diff --git a/backend/backends/chatterbox_mlx_backend.py b/backend/backends/chatterbox_mlx_backend.py
index 57a88224..d4629426 100644
--- a/backend/backends/chatterbox_mlx_backend.py
+++ b/backend/backends/chatterbox_mlx_backend.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ from .base import (
     is_model_cached,
     model_load_progress,
 )
+from .mlx_backend import _run_on_mlx_thread
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -40,7 +41,8 @@ class ChatterboxMLXTTSBackend:
     def __init__(self):
         self.model = None
         self.model_size = "default"
-        self._model_load_lock = asyncio.Lock()
+        # Guards the load-then-use sequence, as MLXTTSBackend._op_lock does.
+        self._op_lock = asyncio.Lock()
 
     def is_loaded(self) -> bool:
         return self.model is not None
@@ -55,10 +57,13 @@ class ChatterboxMLXTTSBackend:
         """Load the Chatterbox multilingual MLX model."""
         if self.model is not None:
             return
-        async with self._model_load_lock:
+        async with self._op_lock:
             if self.model is not None:
                 return
-            await asyncio.to_thread(self._load_model_sync)
+            # MLX streams are thread-local: every MLX call in the process
+            # shares the single worker in mlx_backend (issue #699), so load
+            # and generate always land on the same OS thread.
+            await _run_on_mlx_thread(self._load_model_sync)
 
     def _load_model_sync(self):
         """Synchronous model loading."""
@@ -145,8 +150,6 @@ class ChatterboxMLXTTSBackend:
         Returns:
             Tuple of (audio_array, sample_rate)
         """
-        await self.load_model()
-
         ref_audio = voice_prompt.get("ref_audio")
         if ref_audio and not Path(ref_audio).exists():
             logger.warning(f"Reference audio not found: {ref_audio}")
@@ -155,6 +158,13 @@ class ChatterboxMLXTTSBackend:
         def _generate_sync():
             import mlx.core as mx  # lazy: heavy import
 
+            # Load (if needed) and generate as ONE worker submission, as in
+            # MLXTTSBackend._reload_and_generate_sync, so an unload cannot
+            # land between the two; bind the model locally for the same reason.
+            if self.model is None:
+                self._load_model_sync()
+            model = self.model
+
             if seed is not None:
                 mx.random.seed(seed)
 
@@ -163,7 +173,7 @@ class ChatterboxMLXTTSBackend:
             # mlx-audio yields GenerationResult chunks; the whole clip is their concatenation.
             chunks = [
                 np.asarray(result.audio).squeeze()
-                for result in self.model.generate(
+                for result in model.generate(
                     text,
                     ref_audio=ref_audio,
                     lang_code=language,
@@ -173,7 +183,8 @@ class ChatterboxMLXTTSBackend:
             ]
             audio = np.concatenate(chunks).astype(np.float32) if chunks else np.zeros(0, dtype=np.float32)
 
-            sample_rate = getattr(self.model, "sr", None) or 24000
+            sample_rate = getattr(model, "sr", None) or 24000
             return audio, int(sample_rate)
 
-        return await asyncio.to_thread(_generate_sync)
+        async with self._op_lock:
+            return await _run_on_mlx_thread(_generate_sync)