diff --git a/include/plot/input/controller.hpp b/include/plot/input/controller.hpp
index 2a5f2e9..1ea3a74 100644
--- a/include/plot/input/controller.hpp
+++ b/include/plot/input/controller.hpp
@@ -66,6 +66,11 @@ class Controller {
   /// user can neither pan nor zoom back. The buttons in the same event are still
   /// acted on, so a drag whose release arrives with a bad position still ends.
   void on_pointer(const PointerEvent& e);
+  /// Same, and a wheel amount that is not a number is *refused* rather than
+  /// zeroed: a zero-notch zoom changes no range but still goes through the range
+  /// setters, which clear auto scale -- so a sanitised amount would quietly disarm
+  /// auto-fit. An unusable amount leaves the plot exactly as it was; an unusable
+  /// *position* only loses its anchor, falling back to the last known one.
   void on_wheel(const WheelEvent& e);
   void on_key(const KeyEvent& e);
 
diff --git a/src/input/controller.cpp b/src/input/controller.cpp
index 8cbe2d3..f1f29b6 100644
--- a/src/input/controller.cpp
+++ b/src/input/controller.cpp
@@ -66,14 +66,16 @@ PointerEvent sanitized(const PointerEvent& e, bool have_pointer, f32 last_x,
   return in;
 }
 
+/// `e`, with an unusable position replaced by the last known one. The wheel's
+/// amount is deliberately left alone: `on_wheel` rejects an unusable one *before*
+/// the event is acted on, because a zeroed amount is a zoom of exactly one, and
+/// running that over an unchanged range would still clear every axis' auto scale.
 WheelEvent sanitized(const WheelEvent& e, bool have_pointer, f32 last_x, f32 last_y) noexcept {
   WheelEvent in = e;
   if (!finite(in.x) || !finite(in.y)) {
     in.x = have_pointer ? last_x : 0.0f;
     in.y = have_pointer ? last_y : 0.0f;
   }
-  if (!finite(in.dx)) in.dx = 0.0f;
-  if (!finite(in.dy)) in.dy = 0.0f;
   return in;
 }
 
@@ -106,6 +108,13 @@ void Controller::on_pointer(const PointerEvent& raw) {
 }
 
 void Controller::on_wheel(const WheelEvent& raw) {
+  // An amount that is not a number is not a wheel: sanitising it to zero would look
+  // like a zero-notch zoom -- a factor of exactly one -- and the zoom body would
+  // still run, calling the range setters with the unchanged range. Those clear
+  // `auto_scale` unconditionally, so a single garbage wheel would silently disarm
+  // auto-fit on every axis. Return before the event can mutate anything.
+  if (!std::isfinite(raw.dy)) return;
+
   const WheelEvent e = sanitized(raw, has_pointer_, pointer_x_, pointer_y_);
   plot_->layout();
   const f64 factor = zoom_factor(static_cast<f64>(e.dy));
diff --git a/tests/test_controller.cpp b/tests/test_controller.cpp
index 35dc0c3..db3d41f 100644
--- a/tests/test_controller.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_controller.cpp
@@ -322,7 +322,12 @@ PLOT_TEST(non_finite_wheel_does_not_break_a_range) {
   PLOT_CHECK(std::fabs(p.x_range(ax).min) < 1e6 && std::fabs(p.x_range(ax).max) < 1e6);
   PLOT_CHECK(p.x_range(ax).span() < span_before);
 
-  // A non-finite amount is no zoom at all.
+  // A non-finite amount is no zoom at all -- and, just as important, it must not
+  // touch the axes. A *zeroed* amount would be a zero-notch zoom (a factor of
+  // exactly one): the range would survive, but the range setters it runs through
+  // clear auto scale, so one garbage wheel would quietly disarm auto-fit.
+  p.set_x_auto_scale(ax, true);
+  p.set_y_auto_scale(ay, true);
   const plot::Range xr = p.x_range(ax);
   const plot::Range yr = p.y_range(ay);
   c.on_wheel({400.0f, 200.0f, 0.0f, nan, 0});
@@ -330,6 +335,8 @@ PLOT_TEST(non_finite_wheel_does_not_break_a_range) {
   PLOT_CHECK_NEAR(p.x_range(ax).min, xr.min, 1e-12);
   PLOT_CHECK_NEAR(p.x_range(ax).max, xr.max, 1e-12);
   PLOT_CHECK_NEAR(p.y_range(ay).min, yr.min, 1e-12);
+  PLOT_CHECK(p.x_axis(ax).auto_scale);
+  PLOT_CHECK(p.y_axis(ay).auto_scale);
 }
 
 PLOT_TEST(key_f_auto_fits_traces) {
diff --git a/tests/test_imgui_widget.cpp b/tests/test_imgui_widget.cpp
index 5fa4235..4c93d69 100644
--- a/tests/test_imgui_widget.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_imgui_widget.cpp
@@ -344,10 +344,24 @@ PLOT_TEST(imgui_widget_invalid_position_does_not_move_the_range) {
   f.frame(ImVec2(-kMaxFloat, -kMaxFloat), false);
   PLOT_CHECK(!f.panning());
 
-  // And a real position after the sentinel is not differenced against the sentinel.
+  // A drag held across a sentinel, then a real position again. The movement must be
+  // measured from the last *real* position -- 100 px from (200, 200) to (300, 300) --
+  // and not from the sentinel. This is asserted with the drag alive on purpose:
+  // nothing can move a range once the button is up, so the same check after the
+  // release could not fail and would prove nothing.
+  f.frame(ImVec2(200.0f, 200.0f), false);
+  f.frame(ImVec2(200.0f, 200.0f), true);
+  const plot::Range second_press = f.x_range();
+  f.frame(ImVec2(-kMaxFloat, -kMaxFloat), true);
+  PLOT_CHECK(f.panning());
+  const double axes_w = static_cast<double>(std::as_const(f.plot).layout().axes.w);
+  const double expected_shift = 100.0 / axes_w * second_press.span();
+  f.frame(ImVec2(300.0f, 300.0f), true);
+  PLOT_CHECK(f.panning());
+  PLOT_CHECK(std::isfinite(f.x_range().min));
+  PLOT_CHECK_NEAR(f.x_range().min, second_press.min - expected_shift, 0.05 * expected_shift);
   f.frame(ImVec2(300.0f, 300.0f), false);
-  PLOT_CHECK_NEAR(f.x_range().min, pressed.min, 1e-9);
-  PLOT_CHECK_NEAR(f.x_range().max, pressed.max, 1e-9);
+  PLOT_CHECK(!f.panning());
 }
 
 PLOT_TEST(imgui_widget_paints_the_whole_child_when_nothing_clips_it) {