diff --git a/.changeset/selectpanel-intermediate-selected-derive.md b/.changeset/selectpanel-intermediate-selected-derive.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6ed9a5f6507
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/selectpanel-intermediate-selected-derive.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@primer/react': patch
+---
+
+SelectPanel: Reset the single-select modal's intermediate selection during render instead of in an effect, avoiding an extra re-render when the panel opens or the selection changes.
diff --git a/packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.test.tsx b/packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.test.tsx
index 32a3ade1f74..f8b151a014b 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.test.tsx
@@ -1197,6 +1197,49 @@ for (const usingRemoveActiveDescendant of [false, true]) {
         expect(screen.getByRole('button', {name: 'Cancel'})).toBeInTheDocument()
       })
 
+      it('keeps the intermediate selection after clicking an item in a single-select modal', async () => {
+        const user = userEvent.setup()
+
+        const singleSelectItems: SelectPanelProps['items'] = [
+          {id: '1', text: 'item one'},
+          {id: '2', text: 'item two'},
+          {id: '3', text: 'item three'},
+        ]
+
+        function SingleSelectModalPanel() {
+          const [selected, setSelected] = React.useState<ItemInput | undefined>(undefined)
+          const [filter, setFilter] = React.useState('')
+          const [open, setOpen] = React.useState(false)
+
+          return (
+            <SelectPanel
+              title="test title"
+              variant="modal"
+              onCancel={() => {}}
+              items={singleSelectItems}
+              placeholder="Select items"
+              placeholderText="Filter items"
+              selected={selected}
+              onSelectedChange={setSelected}
+              filterValue={filter}
+              onFilterChange={setFilter}
+              open={open}
+              onOpenChange={setOpen}
+            />
+          )
+        }
+
+        renderWithProp(<SingleSelectModalPanel />, usingRemoveActiveDescendant)
+
+        await user.click(screen.getByText('Select items'))
+
+        // Selecting an item must persist. A stale intermediate-selection reset key
+        // previously reverted the selection on the very next render, so the option
+        // never stayed selected.
+        await user.click(screen.getByRole('option', {name: 'item one'}))
+        expect(screen.getByRole('option', {name: 'item one'})).toHaveAttribute('aria-selected', 'true')
+      })
+
       it('locks body scroll when modal is open', async () => {
         const user = userEvent.setup()
 
diff --git a/packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.tsx b/packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.tsx
index d818724c193..523765383ad 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.tsx
+++ b/packages/react/src/SelectPanel/SelectPanel.tsx
@@ -245,11 +245,31 @@ function Panel({
     isSingleSelectModal ? selected : undefined,
   )
 
-  // Reset the intermediate selected item when the panel is open/closed
-  useEffect(() => {
-    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/set-state-in-effect, react-you-might-not-need-an-effect/no-derived-state
-    setIntermediateSelected(isSingleSelectModal ? selected : undefined)
-  }, [isSingleSelectModal, open, selected])
+  // Reset the intermediate selected item when the panel is opened/closed or the external
+  // selection changes. Adjusting state during render (tracking the previous inputs) rather
+  // than syncing it from an effect avoids an extra post-commit render.
+  const nextIntermediateSelected = isSingleSelectModal ? selected : undefined
+  const [intermediateSelectedResetKey, setIntermediateSelectedResetKey] = useState({
+    open,
+    selected,
+    isSingleSelectModal,
+  })
+  const intermediateSelectedInputsChanged =
+    intermediateSelectedResetKey.open !== open ||
+    intermediateSelectedResetKey.selected !== selected ||
+    intermediateSelectedResetKey.isSingleSelectModal !== isSingleSelectModal
+  if (intermediateSelectedInputsChanged) {
+    // Always advance the reset key when the inputs change so it never goes stale. If the key
+    // only advanced when the value also differed, it could stay behind while the panel is
+    // open and clobber the next user-driven `setIntermediateSelected` on the following render
+    // (breaking single-select modal interaction). Only reset the intermediate selection when
+    // it actually differs, so multi-select / anchored variants (where it stays `undefined`)
+    // don't call `setIntermediateSelected` at all.
+    setIntermediateSelectedResetKey({open, selected, isSingleSelectModal})
+    if (intermediateSelected !== nextIntermediateSelected) {
+      setIntermediateSelected(nextIntermediateSelected)
+    }
+  }
 
   const onListContainerRefChanged: FilteredActionListProps['onListContainerRefChanged'] = useCallback(
     (node: HTMLElement | null) => {