diff --git a/amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/service/okhttp/BlossomReadAuthInterceptor.kt b/amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/service/okhttp/BlossomReadAuthInterceptor.kt
index 8e14bf15d2..78aa21c415 100644
--- a/amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/service/okhttp/BlossomReadAuthInterceptor.kt
+++ b/amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/service/okhttp/BlossomReadAuthInterceptor.kt
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ package com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.service.okhttp
 
 import com.vitorpamplona.quartz.nip01Core.core.HexKey
 import okhttp3.Interceptor
+import okhttp3.Request
 import okhttp3.Response
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
 
 /**
  * Retries a Blossom blob download with a BUD-01 `t=get` authorization when the
@@ -51,10 +53,24 @@ import okhttp3.Response
  * signer is available or signing times out, and is only consulted on a real
  * `401`, so an unauthenticated user simply keeps seeing the broken image
  * rather than paying any signing cost.
+ *
+ * The first blob from an auth-gated host costs an extra round trip (anonymous
+ * `GET` → `401` → signed retry), but that host is then remembered in
+ * [knownAuthHosts] so every later blob from it is signed **up front** — one
+ * round trip, not two. This matters on a Buzz community feed where nearly every
+ * image comes from the same gated host: without it each image would keep paying
+ * the wasted 401 probe. The learned host also short-circuits to anonymous when
+ * no signer is available, so a logged-out user never re-probes needlessly.
  */
 class BlossomReadAuthInterceptor(
     private val authHeaderProvider: (host: String, sha256: HexKey) -> String?,
 ) : Interceptor {
+    // Hosts observed to answer 401 to an anonymous Blossom GET. Small (a user
+    // follows a handful of auth-gated servers at most) and shared across all
+    // clients derived from the same factory. newKeySet() is thread-safe for the
+    // concurrent reads/writes of parallel feed downloads.
+    private val knownAuthHosts: MutableSet<String> = ConcurrentHashMap.newKeySet()
+
     override fun intercept(chain: Interceptor.Chain): Response {
         val request = chain.request()
 
@@ -65,24 +81,36 @@ class BlossomReadAuthInterceptor(
         }
 
         val sha256 = blossomHashOrNull(request.url.encodedPath) ?: return chain.proceed(request)
+        val host = request.url.host
+
+        // Known-gated host: skip the anonymous probe and sign the first attempt.
+        // Falls through to anonymous only when we can't produce a token (no
+        // signer / timeout) — the server would 401 either way.
+        if (host in knownAuthHosts) {
+            authHeaderProvider(host, sha256)?.let { header ->
+                return chain.proceed(request.withAuth(header))
+            }
+        }
 
         val response = chain.proceed(request)
         if (response.code != 401) return response
 
-        val header = authHeaderProvider(request.url.host, sha256) ?: return response
+        // Learn the host so its next blob is signed up front.
+        knownAuthHosts.add(host)
+
+        val header = authHeaderProvider(host, sha256) ?: return response
 
         // Close the 401 body before replaying so the connection can be reused.
         response.close()
 
-        val authed =
-            request
-                .newBuilder()
-                .header("Authorization", header)
-                .build()
-
-        return chain.proceed(authed)
+        return chain.proceed(request.withAuth(header))
     }
 
+    private fun Request.withAuth(header: String) =
+        newBuilder()
+            .header("Authorization", header)
+            .build()
+
     companion object {
         private val SHA256_HEX = Regex("^[0-9a-f]{64}$")
 
diff --git a/amethyst/src/test/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/service/okhttp/BlossomReadAuthInterceptorTest.kt b/amethyst/src/test/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/service/okhttp/BlossomReadAuthInterceptorTest.kt
index 2899418497..e3ea88bf47 100644
--- a/amethyst/src/test/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/service/okhttp/BlossomReadAuthInterceptorTest.kt
+++ b/amethyst/src/test/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/service/okhttp/BlossomReadAuthInterceptorTest.kt
@@ -163,6 +163,46 @@ class BlossomReadAuthInterceptorTest {
         response.close()
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun learnsHostThenSignsSubsequentBlobsUpFront() {
+        val provider = RecordingProvider(header = "Nostr token")
+        val interceptor = BlossomReadAuthInterceptor(provider::header)
+        val otherSha = "b1674191a88ec5cdd733e4240a81803105dc412d6c6708d53ab94fc248f4f553"
+
+        // First blob learns the host via the 401 probe + signed retry.
+        val first = fakeChain("https://$host/media/$sha.png", codes = listOf(401, 200))
+        interceptor.intercept(first.asChain()).close()
+        assertEquals(2, first.requests.size)
+
+        // Second, different blob on the same host is signed on the first attempt —
+        // no anonymous probe, so a single request.
+        val second = fakeChain("https://$host/media/$otherSha.png", codes = listOf(200))
+        val response = interceptor.intercept(second.asChain())
+
+        assertEquals(200, response.code)
+        assertEquals("no anonymous probe on a known-gated host", 1, second.requests.size)
+        assertEquals("Nostr token", second.requests.single().header("Authorization"))
+        response.close()
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun learnedHostWithoutSignerDoesNotLoop() {
+        val provider = RecordingProvider(header = null)
+        val interceptor = BlossomReadAuthInterceptor(provider::header)
+
+        val first = fakeChain("https://$host/media/$sha.png", codes = listOf(401))
+        interceptor.intercept(first.asChain()).close()
+
+        // Host is now known, but with no signer the preemptive path must fall
+        // back to a single anonymous request rather than retrying endlessly.
+        val second = fakeChain("https://$host/media/$sha.png", codes = listOf(401))
+        val response = interceptor.intercept(second.asChain())
+
+        assertEquals(401, response.code)
+        assertEquals(1, second.requests.size)
+        response.close()
+    }
+
     private class RecordingProvider(
         private val header: String?,
     ) {