diff --git a/src/core/CoreTextureManager.ts b/src/core/CoreTextureManager.ts
index d508511..ea48935 100644
--- a/src/core/CoreTextureManager.ts
+++ b/src/core/CoreTextureManager.ts
@@ -409,9 +409,9 @@ export class CoreTextureManager extends EventEmitter {
 
     // Anything that arrived before initialization completed is now safe to
     // process. Without this, queued textures would sit until the next frame
-    // tick happens to call processSome().
+    // tick happens to drain them.
     if (this.uploadTextureQueue.size > 0) {
-      this.processSome(Infinity).catch((err) => {
+      this.processUntil(Infinity).catch((err) => {
         console.error('Failed to drain pre-init texture queue:', err);
       });
     }
@@ -587,11 +587,41 @@ export class CoreTextureManager extends EventEmitter {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Process a limited number of uploads.
+   * Upload a single queued texture to the GPU.
    *
-   * @param maxProcessingTime - The maximum processing time in milliseconds
+   * @remarks
+   * Used while animations are running so uploads don't steal time from the
+   * animation. If the dequeued texture already died (failed/freed), nothing is
+   * uploaded this frame and the next call handles the following one.
+   */
+  async processOne(): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.initialized === false) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const texture = this.uploadTextureQueue.shift();
+    if (texture === undefined) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    await this.uploadQueued(texture);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Upload queued textures to the GPU until the per-frame time budget runs out.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   * Called once per frame when idle. Textures are uploaded one-by-one; after
+   * each, the elapsed time is rechecked and processing stops once it exceeds
+   * `maxProcessingTime`, leaving the rest queued for the next frame.
+   *
+   * In normal operation a queued texture's data is already decoded
+   * (`loadTexture` awaits `getTextureData` before enqueuing), so this budgets
+   * GPU upload time. Pass `Infinity` to drain the whole queue.
+   *
+   * @param maxProcessingTime - The time budget for this frame, in milliseconds
    */
-  async processSome(maxProcessingTime: number): Promise<void> {
+  async processUntil(maxProcessingTime: number): Promise<void> {
     if (this.initialized === false) {
       return;
     }
@@ -599,79 +629,54 @@ export class CoreTextureManager extends EventEmitter {
     const platform = this.platform;
     const startTime = platform.getTimeStamp();
 
-    // Decode / fetch ("getTextureData") is IO-bound and parallelisable across
-    // image workers, while GPU upload is effectively serial. Keep a small
-    // sliding window of in-flight data fetches so the next decode runs while
-    // we're uploading the current one.
-    const prefetchLimit = Math.max(1, this.numImageWorkers);
-    const pending: Array<{ texture: Texture; data: Promise<unknown> }> = [];
-
-    // Helper avoids TS narrowing `texture.state` permanently after the first
-    // discriminated check — the property is mutable and can transition across
-    // awaits, so we need to re-read it freshly each time.
-    const isDead = (texture: Texture): boolean =>
-      texture.state === 'failed' || texture.state === 'freed';
-
-    const fillPrefetch = () => {
-      while (pending.length < prefetchLimit) {
-        const texture = this.uploadTextureQueue.shift();
-        if (texture === undefined) break;
-
-        if (isDead(texture)) {
-          continue;
-        }
-
-        // Swallow the rejection here so an early failure doesn't surface as
-        // an unhandled promise rejection while it sits in the prefetch
-        // window; we re-check state after awaiting.
-        const data =
-          texture.textureData === null
-            ? texture.getTextureData().catch((err) => {
-                console.error('Failed to fetch texture data:', err);
-                return null;
-              })
-            : Promise.resolve(texture.textureData);
-
-        pending.push({ texture, data });
+    while (platform.getTimeStamp() - startTime < maxProcessingTime) {
+      const texture = this.uploadTextureQueue.shift();
+      if (texture === undefined) {
+        // Queue drained.
+        break;
       }
-    };
 
-    fillPrefetch();
+      await this.uploadQueued(texture);
+    }
+  }
 
-    while (
-      pending.length > 0 &&
-      platform.getTimeStamp() - startTime < maxProcessingTime
-    ) {
-      // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-non-null-assertion
-      const next = pending.shift()!;
-      // Top up the prefetch window before awaiting — the next decode starts
-      // now and overlaps with this upload.
-      fillPrefetch();
+  /**
+   * Decode (if needed) and upload a single already-dequeued texture.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   * Shared by {@link processOne} and {@link processUntil}. Dead (failed/freed)
+   * textures and upload failures are skipped without throwing.
+   */
+  private async uploadQueued(texture: Texture): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.isTextureDead(texture)) {
+      return;
+    }
 
-      if (isDead(next.texture)) {
-        continue;
+    try {
+      if (texture.textureData === null) {
+        await texture.getTextureData();
       }
-
-      try {
-        await next.data;
-        if (isDead(next.texture)) {
-          continue;
-        }
-        await this.uploadTexture(next.texture);
-      } catch (error) {
-        console.error('Failed to upload texture:', error);
-        // Continue with next texture instead of stopping entire queue
+      if (this.isTextureDead(texture)) {
+        return;
       }
+      await this.uploadTexture(texture);
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error('Failed to upload texture:', error);
+      // Skip this texture instead of stalling the queue.
     }
+  }
 
-    // Time ran out before we got to these. Put them back so we don't lose
-    // them — their getTextureData() is already in flight and will populate
-    // `textureData` for the next tick.
-    for (const { texture } of pending) {
-      if (!isDead(texture)) {
-        this.uploadTextureQueue.add(texture);
-      }
-    }
+  /**
+   * A texture is "dead" once it has failed or been freed — both terminal for
+   * the upload pipeline.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   * Kept as a method rather than an inline check so TypeScript doesn't
+   * permanently narrow `state` after the first comparison: the property is
+   * mutable and can transition across the awaits in {@link uploadQueued}.
+   */
+  private isTextureDead(texture: Texture): boolean {
+    return texture.state === 'failed' || texture.state === 'freed';
   }
 
   public hasUpdates(): boolean {
diff --git a/src/core/Stage.ts b/src/core/Stage.ts
index 53be64d..50ea82a 100644
--- a/src/core/Stage.ts
+++ b/src/core/Stage.ts
@@ -595,11 +595,16 @@ export class Stage {
     // Process some textures asynchronously but don't block the frame
     // Use a background task to prevent frame drops
     if (this.txManager.hasUpdates() === true) {
-      const timeLimit = hasActiveAnimations
-        ? this.options.textureProcessingTimeLimit / 2
-        : this.options.textureProcessingTimeLimit;
+      // While animating, upload at most one texture per frame so uploads don't
+      // steal time from the animation; otherwise fill the per-frame time budget.
+      const processing =
+        hasActiveAnimations === true
+          ? this.txManager.processOne()
+          : this.txManager.processUntil(
+              this.options.textureProcessingTimeLimit,
+            );
 
-      this.txManager.processSome(timeLimit).catch((err) => {
+      processing.catch((err) => {
         console.error('Error processing textures:', err);
       });
     }