diff --git a/src/terminal/Terminal.zig b/src/terminal/Terminal.zig
index 3bcfdf5d9..05085721a 100644
--- a/src/terminal/Terminal.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/Terminal.zig
@@ -952,7 +952,13 @@ pub fn print(self: *Terminal, c: u21) !void {
                 const cps = self.screens.active.cursor.page_pin.node.page().lookupGrapheme(prev.cell).?;
                 for (cps) |cp2| {
                     // log.debug("cp1={x} cp2={x}", .{ previous_codepoint, cp2 });
-                    assert(!unicode.graphemeBreak(previous_codepoint, cp2, &state));
+                    // With mode 2027 disabled, zero-width codepoints are
+                    // attached without applying grapheme boundary rules. If
+                    // the mode is enabled later, an existing cell can
+                    // therefore contain one or more breaks. Feed those breaks
+                    // into the state machine so it can reset its context and
+                    // determine the boundary for the new codepoint.
+                    _ = unicode.graphemeBreak(previous_codepoint, cp2, &state);
                     previous_codepoint = cp2;
                 }
             }
@@ -4297,6 +4303,22 @@ test "Terminal: print multicodepoint grapheme, disabled mode 2027" {
     try testing.expect(t.isDirty(.{ .screen = .{ .x = 0, .y = 0 } }));
 }
 
+test "Terminal: enabling grapheme mode handles stored breaks" {
+    var t = try init(testing.allocator, .{ .cols = 5, .rows = 1 });
+    defer t.deinit(testing.allocator);
+
+    t.modes.set(.grapheme_cluster, false);
+    try t.print('a');
+    try t.print(0x200B); // Zero width space is stored on the prior cell.
+
+    t.modes.set(.grapheme_cluster, true);
+    try t.print(0x0301);
+
+    const str = try t.plainString(testing.allocator);
+    defer testing.allocator.free(str);
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings("a\xE2\x80\x8B\xCC\x81", str);
+}
+
 // Terminal.print receives one codepoint at a time, so it can't use
 // unicode.graphemeWidth directly; that API requires a complete buffered
 // cluster or string end. This keeps the streaming printer's cursor advance
@@ -12491,13 +12513,6 @@ fn testPrintSliceDifferential(
             },
             15 => {
                 const v = rand.boolean();
-                // Erase the display first: grapheme clusters created
-                // while mode 2027 was off can trip a pre-existing
-                // debug assert in print()'s cluster walk when the mode
-                // is toggled on (unrelated to printSlice; it reproduces
-                // with per-codepoint print alone).
-                t1.eraseDisplay(.complete, false);
-                t2.eraseDisplay(.complete, false);
                 t1.modes.set(.grapheme_cluster, v);
                 t2.modes.set(.grapheme_cluster, v);
             },