index 3695019118..014f618462 100644
--- a/docs/account.md
+++ b/docs/account.md
@@ -203,7 +203,9 @@ the relay too. Mutations need the app's mutation guard, like the other routes.
 `POST /api/account/link` `{ "record": <link> }`: the request's own device must be the record's
 `device_id`, with `old_key` its current key, `server_id` this PC's. The row's key becomes `key` and it
 becomes a member, in one write. `old_key` equal to `key` makes a row whose key already is the account
-key a member. Answers `{ "device": <paired device> }`.
+key a member. Answers `{ "device": <paired device> }`. The row's other sessions end (`auth_changed`):
+they signed in with a key it no longer has. The linking session goes on, with no member's rights,
+until it signs in again with the new key.
 
 `POST /api/account/records` `{ "records": [<record>, …] }`: at most 32. Applies each in order and
 answers every outcome, never failing the whole batch for one record:
diff --git a/server/account/account.contract.test.ts b/server/account/account.contract.test.ts
index 224aad5a0d..a6537df3fb 100644
--- a/server/account/account.contract.test.ts
+++ b/server/account/account.contract.test.ts
@@ -496,16 +496,16 @@ test("the device list shows account members' account, key and adder to a driving
   for (const row of await list(watcher)) for (const field of ["account", "account_key", "added_by"]) expect(row).not.toHaveProperty(field);
 });
 
-test("a session signed in with a row's key before it was linked acts as no member", async () => {
+test("the session that linked a row, still on the row's former key, acts as no member", async () => {
   const f = fixture();
   const legacy = await relayDevice(f);
-  const [first, second] = [await signedIn(f, legacy), await signedIn(f, legacy)];
+  const first = await signedIn(f, legacy);
   const key = await accountKey();
   expect((await post(first, "/api/account/link", { record: await linkRecord(legacy, key) })).status).toBe(200);
   const joining = await accountKey();
   const fresh = await signedIn(f, { keys: key.keys, publicKey: key.spki, id: legacy.id });
   await post(fresh, "/api/account/records", { records: [await add(key, joining.spki)] });
-  expect((await post(second, "/api/account/introduce", { key: joining.spki, pcs: [introducedPc()] })).body.error?.code).toBe("account_required");
+  expect((await post(first, "/api/account/introduce", { key: joining.spki, pcs: [introducedPc()] })).body.error?.code).toBe("account_required");
 });
 
 test("a device paired with a code, which sent its key but never signed with it, can neither read nor link as that key", async () => {
@@ -543,13 +543,15 @@ test("a device paired with a code a relay device started on a PC in no account i
   expect(f.app.context.services.devices.hasKey(target.spki)).toBe(false);
 });
 
-test("a session from a row's former key cannot start a member's pairing code", async () => {
+test("a link ends the row's other sessions from its former key, and keeps the one that linked", async () => {
   const f = fixture();
   const legacy = await relayDevice(f);
   const [first, stale] = [await signedIn(f, legacy), await signedIn(f, legacy)];
   const key = await accountKey();
   expect((await post(first, "/api/account/link", { record: await linkRecord(legacy, key) })).status).toBe(200);
-  expect((await post(stale, "/api/devices/pair/start", {})).body.error?.code).toBe("account_required");
+  expect(await bounded(stale.serverError)).toBe("auth_changed");
+  // the linking session goes on (with the old key's rights until it signs in again)
+  expect((await first.open("/api/devices").response).status).toBe(200);
 });
 
 test("a watching device added by a member reads its own introduction", async () => {
diff --git a/server/account/records.ts b/server/account/records.ts
index 3a07653894..a34b8c702a 100644
--- a/server/account/records.ts
+++ b/server/account/records.ts
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ export type LinkRefusal = RecordRefusal | "key_in_use";
  * A `link` from the device `deviceId` over its own session to the PC `serverId`. It needs no
  * member: the session is its authority, which is how a PC gets its first one.
  */
-export async function applyLink(store: DeviceStore, value: unknown, session: { deviceId: string; serverId: string; sessionKey: string }): Promise<{ device: PairedDevice } | { refused: LinkRefusal }> {
-  const { deviceId, serverId, sessionKey } = session;
+export async function applyLink(store: DeviceStore, value: unknown, session: { deviceId: string; serverId: string; sessionKey: string; sessionId?: string }): Promise<{ device: PairedDevice } | { refused: LinkRefusal }> {
+  const { deviceId, serverId, sessionKey, sessionId } = session;
   const record = await read(value);
   if ("refused" in record) return { refused: record.refused };
   if (record.kind !== "link") return { refused: "record_invalid" };
@@ -72,6 +72,6 @@ export async function applyLink(store: DeviceStore, value: unknown, session: { d
   if (account !== null && account !== link.account) return { refused: "account_mismatch" };
   if (store.isTombstoned(link.key)) return { refused: "tombstoned" };
   if (store.keyHeldByOther(link.key, deviceId)) return { refused: "key_in_use" };
-  const device = store.linkAccountKey(deviceId, link.old_key, link.key, link.account);
+  const device = store.linkAccountKey(deviceId, link.old_key, link.key, link.account, sessionId);
   return device ? { device } : { refused: "link_not_owner" };
 }
diff --git a/server/account/routes.ts b/server/account/routes.ts
index e0521d745f..34e003a91a 100644
--- a/server/account/routes.ts
+++ b/server/account/routes.ts
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ export async function handleAccountRequest(request: Request, pathname: string, c
       setRequestRoute(pathname);
       // a link proves the key of the row whose session sends it, and only the relay carries a row's key
       if (peer.kind !== "relay") return fail("link_not_owner", "Link a device from its own connection through the relay", 403);
-      const linked = await applyLink(devices, body.record, { deviceId: peer.device.id, serverId: peer.serverId, sessionKey: peer.key });
+      const linked = await applyLink(devices, body.record, { deviceId: peer.device.id, serverId: peer.serverId, sessionKey: peer.key, sessionId: peer.sessionId });
       if ("refused" in linked) return fail(linked.refused, `The link was refused: ${linked.refused}`, LINK_STATUS[linked.refused]);
       return reply({ device: linked.device });
     }
diff --git a/server/devices.ts b/server/devices.ts
index 38bd44af16..cffa3906fc 100644
--- a/server/devices.ts
+++ b/server/devices.ts
@@ -234,6 +234,8 @@ export class DeviceStore {
   private unconfirmedFirstPairs: UnconfirmedFirstPair[] = [];
   private readonly path: string;
   private readonly revocations = new Map<string, Set<() => void>>();
+  /** Sessions of a row, told when a `link` moves it to another key (onLinked). */
+  private readonly relinks = new Map<string, Set<(sessionId: string) => void>>();
   private readonly revokeAllListeners = new Set<() => void>();
   private readonly pairings = new Set<(event: DevicePairedEvent, origin: readonly string[]) => void>();
   private readonly removals = new Set<(event: DeviceRemovedEvent) => void>();
@@ -333,6 +335,17 @@ export class DeviceStore {
     this.unconfirmedFirstPairs = [];
   }
 
+  /** Hears of a `link` moving row `id` to another key, with the id of the session that sent it. */
+  onLinked(id: string, listener: (sessionId: string) => void): () => void {
+    const listeners = this.relinks.get(id) ?? new Set<(sessionId: string) => void>();
+    listeners.add(listener);
+    this.relinks.set(id, listeners);
+    return () => {
+      listeners.delete(listener);
+      if (listeners.size === 0) this.relinks.delete(id);
+    };
+  }
+
   /** Ends stale authority on revocation or role changes, never a label-only update. Called immediately for an already-revoked identity. */
   onRevoke(id: string, close: () => void): () => void {
     if (!this.devices.some((device) => device.id === id)) { close(); return () => {}; }
@@ -758,10 +771,11 @@ export class DeviceStore {
   }
 
   /**
-   * A `link` the device `deviceId` sent over its own session: its row takes `key` and joins `account`
-   * in one write. Its sessions stay: the device is the same, and a role change is what ends them.
+   * A `link` the device `deviceId` sent over its own session `sessionId`: its row takes `key` and joins
+   * `account` in one write. The row's other sessions signed in with a key it no longer has, so they end
+   * (`auth_changed`); the linking one goes on until it signs in again with the new key.
    */
-  linkAccountKey(deviceId: string, oldKey: string, key: string, account: string): PairedDevice | null {
+  linkAccountKey(deviceId: string, oldKey: string, key: string, account: string, sessionId = ""): PairedDevice | null {
     this.assertAccountWritable();
     const device = this.devices.find((d) => d.id === deviceId && d.relay_public_key === oldKey);
     if (!device) return null;
@@ -769,6 +783,7 @@ export class DeviceStore {
     const next = this.devices.map((d) => d === device ? updated : d);
     this.save(next);
     this.devices = next;
+    for (const listener of [...this.relinks.get(deviceId) ?? []]) listener(sessionId);
     return this.list(null).find((d) => d.id === deviceId) ?? null;
   }
 
diff --git a/server/relay/session.ts b/server/relay/session.ts
index 00154791c7..c6e39e6373 100644
--- a/server/relay/session.ts
+++ b/server/relay/session.ts
@@ -377,7 +377,10 @@ export class RelaySession {
     const devices = this.options.services.devices;
     if (!this.mux.active) return;
     if (!device) { this.close("auth_failed"); return; }
-    this.unwatch = devices.onRevoke(device.id, () => this.close(devices.has(device.id) ? "auth_changed" : "auth_revoked"));
+    const unrevoke = devices.onRevoke(device.id, () => this.close(devices.has(device.id) ? "auth_changed" : "auth_revoked"));
+    // a link moves the row to another key: a session signed in with the one it had ends, all but the linking one
+    const unlinked = devices.onLinked(device.id, (sessionId) => { if (sessionId !== this.sessionId) this.close("auth_changed"); });
+    this.unwatch = () => { unrevoke(); unlinked(); };
     if (!devices.has(device.id) || !this.mux.active) { this.unwatch(); return; }
     if (devices.list(null).find((current) => current.id === device.id)?.role !== device.role) {
       this.close("auth_changed");