diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
index 70d0e2f8fc..92df951ba4 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import {
   localTableSearchParentTypes,
 } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchTree";
 import { createSidebarLabelMatcher } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearch";
-import { collectSidebarRegexIndexScopes, resolveSidebarRemoteSearchQuery, resolveSidebarSearchDispatchMode } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex";
+import { collectSidebarRegexIndexScopes, resolveSidebarRemoteSearchQuery, resolveSidebarSearchDispatchMode, shouldRestoreTrackedSidebarSearchTargetsInRegexMode } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex";
 import { needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchDiscovery";
 import { createSidebarSearchExpansionState } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchExpansionState";
 import { createSidebarSearchLoadingTracker } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchLoadingTracker";
@@ -301,7 +301,10 @@ watch([deferredSearchQuery, regexMode], ([newQuery, isRegexMode], [oldQuery, was
   if (dispatchMode === "regex") {
     // Regex search is a read-only projection over live nodes and the local
     // table index. It must never trigger ensureConnected/listTables.
-    const restoreTasks = restoreTrackedSearchTargets();
+    // Keep results already loaded by an ordinary query until the regex is
+    // cleared. Restoring them here can empty the tree when this connection has
+    // no complete local table index yet (for example: "user" -> Regex mode).
+    const restoreTasks = shouldRestoreTrackedSidebarSearchTargetsInRegexMode(newQuery) ? restoreTrackedSearchTargets() : [];
     const searchGeneration = sidebarSearchLoadingTracker.begin();
     isSidebarSearchLoading.value = true;
     void Promise.allSettled([loadRegexTableSearchIndexes(), runSidebarSearchTasks(restoreTasks)])
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.ts
index 3a3714911f..72cf5d7af1 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.ts
@@ -106,3 +106,13 @@ export function resolveSidebarSearchDispatchMode(transition: SidebarSearchTransi
   if (transition.wasRegexMode && !transition.query) return "none";
   return "ordinary";
 }
+
+/**
+ * Keep an ordinary-search projection available while a non-empty regex is
+ * filtering it. Restoring those tracked nodes on the mode switch can remove
+ * the only currently loaded matches before a local table index exists. The
+ * projection is restored once the regex query is cleared.
+ */
+export function shouldRestoreTrackedSidebarSearchTargetsInRegexMode(query: string): boolean {
+  return query.length === 0;
+}
diff --git a/packages/app-tests/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.test.ts b/packages/app-tests/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.test.ts
index 2530345dd7..08f229abe8 100644
--- a/packages/app-tests/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app-tests/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { strict as assert } from "node:assert";
 import { test, vi } from "vitest";
-import { collectSidebarRegexIndexScopes, regexTableSearchParents, resolveSidebarRemoteSearchQuery, resolveSidebarSearchDispatchMode } from "../../apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.ts";
+import { collectSidebarRegexIndexScopes, regexTableSearchParents, resolveSidebarRemoteSearchQuery, resolveSidebarSearchDispatchMode, shouldRestoreTrackedSidebarSearchTargetsInRegexMode } from "../../apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex.ts";
 import type { SidebarRegexIndexScope } from "../../apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchTree.ts";
 import type { TableInfo, TreeNode } from "../../apps/desktop/src/types/database.ts";
 
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ test("local search on keeps ordinary queries local and local search off enables
   assert.equal(resolveSidebarSearchDispatchMode({ query: "", regexMode: false, wasRegexMode: false }, { localSearchEnabled: false }), "ordinary");
 });
 
+test("keeps ordinary search results available until the regex query is cleared", () => {
+  assert.equal(shouldRestoreTrackedSidebarSearchTargetsInRegexMode("user"), false);
+  assert.equal(shouldRestoreTrackedSidebarSearchTargetsInRegexMode("user|role"), false);
+  assert.equal(shouldRestoreTrackedSidebarSearchTargetsInRegexMode(""), true);
+});
+
 test("collects manifest scopes and live-tree backfill scopes through the read-only reader", async () => {
   const manifestScope = scope("conn-1:app:public:__tables", { path: [{ id: "conn-1", label: "c", type: "connection", connectionId: "conn-1" }] });
   const live: TreeNode[] = [