diff --git a/crates/base/src/input/base/state.rs b/crates/base/src/input/base/state.rs
index 722a78c0cd..771e365ffd 100644
--- a/crates/base/src/input/base/state.rs
+++ b/crates/base/src/input/base/state.rs
@@ -2627,9 +2627,39 @@ impl<M: InputModeKind> InputBaseState<M> {
         if !self.is_editable() {
             return;
         }
-        let Some(clipboard) = cx.read_from_clipboard() else {
+        if let Some(clipboard) = cx.read_from_clipboard() {
+            self.insert_clipboard(clipboard, window, cx);
             return;
-        };
+        }
+        // The synchronous read is empty on platforms whose clipboard is
+        // asynchronous and permission-gated (the web), so fall back to the
+        // real read. It has to start here, still inside the user activation
+        // that dispatched `Paste`, or the browser refuses the read.
+        let read = cx.read_from_clipboard_async();
+        cx.spawn_in(window, async move |this, cx| match read.await {
+            Ok(Some(clipboard)) => {
+                this.update_in(cx, |this, window, cx| {
+                    if this.is_editable() {
+                        this.insert_clipboard(clipboard, window, cx);
+                    }
+                })
+                .ok();
+            }
+            Ok(None) => {}
+            Err(error) => tracing::warn!("failed to read the clipboard for paste: {error}"),
+        })
+        .detach();
+    }
+
+    /// Inserts the clipboard text the way `Paste` does: one atomic edit,
+    /// newlines dropped on a single-line input, one line per selection when
+    /// the counts match on a multi-line one.
+    fn insert_clipboard(
+        &mut self,
+        clipboard: ClipboardItem,
+        window: &mut Window,
+        cx: &mut Context<Self>,
+    ) {
         let mut new_text = clipboard.text().unwrap_or_default();
         // A paste is one atomic edit, never part of a typing run.
         self.undo_manager.set_pending_intent(EditIntent::Atomic);
diff --git a/crates/component/src/input/input.rs b/crates/component/src/input/input.rs
index 69af2aa802..1419b3f5a9 100644
--- a/crates/component/src/input/input.rs
+++ b/crates/component/src/input/input.rs
@@ -374,9 +374,11 @@ impl Input {
     /// belong in app-owned state beside the input (e.g. `Attachment`s), never
     /// inside it.
     ///
-    /// Known limit: on web `read_from_clipboard()` is `None` (text arrives
-    /// through the platform input handler); image paste there needs
-    /// `read_from_clipboard_async` and permission, out of scope here.
+    /// Known limit: on web `read_from_clipboard()` is `None`, so the handler
+    /// is skipped there and the input inserts the plain text itself (a
+    /// keyboard paste arrives through the platform input handler, a menu
+    /// paste through the asynchronous clipboard read); image paste there
+    /// needs `read_from_clipboard_async` and permission, out of scope here.
     pub fn on_paste(
         mut self,
         handler: impl Fn(&gpui::ClipboardItem, &mut Window, &mut App) -> bool + 'static,
@@ -619,9 +621,12 @@ impl RenderOnce for Input {
                         !capabilities.is_copyable(),
                         Box::new(gpui_base::input::Copy),
                     )
+                    // Offered whenever the text can change, without peeking
+                    // at the clipboard: the synchronous read is always empty
+                    // on the web, and an empty clipboard pastes nothing.
                     .menu_with_disabled(
                         t!("Input.Paste"),
-                        !(editable && cx.read_from_clipboard().is_some()),
+                        !editable,
                         Box::new(gpui_base::input::Paste),
                     )
                     .separator()