diff --git a/app/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/activity/MainActivity.java b/app/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/activity/MainActivity.java
index dbc2d7888..bba5d519c 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/activity/MainActivity.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/activity/MainActivity.java
@@ -492,20 +492,17 @@ public class MainActivity extends CastEnabledActivity implements NavigationToolb
 
     public void loadFragment(Fragment fragment) {
         FragmentManager fragmentManager = getSupportFragmentManager();
-        // clear back stack
-        for (int i = 0; i < fragmentManager.getBackStackEntryCount(); i++) {
-            fragmentManager.popBackStack();
-        }
+        // Clear all synchronously to avoid conflicting with predictive back gesture cancellation
+        fragmentManager.popBackStackImmediate(null, FragmentManager.POP_BACK_STACK_INCLUSIVE);
         FragmentTransaction t = fragmentManager.beginTransaction();
         t.replace(R.id.main_content_view, fragment, MAIN_FRAGMENT_TAG);
-        fragmentManager.popBackStack();
         // TODO: we have to allow state loss here
         // since this function can get called from an AsyncTask which
         // could be finishing after our app has already committed state
         // and is about to get shutdown.  What we *should* do is
         // not commit anything in an AsyncTask, but that's a bigger
         // change than we want now.
-        t.commitAllowingStateLoss();
+        t.commitNowAllowingStateLoss();
 
         if (drawerLayout != null) { // Tablet layout does not have a drawer
             drawerLayout.closeDrawer(navDrawer);
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/ui/screen/home/HomeFragment.java b/app/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/ui/screen/home/HomeFragment.java
index 77af87ce2..e85d42ff3 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/ui/screen/home/HomeFragment.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/ui/screen/home/HomeFragment.java
@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@ public class HomeFragment extends Fragment implements Toolbar.OnMenuItemClickLis
     }
 
     private void addSection(Fragment section) {
+        if (section == null) { // Can happen when stored settings reference a section that no longer exists
+            return;
+        }
         FragmentContainerView containerView = new FragmentContainerView(getContext());
         containerView.setId(View.generateViewId());
         viewBinding.homeContainer.addView(containerView);
diff --git a/playback/service/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/playback/service/internal/MediaLibrarySessionCallback.java b/playback/service/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/playback/service/internal/MediaLibrarySessionCallback.java
index 769127aed..42baf3f04 100644
--- a/playback/service/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/playback/service/internal/MediaLibrarySessionCallback.java
+++ b/playback/service/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/playback/service/internal/MediaLibrarySessionCallback.java
@@ -277,7 +277,8 @@ public class MediaLibrarySessionCallback implements MediaLibraryService.MediaLib
                     future.set(new MediaSession.MediaItemsWithStartPosition(result.first, index, startPosition));
                 }, error -> {
                     Log.e(TAG, "Failed to load media", error);
-                    future.set(new MediaSession.MediaItemsWithStartPosition(mediaItems, index, startPositionMs));
+                    future.set(new MediaSession.MediaItemsWithStartPosition(
+                            Collections.emptyList(), index, startPositionMs));
                 });
         return future;
     }
@@ -484,6 +485,10 @@ public class MediaLibrarySessionCallback implements MediaLibraryService.MediaLib
             try {
                 long mediaId = Long.parseLong(item.mediaId);
                 FeedMedia media = DBReader.getFeedMedia(mediaId);
+                if (media == null) {
+                    Log.e(TAG, "Media not found for ID: " + mediaId);
+                    continue;
+                }
                 builder.add(MediaItemAdapter.fromPlayable(context, media, false));
             } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
                 Log.e(TAG, "Invalid media ID: " + item.mediaId, e);