diff --git a/static/app/views/seerExplorer/components/chat/responseGroup.spec.tsx b/static/app/views/seerExplorer/components/chat/responseGroup.spec.tsx
index 81e2902782c3..c8262b904080 100644
--- a/static/app/views/seerExplorer/components/chat/responseGroup.spec.tsx
+++ b/static/app/views/seerExplorer/components/chat/responseGroup.spec.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import {OrganizationFixture} from 'sentry-fixture/organization';
 
-import {render, screen, userEvent} from 'sentry-test/reactTestingLibrary';
+import {render, screen, userEvent, within} from 'sentry-test/reactTestingLibrary';
 
 import type {Block} from 'sentry/views/seerExplorer/types';
 
@@ -318,6 +318,9 @@ describe('ResponseGroup', () => {
     );
 
     expect(queryReasoningBox(container)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    // Title only. The panel is the bordered card, so opening it around nothing draws an
+    // empty box under "Thinking..." for as long as the agent takes to report anything.
+    expect(within(reasoningBox(container)).queryByRole('group')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
   it('gates thinking prose on the showThinking toggle but keeps tool calls', async () => {
diff --git a/static/app/views/seerExplorer/components/chat/responseGroup.tsx b/static/app/views/seerExplorer/components/chat/responseGroup.tsx
index fdf00e7b9cf8..49301d5506e9 100644
--- a/static/app/views/seerExplorer/components/chat/responseGroup.tsx
+++ b/static/app/views/seerExplorer/components/chat/responseGroup.tsx
@@ -205,7 +205,10 @@ export function ResponseGroup({
                 startTime={startTime}
                 endTime={endTime}
               >
-                {active || hasTrace
+                {/* `hasTrace`, not `active`: an active response with nothing to show yet still
+                    maps to a non-empty array of blocks that each render nothing, and an array is
+                    truthy, so ThinkingBlock would open its bordered panel around no content. */}
+                {hasTrace
                   ? group.map((block, i) => {
                       const isAnswer = block === answer;
                       // A block's own tool calls render after its thinking, so they count as