diff --git a/crates/feeds/src/lib.rs b/crates/feeds/src/lib.rs
index cfb72d4..96b0d8b 100644
--- a/crates/feeds/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/feeds/src/lib.rs
@@ -7,14 +7,18 @@ use uuid::Uuid;
 /// entries. `feed-rs` normalizes both RSS and Atom into a common model so
 /// callers don't need to branch on feed type.
 pub async fn fetch_feed(feed_url: &str, feed_id: Uuid) -> Result<(String, Vec<Article>)> {
-    let bytes = reqwest::get(feed_url).await?.bytes().await?;
+    // `.error_for_status()` turns a 404/5xx into a clear `Err` here rather
+    // than letting a non-feed error page fall through to a confusing
+    // feed-rs parse failure below.
+    let response = reqwest::get(feed_url).await?.error_for_status()?;
+    let bytes = response.bytes().await?;
     let parsed = feed_rs::parser::parse(&bytes[..])?;
 
-    let title = parsed
+    let feed_title = parsed
         .title
         .as_ref()
         .map(|t| t.content.clone())
-        .filter(|t| !t.trim().is_empty())
+        .filter(|t| has_content(t))
         .unwrap_or_else(|| feed_url.to_string());
 
     let articles = parsed
@@ -47,7 +51,13 @@ pub async fn fetch_feed(feed_url: &str, feed_id: Uuid) -> Result<(String, Vec<Ar
         })
         .collect();
 
-    Ok((title, articles))
+    Ok((feed_title, articles))
+}
+
+/// True if `s` has any non-whitespace content — used to reject a
+/// present-but-blank feed `<title>` rather than surface it as-is.
+fn has_content(s: &str) -> bool {
+    !s.trim().is_empty()
 }
 
 /// Rough estimate from word count at ~200 wpm, used as the denominator for
@@ -59,3 +69,17 @@ fn estimate_read_seconds(text: &str) -> u32 {
     let words = text.split_whitespace().count() as u32;
     ((words.max(1) as f32 / 200.0) * 60.0) as u32
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// A blank or whitespace-only feed title should be treated the same as
+    /// a missing one, not surfaced as an empty string in the UI.
+    #[test]
+    fn has_content_rejects_blank_strings() {
+        assert!(!has_content(""));
+        assert!(!has_content("   \n\t"));
+        assert!(has_content("Rust Blog"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/web/src/app.rs b/crates/web/src/app.rs
index de3e831..8f0115d 100644
--- a/crates/web/src/app.rs
+++ b/crates/web/src/app.rs
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ fn SubscribeForm(on_subscribed: EventHandler<()>) -> Element {
     rsx! {
         form {
             class: "subscribe-form",
-            onsubmit: move |ev| {
+            onsubmit: move |ev: FormEvent| {
                 ev.prevent_default();
                 submit(());
             },
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ fn SubscribeForm(on_subscribed: EventHandler<()>) -> Element {
             Button {
                 r#type: "submit",
                 variant: ButtonVariant::Primary,
-                disabled: submitting(),
+                disabled: submitting() || url.read().trim().is_empty(),
                 if submitting() {
                     "Subscribing..."
                 } else {
diff --git a/crates/web/src/server.rs b/crates/web/src/server.rs
index 9fcdd31..38bedfe 100644
--- a/crates/web/src/server.rs
+++ b/crates/web/src/server.rs
@@ -72,16 +72,24 @@ pub async fn list_ranked_articles_impl(db: Db) -> Result<Vec<ArticleView>> {
 /// already subscribed) and does an immediate first fetch so the reader
 /// isn't empty until the next scheduled poll. Returns the number of
 /// articles pulled in on this fetch.
+///
+/// Fetches under a throwaway id before writing anything, so there's exactly
+/// one write to the `feeds` table (`upsert_feed` is the single source of
+/// truth for the real id — the existing one on a re-subscribe, a fresh one
+/// otherwise) and no half-registered row left behind if the fetch fails
+/// (e.g. the URL is well-formed but points at nothing, or the feed no
+/// longer exists — `fetch_feed` surfaces both as an `Err` via
+/// `error_for_status`/feed-rs parse failure, which becomes the error
+/// message shown in the subscribe form).
 pub async fn subscribe_feed_impl(db: Db, url: String) -> Result<usize> {
+    anyhow::ensure!(!url.trim().is_empty(), "feed URL is required");
     let url = url.trim();
-    anyhow::ensure!(!url.is_empty(), "feed URL is required");
 
-    // Register under a placeholder title first so the feed exists even if
-    // the fetch below fails (e.g. transient network error) — it'll be
-    // picked up by a later poll once feed polling is wired in.
-    let feed_id = db.upsert_feed(url, url).await?;
-    let (title, articles) = feedsignal_feeds::fetch_feed(url, feed_id).await?;
-    db.upsert_feed(url, &title).await?;
+    let (title, mut articles) = feedsignal_feeds::fetch_feed(url, Uuid::new_v4()).await?;
+    let feed_id = db.upsert_feed(url, &title).await?;
+    for article in &mut articles {
+        article.feed_id = feed_id;
+    }
 
     let count = articles.len();
     for article in &articles {