diff --git a/pkg/hold/admin/handlers_crew.go b/pkg/hold/admin/handlers_crew.go
index d64bb50..0f872c7 100644
--- a/pkg/hold/admin/handlers_crew.go
+++ b/pkg/hold/admin/handlers_crew.go
@@ -614,12 +614,13 @@ func (ui *AdminUI) handleCrewDelete(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 	slog.Info("Crew member removed via admin panel", "did", member.Member, "by", session.DID)
 
-	// For HTMX requests, return 204 No Content. The row uses
+	// For HTMX requests, return an empty 200. The row uses
 	// hx-swap="outerHTML" so htmx replaces it with the empty response body
-	// and the row disappears. Explicit 204 is the stable idiom (plain 200
-	// with empty body works today but is implementation-defined).
+	// and the row disappears. Not 204: htmx's default responseHandling maps
+	// 204 to swap:false, so the deleted row would stay on screen until a
+	// manual refresh.
 	if r.Header.Get("HX-Request") == "true" {
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
 		return
 	}