diff --git a/packages/shared/src/components/MainFeedLayout.tsx b/packages/shared/src/components/MainFeedLayout.tsx
index 6b863d8fc04..f1132426f89 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/components/MainFeedLayout.tsx
+++ b/packages/shared/src/components/MainFeedLayout.tsx
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import classNames from 'classnames';
 import { useRouter } from 'next/router';
 import type { FeedProps } from './Feed';
 import Feed from './Feed';
-import { FeedPageLayoutMobile } from './utilities/common';
+import { FeedPageLayoutMobile, feedGutter } from './utilities/common';
 import { ExploreChipsBar } from './feeds/ExploreChipsBar';
 import { buildPersonalizedCategories } from './feeds/exploreCategories';
 import { useFeeds } from '../hooks/feed/useFeeds';
@@ -671,7 +671,14 @@ export default function MainFeedLayout({
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
   }, [sortingEnabled, selectedAlgo, loadedSettings, loadedAlgo]);
 
-  const disableTopPadding = isFinder || shouldUseListFeedLayout;
+  // Explore keeps the page's top padding in both layouts. It renders a
+  // breadcrumb and tab header above the feed, and zeroing the padding
+  // leaves that header jammed under the site header — while
+  // `shouldUseListFeedLayout` flips between first paint and mount
+  // (see `enableSsrSafeLayout`), so keying the spacing to it made the
+  // gap change size on navigation and settle differently on reload.
+  const disableTopPadding =
+    isFinder || (shouldUseListFeedLayout && !isAnyExplore);
   const onTabChange = useCallback(
     (clickedTab: ExploreTabs) => {
       if (clickedTab === ExploreTabs.BestOf && isExtension) {
@@ -694,7 +701,13 @@ export default function MainFeedLayout({
         <FeedExploreHeader
           tab={tab}
           setTab={onTabChange}
-          className={{ tabWrapper: 'my-4' }}
+          // The breadcrumbs used to start flush against the header
+          // with 0px above them, and then sat 16px off the tab strip —
+          // spacing that read as one loose block rather than a
+          // heading and its tabs. Give the group room above and pull
+          // the tabs up under the breadcrumbs they belong to; the
+          // 16px down to the cards is unchanged.
+          className={{ container: feedGutter, tabWrapper: 'mb-4 mt-2' }}
         />
       );
     }
@@ -705,8 +718,10 @@ export default function MainFeedLayout({
         setTab={onTabChange}
         showBreadcrumbs={false}
         className={{
-          container:
+          container: classNames(
             'sticky top-[4.5rem] z-header w-full border-b border-border-subtlest-tertiary bg-background-default',
+            feedGutter,
+          ),
           tabBarHeader: 'no-scrollbar overflow-x-auto',
           tabBarContainer: 'min-w-0 flex-1',
         }}
@@ -835,9 +850,7 @@ export default function MainFeedLayout({
                   </div>
                 ) : undefined
               }
-              className={classNames(
-                shouldUseListFeedLayout && !isFinder && 'laptop:px-6',
-              )}
+              className={classNames(!isFinder && feedGutter)}
             />
           )
         )}
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/components/utilities/common.tsx b/packages/shared/src/components/utilities/common.tsx
index c10e822865d..04bccb732f2 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/components/utilities/common.tsx
+++ b/packages/shared/src/components/utilities/common.tsx
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ import classNames from 'classnames';
 import classed from '../../lib/classed';
 import styles from './utilities.module.css';
 import { ArrowIcon } from '../icons';
-import { pageMainClassNames } from '../layout/PageWrapperLayout';
-import { useLayoutVariant } from '../../hooks/layout/useLayoutVariant';
 import { SourceMemberRole } from '../../graphql/sources';
 import type { OrganizationMemberRole } from '../../features/organizations/types';
 
@@ -99,23 +97,37 @@ export const BaseFeedPage = classed(
   styles.feedPage,
 );
 
-// v2 (dual-sidebar layout) ships the feed inside the floating-card chrome,
-// which provides its own outer inset. The legacy `pageMainClassNames`
-// (`laptop:p-10`) adds another 40px on top, which reads as way too much
-// side spacing inside the card. Drop that padding under v2; control keeps
-// the existing behavior unchanged.
+/**
+ * The feed's horizontal inset — the single source of it.
+ *
+ * It lives on FeedContainer rather than on a page container because
+ * the feed renders through two different ones depending on layout and
+ * route: FeedPage, which carries `pageMainClassNames`, and
+ * FeedPageLayoutList, which forces `!px-0`. FeedContainer is the only
+ * element common to both, so it is the only place an inset applies
+ * everywhere and can never stack with another.
+ *
+ * Chrome outside the container — the breadcrumbs and the tab strip —
+ * uses the same constant to line up with the cards.
+ */
+export const feedGutter = 'px-4 tablet:px-6 laptop:px-10';
+
+// Vertical padding only. The horizontal inset moved to FeedContainer
+// (see `feedGutter`) because this component is not in the tree on
+// every feed route — FeedPageLayoutList is used instead on some — and
+// an inset here would both miss those routes and stack with the one
+// that covers them.
+const feedPageVerticalPadding = 'tablet:py-4 laptop:py-10';
+
 export const FeedPage = ({
   className,
   ...props
-}: HTMLAttributes<HTMLElement>): ReactElement => {
-  const { isV2 } = useLayoutVariant();
-  return (
-    <BaseFeedPage
-      {...props}
-      className={classNames(!isV2 && pageMainClassNames, className)}
-    />
-  );
-};
+}: HTMLAttributes<HTMLElement>): ReactElement => (
+  <BaseFeedPage
+    {...props}
+    className={classNames(feedPageVerticalPadding, className)}
+  />
+);
 export const FeedPageLayoutList = classed(
   BasePageContainer,
   pageContainerClassNames,