diff --git a/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/electron-test-fixtures.ts b/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/electron-test-fixtures.ts
index fb45b4925..48038d7d2 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/electron-test-fixtures.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend-e2e/src/electron-test-fixtures.ts
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ export async function launchElectronApp(
             NODE_ENV: 'test',
         },
     });
+    attachElectronProcessDiagnostics(electronApp);
 
     const mainWindow = await findMainWindow(electronApp);
     await waitForAppReady(mainWindow);
@@ -170,6 +171,28 @@ export async function launchElectronApp(
     };
 }
 
+function attachElectronProcessDiagnostics(electronApp: ElectronApplication): void {
+    if (!process.env['CI']) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    const childProcess = electronApp.process();
+
+    childProcess.stdout?.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
+        console.log(`[electron stdout] ${chunk.toString().trimEnd()}`);
+    });
+    childProcess.stderr?.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
+        console.error(`[electron stderr] ${chunk.toString().trimEnd()}`);
+    });
+    childProcess.once('exit', (code, signal) => {
+        console.log(
+            `[electron process exit] code=${code ?? '<null>'} signal=${
+                signal ?? '<null>'
+            }`
+        );
+    });
+}
+
 export async function closeElectronApp(
     app: LaunchedElectronApp
 ): Promise<void> {
diff --git a/apps/electron-backend/src/main.ts b/apps/electron-backend/src/main.ts
index d630b351b..518fe9baf 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend/src/main.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend/src/main.ts
@@ -93,13 +93,6 @@ export default class Main {
         });
         AppUpdateEvents.bootstrapAppUpdateEvents(appUpdateService);
 
-        // Initialize database before other events
-        await initDatabase();
-
-        if (isStartupTraceEnabled()) {
-            trace('startup', 'init-database:done');
-        }
-
         ElectronEvents.bootstrapElectronEvents();
         WindowEvents.bootstrapWindowEvents();
         EmbeddedMpvEvents.bootstrapEmbeddedMpvEvents();
@@ -117,11 +110,6 @@ export default class Main {
         if (App.mainWindow) {
             setDownloadsMainWindow(App.mainWindow);
         }
-        await resetStaleDownloads();
-
-        if (isStartupTraceEnabled()) {
-            trace('startup', 'reset-stale-downloads:done');
-        }
 
         // Load the renderer only after IPC handlers are registered. On slower
         // Linux CI hosts the renderer can otherwise invoke Electron bridge IPC
@@ -129,6 +117,22 @@ export default class Main {
         await App.loadMainWindow();
         void appUpdateService.checkForUpdatesOnStartup();
 
+        // Initialize the database after the first renderer load is underway so
+        // Linux Electron E2E can observe a BrowserWindow even when SQLite
+        // startup or download recovery is slow. IPC handlers call getDatabase()
+        // lazily and share the same initialization promise.
+        await initDatabase();
+
+        if (isStartupTraceEnabled()) {
+            trace('startup', 'init-database:done');
+        }
+
+        await resetStaleDownloads();
+
+        if (isStartupTraceEnabled()) {
+            trace('startup', 'reset-stale-downloads:done');
+        }
+
         if (isStartupTraceEnabled()) {
             trace('startup', 'bootstrap-events:done');
         }