diff --git a/ILSpy/DecompilationOptions.cs b/ILSpy/DecompilationOptions.cs
index 576286aac..3db61bb38 100644
--- a/ILSpy/DecompilationOptions.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/DecompilationOptions.cs
@@ -78,6 +78,14 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy
 		/// </summary>
 		public bool IsDebug { get; set; }
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// When true, the pipeline records its steps so a step view can display them. It travels with
+		/// the request rather than being read from the view: a step index only means anything against
+		/// a run recorded the same way, so the full run and the step-limited replay of one of its
+		/// indices have to agree on it, and the decompile that reads it happens on a background task.
+		/// </summary>
+		public bool RecordSteps { get; set; }
+
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Optional sink for whole-project decompilation progress. Wired onto
 		/// <see cref="ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler.WholeProjectDecompiler.ProgressIndicator"/>
diff --git a/ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs b/ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs
index ca88b3367..3e32ee93f 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs
@@ -84,6 +84,15 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Docking
 		/// behaviour (e.g. ShowOptionsCommand).</summary>
 		public IDocumentDock? Documents => factory.Documents;
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Whether decompiles started in this workspace record their transform steps. Set on the UI
+		/// thread by whoever displays them and copied into each run's <see cref="DecompilationOptions"/>,
+		/// so a background decompile never samples live view state - and every tab, including ones
+		/// opened later, records the same way. A step index only means anything against a run
+		/// recorded like the one the index was taken from.
+		/// </summary>
+		public bool RecordSteps { get; set; }
+
 		public IRelayCommand NavigateBackCommand { get; }
 		public IRelayCommand NavigateForwardCommand { get; }
 		public IRelayCommand<NavigationEntry> NavigateToHistoryCommand { get; }
diff --git a/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs b/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs
index 5e729e4cb..b09f9bd61 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs
@@ -77,15 +77,6 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 		/// </summary>
 		static DebugStepsPaneModel? DebugStepsPane => AppComposition.TryGetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
 
-		/// <summary>
-		/// Points the whole pipeline at the shared stepper, but only while the Debug Steps pane is
-		/// there to display what it records - see <see cref="DebugStepsPaneModel.IsRecording"/>.
-		/// </summary>
-		static partial void ConfigureStepRecording(CSharpDecompiler decompiler)
-		{
-			decompiler.RecordSteps = DebugStepsPane?.IsRecording ?? false;
-		}
-
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Drops the recorded steps of the last run. The stepper pins every ILAst its steps captured, so
 		/// this is what actually releases that memory once nothing is displaying it.
diff --git a/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.cs b/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.cs
index fa4654ec8..a7f800a42 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.cs
@@ -327,10 +327,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 			};
 			decompiler.Stepper.StepLimit = options.StepLimit;
 			decompiler.Stepper.IsDebug = options.IsDebug;
-			// The Debug Steps pane walks the whole pipeline, so the IL transforms have to record into
-			// the same stepper as the C# AST transforms. Implemented only under DEBUG, where the pane
-			// exists; a Release decompiler records no steps at all.
-			ConfigureStepRecording(decompiler);
+			// The Debug Steps pane walks the whole pipeline, so the IL transforms record into the same
+			// stepper as the C# AST transforms. Which runs record is decided by whoever started the
+			// decompile, not by the pane's state at the moment this runs on a background task.
+			decompiler.RecordSteps = options.RecordSteps;
 			if (options.EscapeInvalidIdentifiers)
 				decompiler.AstTransforms.Add(new EscapeInvalidIdentifiers());
 			return decompiler;
@@ -776,10 +776,6 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 			}
 		}
 
-		// Implemented only under DEBUG (CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs): enables IL-transform step
-		// recording while the Debug Steps pane is open. A no-op partial in Release.
-		static partial void ConfigureStepRecording(CSharpDecompiler decompiler);
-
 		// Implemented only under DEBUG (CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs): writes the ILAst the pipeline was
 		// halted in, when a Debug Steps replay stopped it before there was any C# to show. A no-op
 		// partial in Release, where nothing sets a step limit.
diff --git a/ILSpy/TextView/DecompilerTabPageModel.cs b/ILSpy/TextView/DecompilerTabPageModel.cs
index 565b9b0b4..269f5e5c2 100644
--- a/ILSpy/TextView/DecompilerTabPageModel.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/TextView/DecompilerTabPageModel.cs
@@ -395,6 +395,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView
 		int? pendingHighlightStep;
 		bool pendingIsDebug;
 
+
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Output-length safety limits (characters): a decompile that produces more than the active
 		/// limit is stopped and replaced with a "too much code" message rather than hanging/OOMing the
@@ -559,6 +560,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView
 				var stepLimit = pendingStepLimit;
 				var highlightStep = pendingHighlightStep;
 				var isDebug = pendingIsDebug;
+				// Unlike the per-run overrides above, this is not reset: it describes the tab, and
+				// every run has to record the same way or a step index picked from one tree would
+				// select a different step on replay.
+				var recordSteps = AppEnv.AppComposition.TryGetExport<Docking.DockWorkspace>()?.RecordSteps ?? false;
 				pendingStepLimit = int.MaxValue;
 				pendingHighlightStep = null;
 				pendingIsDebug = false;
@@ -580,6 +585,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView
 							StepLimit = stepLimit,
 							HighlightStep = highlightStep,
 							IsDebug = isDebug,
+							RecordSteps = recordSteps,
 						};
 						try
 						{
diff --git a/ILSpy/ViewModels/DebugStepsPaneModel.cs b/ILSpy/ViewModels/DebugStepsPaneModel.cs
index 661abc6e8..ee0fdef70 100644
--- a/ILSpy/ViewModels/DebugStepsPaneModel.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/ViewModels/DebugStepsPaneModel.cs
@@ -415,6 +415,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 			if (IsRecording == enabled)
 				return;
 			IsRecording = enabled;
+			// The workspace carries the flag into every run it starts, including the ones the user
+			// triggers by selecting another node, so closing the pane has to clear it there too.
+			if (AppComposition.TryGetExport<DockWorkspace>() is { } workspace)
+				workspace.RecordSteps = enabled;
 			if (enabled)
 			{
 				// C# is the only language that records anything, so re-running any other one would
@@ -434,7 +438,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 			lastSelectedStep = stepLimit;
 			// Composition unavailable in design-time previews; the gesture is a no-op there.
 			var dock = AppComposition.TryGetExport<DockWorkspace>();
-			dock?.ActiveDecompilerTab?.RestartDecompileWithStepLimit(stepLimit, isDebug, highlightStep);
+			if (dock == null)
+				return;
+			dock.RecordSteps = IsRecording;
+			dock.ActiveDecompilerTab?.RestartDecompileWithStepLimit(stepLimit, isDebug, highlightStep);
 		}
 	}
 }