diff --git a/plugin.json b/plugin.json
index 8d0dd09..04e89e9 100644
--- a/plugin.json
+++ b/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "section_map",
   "name": "Section Map",
-  "version": "1.2.5",
+  "version": "1.2.7",
   "private": false,
   "script": "screen.js",
   "category": "practice",
diff --git a/screen.js b/screen.js
index 8627dd1..cfc1062 100644
--- a/screen.js
+++ b/screen.js
@@ -249,7 +249,39 @@ function _smUpdate() {
     const info = highway.getSongInfo();
     const t = highway.getTime();
 
-    if (!sections || sections.length === 0 || !info.duration) return;
+    if (!sections || sections.length === 0 || !info.duration) {
+        // The previous song's bar must not linger once the CURRENT song has
+        // no section data. This early-return used to bail before touching
+        // any state, so switching to a song/arrangement with no sections
+        // (a GP import, or a core re-stream that bypasses the playSong
+        // wrapper's own reset -- e.g. an in-player arrangement switch) left
+        // the old blocks painted and the marker/active-highlight frozen at
+        // wherever the last real song left them.
+        //
+        // Gate on the bar's actual painted content, NOT _smSections: the
+        // song:ready handler above already sets _smSections = [] itself
+        // before calling _smUpdate() directly, so by the time this runs
+        // _smSections.length is already 0 on exactly the transition this
+        // guard exists to catch -- gating on it made the clear a no-op on
+        // that path, since a bar with stale rendered blocks would report
+        // "nothing to clear". _smBar.innerHTML is only ever set by
+        // _smRender() and only ever emptied by _smRemove() or this same
+        // block, so it accurately tracks whether the bar still shows
+        // painted content regardless of which path zeroed _smSections
+        // first. Clearing is idempotent, so this still bails immediately
+        // on every later tick once already cleared, rather than rebuilding
+        // an already-empty bar every 200ms while no song/sections are loaded.
+        if (_smBar.innerHTML !== '') {
+            _smSections = [];
+            _smDuration = 0;
+            _smSectionDifficulty = {};
+            _smBar.innerHTML = '';
+            _smMarkerEl = null;
+            _smBlockEls = [];
+            _smActiveIdx = -1;
+        }
+        return;
+    }
 
     _smDuration = info.duration;
 
diff --git a/tests/screen.test.js b/tests/screen.test.js
index 0ed7640..463f31f 100644
--- a/tests/screen.test.js
+++ b/tests/screen.test.js
@@ -358,6 +358,86 @@ test('_smUpdate only touches the blocks whose active state changed, leaving cach
     }
 });
 
+test('_smUpdate clears a stale bar/state once the current song has no section data', () => {
+    const mod = freshPlugin();
+    const originalHighway = global.highway;
+    const bar = new FakeBar();
+    const sections = [{ name: 'Intro', time: 0 }, { name: 'Chorus', time: 30 }];
+    try {
+        global.highway = {
+            getSections: () => sections,
+            getSongInfo: () => ({ duration: 120 }),
+            getTime: () => 5,
+        };
+        mod._setState({ bar, sections: [], duration: 0 });
+        mod._smUpdate();
+        assert.ok(bar.innerHTML.includes('Intro'), 'sanity: first song rendered');
+
+        // Switch to a song/arrangement with no section data WITHOUT going
+        // through _smRemove() (mirrors a core re-stream that bypasses the
+        // playSong wrapper, e.g. an in-player arrangement switch, or any
+        // path that skips the wrapper's own state reset).
+        global.highway.getSections = () => [];
+        global.highway.getSongInfo = () => ({ duration: 200 });
+        mod._smUpdate();
+
+        const state = mod._getState();
+        assert.deepEqual(state.sections, []);
+        assert.equal(state.duration, 0);
+        assert.equal(state.activeIdx, -1);
+        assert.equal(bar.innerHTML, '', 'stale blocks from the previous song must not linger');
+
+        // A further tick with still-no-sections is a no-op, not a rebuild.
+        mod._smUpdate();
+        assert.equal(bar.innerHTML, '');
+    } finally {
+        if (typeof originalHighway === 'undefined') delete global.highway;
+        else global.highway = originalHighway;
+    }
+});
+
+test('_smUpdate clears the bar even when song:ready already zeroed _smSections first', () => {
+    // The song:ready handler (installed in _smStartRealtimeHooks) sets
+    // _smSections = [] itself and THEN calls _smUpdate() directly -- so on
+    // that path _smSections is already empty by the time _smUpdate's guard
+    // runs. Gating the clear on `_smSections.length > 0` (the original fix)
+    // made it a no-op on exactly this path: the bar's stale rendered blocks
+    // and cached marker/block-el refs never got cleared. This test
+    // reproduces that ordering directly (bypassing the real event
+    // subscription) and asserts the bar clears anyway.
+    const mod = freshPlugin();
+    const originalHighway = global.highway;
+    const bar = new FakeBar();
+    bar.innerHTML = '<div class="sm-block">Intro</div>';
+    const staleBlockEl = { style: {} };
+    const staleMarkerEl = { style: {} };
+    try {
+        global.highway = {
+            getSections: () => [],
+            getSongInfo: () => ({ duration: 200 }),
+            getTime: () => 0,
+        };
+        // Mirrors song:ready's own reset (sections already []) landing
+        // just before _smUpdate() is called, while the bar DOM/cached
+        // refs from the PREVIOUS song are still live.
+        mod._setState({
+            bar, sections: [], duration: 0,
+            blockEls: [staleBlockEl], markerEl: staleMarkerEl, activeIdx: 0,
+        });
+
+        mod._smUpdate();
+
+        const state = mod._getState();
+        assert.equal(bar.innerHTML, '', 'stale blocks must clear even though _smSections was already []');
+        assert.equal(state.markerEl, null);
+        assert.deepEqual(state.blockEls, []);
+        assert.equal(state.activeIdx, -1);
+    } finally {
+        if (typeof originalHighway === 'undefined') delete global.highway;
+        else global.highway = originalHighway;
+    }
+});
+
 // _smUpdateDifficultyFills updates an existing glass in place (no DOM
 // rebuild) on a difficulty refresh, only rebuilding the one glass element
 // when its size bucket changes, per its own doc comment.