diff --git a/repeater/packet_router.py b/repeater/packet_router.py
index 0b5024e..75e66b7 100644
--- a/repeater/packet_router.py
+++ b/repeater/packet_router.py
@@ -237,16 +237,15 @@ async def _route_packet(self, packet):
 
         # Route to specific handlers for parsing only
         if payload_type == TraceHandler.payload_type():
-            # Locally injected TRACE requests are TX-only and re-enter the router so
-            # companion delivery can still happen. They are not inbound RF responses,
-            # so skip TraceHelper parsing to avoid matching pending ping tags against
-            # zeroed local metadata.
-            if getattr(packet, "_injected_for_tx", False):
-                processed_by_injection = True
-            elif self.daemon.trace_helper:
+            # Process trace packet for local display (terminal RTT/SNR)
+            if self.daemon.trace_helper:
                 await self.daemon.trace_helper.process_trace_packet(packet)
-                # Skip engine processing for trace packets - they're handled by trace helper
-                processed_by_injection = True
+            # Allow the engine to record + publish this packet to MQTT/LetsMesh.
+            # mark_do_not_retransmit prevents RF re-broadcast (same pattern as
+            # ControlHandler at line 180).  The trace request and response have
+            # different packet hashes, so the response won't be flagged as a
+            # duplicate of the request by the engine's seen-cache.
+            packet.mark_do_not_retransmit()
                 # Do not call _record_for_ui: TraceHelper.log_trace_record already persists the
                 # trace path from the payload. record_packet_only would treat packet.path (SNR bytes)
                 # as routing hashes and log bogus duplicate rows.