diff --git a/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp b/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp
index be0c1466..96bbaa4a 100644
--- a/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp
+++ b/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp
@@ -1207,7 +1207,17 @@ void EpubReaderActivity::render(RenderLock&& lock) {
     renderContents(std::move(p), orientedMarginTop, orientedMarginRight, orientedMarginBottom, orientedMarginLeft);
     LOG_DBG("ERS", "Rendered page in %dms", millis() - start);
   }
-  saveProgress(currentSpineIndex, section->currentPage, section->estimatedTotalPages());
+  // Only persist when the position actually changed. render() also runs on menu,
+  // bookmark and screenshot re-renders, and writeAtomic is several FAT ops for 6 bytes.
+  // Every real page turn changes currentPage, so progress durability is unaffected.
+  if (currentSpineIndex != lastSavedSpineIndex || section->currentPage != lastSavedPage ||
+      section->pageCount != lastSavedPageCount) {
+    if (saveProgress(currentSpineIndex, section->currentPage, section->estimatedTotalPages())) {
+      lastSavedSpineIndex = currentSpineIndex;
+      lastSavedPage = section->currentPage;
+      lastSavedPageCount = section->estimatedTotalPages();
+    }
+  }
 
   showPendingSyncSaveError();
 
diff --git a/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.h b/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.h
index e9973508..0fcdae8f 100644
--- a/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.h
+++ b/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.h
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ class EpubReaderActivity final : public Activity {
   SavedPosition savedPositions[MAX_FOOTNOTE_DEPTH] = {};
   int footnoteDepth = 0;
 
+  // Last position persisted by render()'s saveProgress, used to skip redundant
+  // writeAtomic calls on no-op re-renders (menu/bookmark/screenshot).
+  int lastSavedSpineIndex = -1;
+  int lastSavedPage = -1;
+  int lastSavedPageCount = -1;
+
   void renderContents(std::unique_ptr<Page> page, int orientedMarginTop, int orientedMarginRight,
                       int orientedMarginBottom, int orientedMarginLeft);
   void renderStatusBar() const;