diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/mesh/flash.rs b/core/archipelago/src/mesh/flash.rs
index 9b6b66a9..fc2f2931 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/mesh/flash.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/mesh/flash.rs
@@ -686,17 +686,27 @@ const ESPTOOL_CHIP: &str = "esp32s3";
 /// first hiccup, retry once at a conservative baud before giving up.
 const ESPTOOL_FALLBACK_BAUD: &str = "115200";
 
+/// A standalone `erase_flash` (full-chip erase via a single ROM opcode) does
+/// NOT work with --no-stub — confirmed live 2026-07-23 against a real
+/// Heltec V4: "A fatal error occurred: ESP32-S3 ROM does not support
+/// function erase_flash." The ESP32-S3 ROM bootloader only implements
+/// per-sector erase (used internally as write_flash goes), not a bulk
+/// full-chip erase opcode — that's a stub-firmware-only feature, and
+/// Debian's esptool package has no stub (see esptool_global_args' doc
+/// comment). `write_flash --erase-all` gets the same "erase everything
+/// first" outcome our "always erase before write" default requires, but via
+/// the per-sector mechanism the ROM bootloader actually supports, as one
+/// esptool invocation instead of two.
 async fn esptool_erase_and_write(path: &str, image: &Path, job: &Arc<FlashJob>) -> Result<()> {
-    job.set_stage(FlashStage::Erasing).await;
-    esptool_with_retry(path, &["erase_flash"], job)
-        .await
-        .context("esptool erase_flash failed")?;
-
     job.set_stage(FlashStage::Writing).await;
     let image_str = image.to_string_lossy().to_string();
-    esptool_with_retry(path, &["write_flash", "0x0", &image_str], job)
-        .await
-        .context("esptool write_flash failed")?;
+    esptool_with_retry(
+        path,
+        &["write_flash", "--erase-all", "0x0", &image_str],
+        job,
+    )
+    .await
+    .context("esptool write_flash failed")?;
 
     Ok(())
 }