diff --git a/src/components/__tests__/post-community-address-compat.test.tsx b/src/components/__tests__/post-community-address-compat.test.tsx
index e11678a3..00251bd3 100644
--- a/src/components/__tests__/post-community-address-compat.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/__tests__/post-community-address-compat.test.tsx
@@ -664,6 +664,26 @@ describe('post community address compatibility', () => {
     expect(container.textContent).toContain('ID: Pending');
   });
 
+  it('shows a pending ID instead of the account author shortAddress while a reply is publishing', async () => {
+    testState.pseudonymityMode = 'per-post';
+    const post = makeLegacyThread();
+    const reply = post.replies?.pages?.new?.comments?.[0];
+    if (!reply) {
+      throw new Error('missing fixture reply');
+    }
+    reply.cid = undefined;
+    reply.state = 'publishing';
+    reply.author = { shortAddress: 'account.author.shortAddress' };
+
+    await renderWithRoute(createElement(PostDesktop, { post, showAllReplies: true }), '/mu/thread/post-1');
+    expect(container.textContent).toContain('ID: Pending');
+    expect(container.textContent).not.toContain('account.author.shortAddress');
+
+    await renderWithRoute(createElement(PostMobile, { post, showAllReplies: true }), '/mu/thread/post-1');
+    expect(container.textContent).toContain('ID: Pending');
+    expect(container.textContent).not.toContain('account.author.shortAddress');
+  });
+
   it('forwards Pretext-backed reply estimates into Virtuoso for desktop and mobile thread views', async () => {
     testState.hasMoreReplies = true;
 
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/__tests__/comment-user-id-utils.test.ts b/src/lib/utils/__tests__/comment-user-id-utils.test.ts
index 51c78292..837565f2 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/__tests__/comment-user-id-utils.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/__tests__/comment-user-id-utils.test.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@ import { getCommentUserID, preservePublishedUserID } from '../comment-user-id-ut
 
 describe('getCommentUserID', () => {
   it('uses only the comment author short address for per-post user IDs', () => {
-    expect(getCommentUserID({ author: { address: 'poster.bso', shortAddress: 'short-poster' } } as any)).toBe('short-poster');
-    expect(getCommentUserID({ author: { shortAddress: 'short-poster' } } as any)).toBe('short-poster');
+    expect(getCommentUserID({ cid: 'published-comment', author: { address: 'poster.bso', shortAddress: 'short-poster' } } as any)).toBe('short-poster');
+    expect(getCommentUserID({ cid: 'published-comment', author: { shortAddress: 'short-poster' } } as any)).toBe('short-poster');
+  });
+
+  it('does not expose a local account author shortAddress before the comment is published', () => {
+    expect(getCommentUserID({ state: 'publishing', author: { shortAddress: 'account.author.shortAddress' } } as any)).toBe('');
   });
 
   it('does not derive a user ID from an author address', () => {
@@ -20,10 +24,11 @@ describe('preservePublishedUserID', () => {
   it('keeps local account author data but preserves the published user ID', () => {
     const merged = preservePublishedUserID(
       {
+        cid: 'published-reply',
         accountId: 'viewer-account',
         author: { address: 'account-author.bso', shortAddress: 'account-author' },
       } as any,
-      { author: { address: 'published-reply-address', shortAddress: 'ReplyKid9' } } as any,
+      { cid: 'published-reply', author: { address: 'published-reply-address', shortAddress: 'ReplyKid9' } } as any,
     );
 
     expect(merged.author.address).toBe('account-author.bso');
@@ -33,10 +38,11 @@ describe('preservePublishedUserID', () => {
   it('removes an overlaid shortAddress when the published author has no user ID', () => {
     const merged = preservePublishedUserID(
       {
+        cid: 'published-reply',
         accountId: 'viewer-account',
         author: { address: 'account-author.bso', shortAddress: 'account-author' },
       } as any,
-      { author: {} } as any,
+      { cid: 'published-reply', author: {} } as any,
     );
 
     expect(merged.author.address).toBe('account-author.bso');
@@ -45,15 +51,15 @@ describe('preservePublishedUserID', () => {
 
   it('mirrors the published user ID even when the overlaid comment is not an account comment', () => {
     const merged = preservePublishedUserID(
-      { author: { address: 'account-author.bso', shortAddress: 'account-author' } } as any,
-      { author: { shortAddress: 'ReplyKid9' } } as any,
+      { cid: 'published-reply', author: { address: 'account-author.bso', shortAddress: 'account-author' } } as any,
+      { cid: 'published-reply', author: { shortAddress: 'ReplyKid9' } } as any,
     );
 
     expect(getCommentUserID(merged)).toBe('ReplyKid9');
   });
 
   it('returns the comment unchanged when the user ID already matches', () => {
-    const comment = { author: { address: 'account-author.bso', shortAddress: 'ReplyKid9' } } as any;
-    expect(preservePublishedUserID(comment, { author: { shortAddress: 'ReplyKid9' } } as any)).toBe(comment);
+    const comment = { cid: 'published-reply', author: { address: 'account-author.bso', shortAddress: 'ReplyKid9' } } as any;
+    expect(preservePublishedUserID(comment, { cid: 'published-reply', author: { shortAddress: 'ReplyKid9' } } as any)).toBe(comment);
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/comment-user-id-utils.ts b/src/lib/utils/comment-user-id-utils.ts
index be4ec3df..60b4c61f 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/comment-user-id-utils.ts
+++ b/src/lib/utils/comment-user-id-utils.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import type { Comment } from '@bitsocial/bitsocial-react-hooks';
 // author.address can carry the local account identity (overlaid so author edit/delete
 // controls keep working), so it must never be used for display.
 export function getCommentUserID(comment: Comment | undefined): string {
+  if (!comment?.cid) return '';
   return comment?.author?.shortAddress || '';
 }