diff --git a/shared/relay/client/manager.go b/shared/relay/client/manager.go
index d65ebb1ce..2f2839d94 100644
--- a/shared/relay/client/manager.go
+++ b/shared/relay/client/manager.go
@@ -30,11 +30,16 @@ type RelayTrack struct {
 	relayClient *Client
 	err         error
 	created     time.Time
+	// ready is closed once the dial started by openConnVia finishes (relayClient
+	// or err is set). Callers reusing a track wait on this instead of the track
+	// lock, so the dial never runs under rt.Lock.
+	ready chan struct{}
 }
 
 func NewRelayTrack() *RelayTrack {
 	return &RelayTrack{
 		created: time.Now(),
+		ready:   make(chan struct{}),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -294,17 +299,8 @@ func (m *Manager) RelayStates() []RelayConnState {
 
 	// Only connected foreign relays carry state; a failed connect is evicted
 	// immediately (openConnVia), so there is no error state to surface.
-	//
-	// Query each track without blocking: openConnVia holds a track's write-lock
-	// for the whole of relayClient.Connect() (the network dial). A blocking
-	// RLock here would stall the status path (GetFullStatus -> GetRelayStates)
-	// for the full dial timeout. A track mid-Connect has no relayClient set yet
-	// and would be skipped. TryRLock + skip preserves the result while keeping
-	// status responsive.
 	for _, rt := range tracks {
-		if !rt.TryRLock() {
-			continue
-		}
+		rt.RLock()
 		rc := rt.relayClient
 		rt.RUnlock()
 		if rc != nil {
@@ -335,34 +331,24 @@ func (m *Manager) openConnVia(ctx context.Context, serverAddress, peerKey string
 	// check if already has a connection to the desired relay server
 	m.relayClientsMutex.RLock()
 	rt, ok := m.relayClients[serverAddress]
-	if ok {
-		rt.RLock()
-		m.relayClientsMutex.RUnlock()
-		defer rt.RUnlock()
-		if rt.err != nil {
-			return nil, rt.err
-		}
-		return rt.relayClient.OpenConn(ctx, peerKey)
-	}
 	m.relayClientsMutex.RUnlock()
+	if ok {
+		return m.openConnOnTrack(ctx, rt, peerKey)
+	}
 
 	// if not, establish a new connection but check it again (because changed the lock type) before starting the
 	// connection
 	m.relayClientsMutex.Lock()
 	rt, ok = m.relayClients[serverAddress]
 	if ok {
-		rt.RLock()
 		m.relayClientsMutex.Unlock()
-		defer rt.RUnlock()
-		if rt.err != nil {
-			return nil, rt.err
-		}
-		return rt.relayClient.OpenConn(ctx, peerKey)
+		return m.openConnOnTrack(ctx, rt, peerKey)
 	}
 
-	// create a new relay client and store it in the relayClients map
+	// Publish the track and release the map lock BEFORE dialing, so the dial does
+	// not run under rt.Lock (which would block RelayStates and the cleanup loop
+	// for the full dial). Concurrent callers find this track and wait on rt.ready.
 	rt = NewRelayTrack()
-	rt.Lock()
 	m.relayClients[serverAddress] = rt
 	m.relayClientsMutex.Unlock()
 
@@ -370,8 +356,10 @@ func (m *Manager) openConnVia(ctx context.Context, serverAddress, peerKey string
 	relayClient.SetTransportFallback(m.transportFallback)
 	err := relayClient.Connect(m.ctx)
 	if err != nil {
+		rt.Lock()
 		rt.err = err
 		rt.Unlock()
+		close(rt.ready)
 		m.relayClientsMutex.Lock()
 		delete(m.relayClients, serverAddress)
 		m.relayClientsMutex.Unlock()
@@ -379,14 +367,34 @@ func (m *Manager) openConnVia(ctx context.Context, serverAddress, peerKey string
 	}
 	// if connection closed then delete the relay client from the list
 	relayClient.SetOnDisconnectListener(m.onServerDisconnected)
+	rt.Lock()
 	rt.relayClient = relayClient
 	rt.Unlock()
+	close(rt.ready)
 
-	conn, err := relayClient.OpenConn(ctx, peerKey)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	return relayClient.OpenConn(ctx, peerKey)
+}
+
+// openConnOnTrack opens a peer connection through an existing relay track,
+// waiting for the dial started by another openConnVia call to finish. It waits
+// on rt.ready rather than the track lock, so it neither holds nor contends the
+// track lock across the dial.
+func (m *Manager) openConnOnTrack(ctx context.Context, rt *RelayTrack, peerKey string) (net.Conn, error) {
+	select {
+	case <-rt.ready:
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		return nil, ctx.Err()
 	}
-	return conn, nil
+
+	rt.RLock()
+	defer rt.RUnlock()
+	if rt.err != nil {
+		return nil, rt.err
+	}
+	if rt.relayClient == nil {
+		return nil, ErrRelayClientNotConnected
+	}
+	return rt.relayClient.OpenConn(ctx, peerKey)
 }
 
 func (m *Manager) onServerConnected() {
@@ -477,10 +485,7 @@ func (m *Manager) cleanUpUnusedRelays() {
 	defer m.relayClientsMutex.Unlock()
 
 	for addr, rt := range m.relayClients {
-		if !rt.TryRLock() {
-			// Skip while in-progress relay dial.
-			continue
-		}
+		rt.Lock()
 		// if the connection failed to the server the relay client will be nil
 		// but the instance will be kept in the relayClients until the next locking
 		if rt.err != nil {
@@ -488,6 +493,13 @@ func (m *Manager) cleanUpUnusedRelays() {
 			continue
 		}
 
+		// dial still in progress (openConnVia publishes the track before Connect
+		// completes and no longer holds rt.Lock during it), nothing to clean up.
+		if rt.relayClient == nil {
+			rt.Unlock()
+			continue
+		}
+
 		if time.Since(rt.created) <= m.keepUnusedServerTime {
 			rt.Unlock()
 			continue