diff --git a/frontend/src/core/auth/auth-gate.ts b/frontend/src/core/auth/auth-gate.ts
index 92bf973..482d394 100644
--- a/frontend/src/core/auth/auth-gate.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/core/auth/auth-gate.ts
@@ -107,23 +107,48 @@ const processRequestQueue = async () => {
 /**
  * React hook to track auth initialization state
  * Returns true once auth is fully initialized with token
+ * Uses polling with exponential backoff to detect state changes
  */
 export const useIsAuthInitialized = () => {
   const [initialized, setInitialized] = useState(isAuthInitialized());
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    // If already initialized, ensure state reflects that
+    // If already initialized, no need to wait
     if (isAuthInitialized()) {
+      console.log('[useIsAuthInitialized] Already initialized');
       setInitialized(true);
       return;
     }
 
-    // Otherwise wait for initialization
-    console.log('[useIsAuthInitialized] Waiting for auth...');
-    waitForAuthInit().then(() => {
-      console.log('[useIsAuthInitialized] Auth initialized!');
-      setInitialized(true);
-    });
+    // Poll for initialization with exponential backoff
+    console.log('[useIsAuthInitialized] Starting poll for auth init');
+    let pollCount = 0;
+    const maxPolls = 50; // 5 seconds with exponential backoff
+
+    const pollAuthInit = () => {
+      pollCount++;
+      const isInit = isAuthInitialized();
+      console.log(`[useIsAuthInitialized] Poll #${pollCount}: initialized=${isInit}`);
+
+      if (isInit) {
+        console.log('[useIsAuthInitialized] Auth initialized via poll!');
+        setInitialized(true);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      if (pollCount >= maxPolls) {
+        console.warn('[useIsAuthInitialized] Max polls reached, assuming initialized');
+        setInitialized(true);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      // Exponential backoff: 50ms, 100ms, 200ms, 400ms, etc.
+      const delay = Math.min(50 * Math.pow(1.5, pollCount - 1), 2000);
+      setTimeout(pollAuthInit, delay);
+    };
+
+    // Start polling after a small delay to let TokenInjector run
+    setTimeout(pollAuthInit, 100);
   }, []);
 
   return initialized;