diff --git a/config/stumpwm/config.lisp b/config/stumpwm/config.lisp
index f4eca9d..71706fc 100644
--- a/config/stumpwm/config.lisp
+++ b/config/stumpwm/config.lisp
@@ -494,7 +494,15 @@ If PERSISTENT is t, smart-kill will hide the window instead of killing it."
   (let* ((screen (current-screen))
          (current (current-group))
          (target (find-group screen group-name))
-         (existing (or (when window-class
+         ;; Once a scratchpad window has been created, it stays resident in
+         ;; its own dedicated group even after we switch away from it. So the
+         ;; most reliable "does it already exist" check is simply: does the
+         ;; target group already have a window in it? This avoids relying on
+         ;; window title, which for programs like Emacs changes constantly
+         ;; based on the current buffer and would otherwise cause a fresh
+         ;; instance to be spawned every time.
+         (existing (or (first (group-windows target))
+                       (when window-class
                          (find-if (lambda (w) (string= (window-class w) window-class))
                                   (screen-windows screen)))
                        (when window-title