diff --git a/sidecar/src/main/kotlin/dev/sanderling/sidecar/DriverBackend.kt b/sidecar/src/main/kotlin/dev/sanderling/sidecar/DriverBackend.kt
index d987490..ca3c63f 100644
--- a/sidecar/src/main/kotlin/dev/sanderling/sidecar/DriverBackend.kt
+++ b/sidecar/src/main/kotlin/dev/sanderling/sidecar/DriverBackend.kt
@@ -779,6 +779,22 @@ internal fun typeChunks(
     return typed
 }
 
+// dismissSoftKeyboard closes an open IME, and issues nothing when none is open.
+//
+// The keyboard is its own window over the bottom of the app, and the hierarchy
+// carries only what is visible to the user, so every app node under it is
+// absent from the tree the picker enumerates targets from. Typing raises it, so
+// an IME left open hides a form's submit control for as long as the fuzzer
+// keeps typing into that form, which is a state it cannot type its way out of.
+//
+// The mInputShown guard is load-bearing rather than an optimisation: BACK is
+// what closes an open IME, and BACK with no IME open navigates out of the
+// screen, so an unguarded dismissal would make every InputText a back press.
+internal fun dismissSoftKeyboard(shell: (String) -> String) {
+    if (!shell("dumpsys input_method").contains("mInputShown=true")) return
+    shell("input keyevent 4")
+}
+
 // resumedActivityPackage matches a "package/activity" component, mirroring the
 // Go scope guard's regex so both read the same dumpsys wording.
 private val resumedActivityPackage =
@@ -885,6 +901,11 @@ class MaestroDriverBackend(private val serial: String?) : DriverBackend {
         } else {
             driver.inputText(text)
         }
+        // A probe that fails reads as "no IME open", which is the safe way to be
+        // wrong: it skips the dismissal rather than sending a stray BACK.
+        dismissSoftKeyboard {
+            runCatching { dadb.shell(it).allOutput }.getOrDefault("")
+        }
     }
 
     // typeShellSafe types shell-safe ASCII through adb `input text` in chunks,
diff --git a/sidecar/src/test/kotlin/dev/sanderling/sidecar/InputTextTest.kt b/sidecar/src/test/kotlin/dev/sanderling/sidecar/InputTextTest.kt
index c466d00..45e016e 100644
--- a/sidecar/src/test/kotlin/dev/sanderling/sidecar/InputTextTest.kt
+++ b/sidecar/src/test/kotlin/dev/sanderling/sidecar/InputTextTest.kt
@@ -212,4 +212,46 @@ class InputTextTest {
         assertEquals(maestro.KeyCode.ENTER, maestroKeyFor("enter"))
         assertFailsWith<IllegalArgumentException> { maestroKeyFor("zorp") }
     }
+
+    // An IME left open hides every app node beneath it from the hierarchy, so a
+    // form whose submit button sits under the keyboard becomes unreachable for
+    // as long as the fuzzer keeps typing into it. Typing must close the
+    // keyboard it raised.
+    @Test fun dismissSoftKeyboardClosesAnOpenIme() {
+        val commands = mutableListOf<String>()
+        dismissSoftKeyboard {
+            commands.add(it)
+            IME_OPEN_DUMPSYS
+        }
+        assertEquals(
+            listOf("dumpsys input_method", "input keyevent 4"),
+            commands,
+        )
+    }
+
+    // The guard is the dangerous half: BACK is only swallowed by an open IME,
+    // so dismissing unconditionally would turn every InputText into a back
+    // press and walk the fuzzer straight out of the screen it was filling in.
+    @Test fun dismissSoftKeyboardSendsNoBackWhenNoImeIsOpen() {
+        val commands = mutableListOf<String>()
+        dismissSoftKeyboard {
+            commands.add(it)
+            IME_CLOSED_DUMPSYS
+        }
+        assertEquals(listOf("dumpsys input_method"), commands)
+    }
 }
+
+private val IME_OPEN_DUMPSYS =
+    """
+      mCurMethodId=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME
+      mInputShown=true
+      mSystemReady=true mInteractive=true
+    """.trimIndent()
+
+private val IME_CLOSED_DUMPSYS =
+    """
+      mCurMethodId=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME
+      mInputShown=false
+      mSystemReady=true mInteractive=true
+    """.trimIndent()