diff --git a/implementations/main.cpp b/implementations/main.cpp
index 36285c1..46a4716 100644
--- a/implementations/main.cpp
+++ b/implementations/main.cpp
@@ -1206,8 +1206,25 @@ public:
 
     // Select a group and count what loads. A template reload needs the init
     // chain to have run first -- Start() guarantees that.
-    int SetActiveGroup(std::uint32_t gid) {
+    // Selecting a group makes the trustlet RELOAD every template in it from
+    // storage, and on this device that is 651276 bytes crossing the listener in
+    // chunks -- about a megabyte of round trips per call. Measured 2026-09-05:
+    // ten verifications cost eleven reloads and 26 MB, all of it before the
+    // verify loop even starts, so all of it lands in the latency the user sees
+    // while being invisible to the daemon's own timing.
+    //
+    // It is also unnecessary. The trustlet holds templates in memory once
+    // loaded -- a successful authentication on stock produces no storage
+    // callbacks at all -- so a group that is already active does not need
+    // selecting again. `force` is for the cases that genuinely change the
+    // store: an enrolment, or a template removed underneath us.
+    int SetActiveGroup(std::uint32_t gid, bool force = false) {
         namespace ta = fingerprintd::ta;
+        if (!force && gid == gid_ && templatesLoaded_ >= 0) {
+            std::println("SET_ACTIVE_GROUP gid={} skipped (already active, {} template(s))",
+                         gid, templatesLoaded_);
+            return templatesLoaded_;
+        }
         auto sag = ta::BuildSetActiveGroup(gid, g_groupPath);
         std::println("SET_ACTIVE_GROUP gid={}", gid);
         auto g = SendCommand(app_, ta::Cmd::SetActiveGroup, sag);
@@ -1216,7 +1233,8 @@ public:
         Report(ta::Cmd::Enumerate, e);
         std::println("  templates loaded: {}", e.rc);
         gid_ = gid;
-        return e.invoked ? e.rc : -1;
+        templatesLoaded_ = e.invoked ? e.rc : -1;
+        return templatesLoaded_;
     }
 
     // ---- Enrolment
@@ -1244,7 +1262,8 @@ public:
             out.why = "store is read-only or RPMB writes disabled";
             return out;
         }
-        if (gid != gid_) SetActiveGroup(gid);
+        // An enrolment adds a template, so this one reloads for real.
+        SetActiveGroup(gid, /*force*/ true);
 
         // Stock's opening sequence. AUTHENTICATE is what arms the capture
         // session; CANCEL and RESET_LOCKOUT bracket it.
@@ -1755,6 +1774,9 @@ private:
     Sensor sensor_;
     fingerprintd::engine::Baseline baseline_;
     std::uint32_t gid_ = 0xFFFFFFFF;
+    // What the last real SET_ACTIVE_GROUP reported, so a repeat claim can be
+    // answered without making the trustlet re-read the store. -1 = unknown.
+    int templatesLoaded_ = -1;
     // Set when a fold succeeded; cleared by the save.
     bool templateDirty_ = false;
     // Frames folded during the verify loop itself, carried into the harvest so