diff --git a/src/components/categories/parentOptions.test.ts b/src/components/categories/parentOptions.test.ts
index c694dec..dd2cc64 100644
--- a/src/components/categories/parentOptions.test.ts
+++ b/src/components/categories/parentOptions.test.ts
@@ -47,17 +47,24 @@ describe("buildParentOptions — editing a category", () => {
     expect(ids(buildParentOptions(TREE, { editingId: 11 }))).toEqual([1, 2, 10, 20]);
   });
 
-  it("leaves out the whole descent of the edited category", () => {
-    // Editing root 1, which has children: only roots remain, so none of its
-    // descent (10, 11, 100) can be offered, whatever its depth.
-    expect(ids(buildParentOptions(TREE, { editingId: 1 }))).toEqual([2]);
-    // Editing 10 (child 100): a level-1 category with a child; 100 stays out.
-    expect(ids(buildParentOptions(TREE, { editingId: 10 }))).not.toContain(100);
+  it("offers nothing when the edited category has grandchildren", () => {
+    // Root 1 carries 10 -> 100: under any parent, 100 would sit at level 3.
+    // Probe of the review of PR #428: `[1, 10->1, 100->10, 2]`, editing 1.
+    expect(ids(buildParentOptions([node(1, null), node(10, 1), node(100, 10), node(2, null)], { editingId: 1 }))).toEqual([]);
+    expect(ids(buildParentOptions(TREE, { editingId: 1 }))).toEqual([]);
   });
 
-  it("keeps only roots when the edited category has children", () => {
+  it("leaves out the whole descent of the edited category", () => {
+    // Editing 10 (child 100): a level-1 category with a child; 100 stays out.
+    expect(ids(buildParentOptions(TREE, { editingId: 10 }))).not.toContain(100);
+    // Editing root 2 (child 20): only roots remain, so 20 stays out.
+    expect(ids(buildParentOptions(TREE, { editingId: 2 }))).not.toContain(20);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps only roots when the edited category has children but no grandchildren", () => {
     // 10 has a child (100): under a level-1 parent its child would sit at level 3.
     expect(ids(buildParentOptions(TREE, { editingId: 10 }))).toEqual([1, 2]);
+    expect(ids(buildParentOptions(TREE, { editingId: 2 }))).toEqual([1]);
   });
 
   it("keeps level-1 categories when the edited category is a leaf", () => {
diff --git a/src/components/categories/parentOptions.ts b/src/components/categories/parentOptions.ts
index e4490d1..52f19f9 100644
--- a/src/components/categories/parentOptions.ts
+++ b/src/components/categories/parentOptions.ts
@@ -34,16 +34,49 @@ function depthsOf(categories: CategoryTreeNode[]): Map<number, number> {
   return depths;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Height of the sub-tree under `rootId`: 0 for a leaf, 1 with children, 2 with
+ * grandchildren. Walks `parent_id` links; a cycle is not walked twice.
+ */
+function subtreeHeight(categories: CategoryTreeNode[], rootId: number): number {
+  const childrenOf = new Map<number, number[]>();
+  for (const c of categories) {
+    if (c.parent_id === null) continue;
+    const bucket = childrenOf.get(c.parent_id) ?? [];
+    bucket.push(c.id);
+    childrenOf.set(c.parent_id, bucket);
+  }
+  let height = 0;
+  const seen = new Set<number>([rootId]);
+  let frontier = [rootId];
+  while (frontier.length > 0) {
+    const next: number[] = [];
+    for (const id of frontier) {
+      for (const child of childrenOf.get(id) ?? []) {
+        if (seen.has(child)) continue;
+        seen.add(child);
+        next.push(child);
+      }
+    }
+    if (next.length === 0) break;
+    height += 1;
+    frontier = next;
+  }
+  return height;
+}
+
 /**
  * Categories that may be chosen as the parent in the category form.
  *
  * - Roots and level-1 categories only: a level-2 parent would create a fourth
  *   level, which nothing else in the app knows how to display.
- * - When editing, the edited category is left out, and when it has children of
- *   its own, only roots remain (its children would otherwise land at level 3).
- *   This alone also leaves out its whole descent, which would create a cycle
- *   that hides the branch everywhere (#393): a category with descendants has
- *   children, so only roots are offered, and a descendant is never a root.
+ * - When editing, the edited category is left out, and the allowed parent depth
+ *   shrinks by the height of its sub-tree: with children, only roots remain
+ *   (the children would otherwise land at level 3); with grandchildren, no
+ *   parent at all (they would land at level 4). This alone also leaves out its
+ *   whole descent, which would create a cycle that hides the branch everywhere
+ *   (#393): a descendant sits at least one level below the edited category,
+ *   deeper than any depth still allowed.
  * - The parent currently set on the form is always kept when it exists.
  *
  * Ordering is left to the caller (`CategoryCombobox` sorts hierarchically).
@@ -56,9 +89,9 @@ export function buildParentOptions(
   const currentParentId = ctx.currentParentId ?? null;
   const depths = depthsOf(categories);
 
-  const editedHasChildren =
-    editingId !== null && categories.some((c) => c.parent_id === editingId);
-  const maxDepth = editedHasChildren ? 0 : MAX_PARENT_DEPTH;
+  const height = editingId !== null ? subtreeHeight(categories, editingId) : 0;
+  // Negative when the edited category has grandchildren: only the current parent survives.
+  const maxDepth = MAX_PARENT_DEPTH - height;
 
   return categories.filter((c) => {
     if (c.id === editingId) return false;