diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/com/storycove/controller/StoryController.java b/backend/src/main/java/com/storycove/controller/StoryController.java
index 016b269..99692ef 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/java/com/storycove/controller/StoryController.java
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/com/storycove/controller/StoryController.java
@@ -178,8 +178,9 @@ public class StoryController {
 
         Story updatedStory = storyService.updateWithTagNames(id, request);
 
-        // Process external images in content after saving
-        updatedStory = processExternalImagesIfNeeded(updatedStory);
+        // Image processing for updates is handled by the frontend via the dedicated
+        // /process-content-images endpoint, so no async processing is triggered here.
+        // (Async processing on every PUT caused concurrent duplicate downloads.)
 
         logger.info("Successfully updated story: {}", updatedStory.getTitle());
         return ResponseEntity.ok(convertToDto(updatedStory));
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/stories/[id]/edit/page.tsx b/frontend/src/app/stories/[id]/edit/page.tsx
index d115a5b..44e8bcd 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/stories/[id]/edit/page.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/stories/[id]/edit/page.tsx
@@ -225,6 +225,8 @@ export default function EditStoryPage() {
               ...(formData.authorId ? { authorId: formData.authorId } : { authorName: formData.authorName }),
               tagNames: formData.tags,
             });
+            // Keep editor state in sync with local URLs so subsequent saves don't re-download
+            setFormData(prev => ({ ...prev, contentHtml: imageResult.processedContent }));
           }
         } catch (imageError) {
           console.warn('Failed to process images, continuing with original content:', imageError);