diff --git a/ILSpy/AssemblyTree/AssemblyTreeModel.cs b/ILSpy/AssemblyTree/AssemblyTreeModel.cs
index a01a1e180..3dd777cea 100644
--- a/ILSpy/AssemblyTree/AssemblyTreeModel.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/AssemblyTree/AssemblyTreeModel.cs
@@ -291,17 +291,22 @@ namespace ILSpy.AssemblyTree
 		/// quietly into "the user never sees a populated icon for assemblies they don't
 		/// touch".
 		///
-		/// To strike a middle ground, schedule a one-shot sweep a couple of seconds after
-		/// the list appears that nudges every <see cref="LoadedAssembly"/> to start loading
-		/// in the background. By that point the active assembly's metadata is usually ready
-		/// and the user has had a frame or two to interact with the tree.
+		/// To strike a middle ground, schedule a one-shot sweep that fires after the tree
+		/// view is on screen (<see cref="TreeReady"/>) plus a small visibility cooldown.
+		/// Gating on <see cref="TreeReady"/> rather than a wall-clock delay keeps the sweep
+		/// off slow startups (heavy layout, debugger attached) and ensures the user has
+		/// genuinely seen the tree before the thread pool fills with sibling-assembly loads.
 		/// </summary>
 		void ScheduleBackgroundLoadSweep(AssemblyList list)
 		{
 			_ = Task.Run(async () => {
 				try
 				{
-					await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2)).ConfigureAwait(false);
+					await TreeReady.ConfigureAwait(false);
+					// Small grace period after Loaded so the first paint has time to settle
+					// — kicking off 122 metadata loads the same frame the tree appears would
+					// steal cycles from the layout pass that just brought it on screen.
+					await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(500)).ConfigureAwait(false);
 					AppEnv.StartupLog.Mark("Background-load sweep starting");
 					foreach (var assembly in list.GetAssemblies())
 					{
diff --git a/ILSpy/Docking/ILSpyDockFactory.cs b/ILSpy/Docking/ILSpyDockFactory.cs
index 86ed2edc2..f5b688acd 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Docking/ILSpyDockFactory.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Docking/ILSpyDockFactory.cs
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ namespace ILSpy.Docking
 				Title = "Documents",
 				IsCollapsable = false,
 				Proportion = 0.6,
+				// Dock's theme template binds against DockCapabilityPolicy.{CanDrag, CanDrop,
+				// CanPin, CanClose} on every dock. Pre-populate so the binding sees a non-null
+				// source on first evaluation; otherwise every dock startup logs ~6 [Binding]
+				// errors as the chrome template is realised.
+				DockCapabilityPolicy = new DockCapabilityPolicy(),
 			};
 			Documents = documents;
 
@@ -87,6 +92,7 @@ namespace ILSpy.Docking
 				Orientation = Orientation.Vertical,
 				Proportion = ComputeMiddleColumnProportion(leftToolDock, rightToolDock),
 				VisibleDockables = CreateList(verticalChildren.ToArray()),
+				DockCapabilityPolicy = new DockCapabilityPolicy(),
 			};
 
 			// Horizontal row: left tool dock, middle column, right tool dock — splitters
@@ -108,6 +114,7 @@ namespace ILSpy.Docking
 				Id = "MainLayout",
 				Orientation = Orientation.Horizontal,
 				VisibleDockables = CreateList(horizontalChildren.ToArray()),
+				DockCapabilityPolicy = new DockCapabilityPolicy(),
 			};
 
 			var root = CreateRootDock();
@@ -116,6 +123,7 @@ namespace ILSpy.Docking
 			root.VisibleDockables = CreateList<IDockable>(horizontal);
 			root.DefaultDockable = horizontal;
 			root.ActiveDockable = horizontal;
+			root.DockCapabilityPolicy = new DockCapabilityPolicy();
 
 			return root;
 		}
@@ -140,6 +148,7 @@ namespace ILSpy.Docking
 					ToolPaneAlignment.Bottom => Alignment.Bottom,
 					_ => Alignment.Left,
 				},
+				DockCapabilityPolicy = new DockCapabilityPolicy(),
 			};
 		}
 
diff --git a/ILSpy/ViewModels/ContentTabPage.cs b/ILSpy/ViewModels/ContentTabPage.cs
index 852a13ced..285d0fc08 100644
--- a/ILSpy/ViewModels/ContentTabPage.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/ViewModels/ContentTabPage.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ using System.ComponentModel;
 using CommunityToolkit.Mvvm.ComponentModel;
 
 using Dock.Controls.DeferredContentControl;
+using Dock.Model.Core;
 
 using ICSharpCode.ILSpyX.TreeView;
 
@@ -35,6 +36,15 @@ namespace ILSpy.ViewModels
 	/// </summary>
 	public sealed partial class ContentTabPage : TabPageModel, IDeferredContentPresentation
 	{
+		public ContentTabPage()
+		{
+			// Same reason as ToolPaneModel — Dock's chrome template binds against
+			// DockCapabilityOverrides.{CanDrag, CanDrop, CanClose}, and the document tab's
+			// owner.DockCapabilityPolicy.{CanDrag, CanDrop, CanClose}. Without these
+			// pre-populated, every tab startup logs a [Binding] error per property.
+			DockCapabilityOverrides = new DockCapabilityOverrides();
+		}
+
 		// Opt out of Dock's deferred presentation: the inner views are already pre-realised
 		// by the wrapper view, and headless tests can't reach descendants of a control
 		// that's still queued for realisation.
diff --git a/ILSpy/ViewModels/ToolPaneModel.cs b/ILSpy/ViewModels/ToolPaneModel.cs
index 080bbfdfe..2e125b542 100644
--- a/ILSpy/ViewModels/ToolPaneModel.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/ViewModels/ToolPaneModel.cs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 // DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 
 using Dock.Controls.DeferredContentControl;
+using Dock.Model.Core;
 using Dock.Model.Mvvm.Controls;
 
 namespace ILSpy.ViewModels
@@ -28,9 +29,21 @@ namespace ILSpy.ViewModels
 	/// hundreds of milliseconds between the window painting and the panes appearing. The
 	/// trees + search results are cheap to materialise (lazy loading handles deeper levels)
 	/// so eager realisation is the right tradeoff — same as <c>ContentTabPage</c>.
+	///
+	/// The ctor also pre-populates <see cref="Tool.DockCapabilityOverrides"/> with a
+	/// default instance because the Dock theme template binds against
+	/// <c>ActiveDockable.DockCapabilityOverrides.CanPin</c> / <c>CanClose</c> (and similar)
+	/// the moment the pane chrome is realised. Without a non-null instance every pane
+	/// startup logs a <c>[Binding]</c> error per property — adds up to ~30 errors per
+	/// launch.
 	/// </summary>
 	public abstract class ToolPaneModel : Tool, IDeferredContentPresentation
 	{
+		protected ToolPaneModel()
+		{
+			DockCapabilityOverrides = new DockCapabilityOverrides();
+		}
+
 		bool IDeferredContentPresentation.DeferContentPresentation => false;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/ILSpy/Views/MainWindow.axaml.cs b/ILSpy/Views/MainWindow.axaml.cs
index cd17bd323..a389d4bb1 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Views/MainWindow.axaml.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Views/MainWindow.axaml.cs
@@ -35,15 +35,26 @@ namespace ILSpy.Views
 
 		public MainWindow()
 		{
+			// Parameterless ctor — design-time / preview only. The runtime path uses the
+			// ImportingConstructor below, which sets DataContext BEFORE inflating XAML so
+			// that DockControl's Layout binding (and the cascade of Layout.Id, Layout.Title,
+			// Layout.CanDrag, Layout.CanDrop, Layout.DockGroup template bindings) sees a
+			// non-null source on first evaluation. Without that ordering, every binding
+			// throws + logs at startup, which adds up to ~30 errors per launch.
+			StartupLog.Mark("MainWindow parameterless ctor entered (XAML inflation about to start)");
 			InitializeComponent();
+			StartupLog.Mark("MainWindow parameterless ctor exited (XAML inflation done)");
 		}
 
 		[ImportingConstructor]
-		public MainWindow(MainWindowViewModel viewModel, SettingsService settingsService) : this()
+		public MainWindow(MainWindowViewModel viewModel, SettingsService settingsService)
 		{
 			StartupLog.Mark("MainWindow ctor entered");
 			this.settingsService = settingsService;
 			DataContext = viewModel;
+			StartupLog.Mark("MainWindow XAML inflation about to start (DataContext set)");
+			InitializeComponent();
+			StartupLog.Mark("MainWindow XAML inflation done");
 			ApplySessionSettings(settingsService.SessionSettings);
 			Opened += async (_, _) => {
 				StartupLog.Mark("MainWindow.Opened fired");