diff --git a/src/core/UsdStageManager.cpp b/src/core/UsdStageManager.cpp
index 2e18805..45f2ac3 100644
--- a/src/core/UsdStageManager.cpp
+++ b/src/core/UsdStageManager.cpp
@@ -133,7 +133,13 @@ bool UsdStageManager::SaveStage() {
         SetError("No stage to save");
         return false;
     }
-    
+
+    SdfLayerHandle rootLayer = m_stage->GetRootLayer();
+    if (!rootLayer || rootLayer->IsAnonymous()) {
+        SetError("Stage has no file path — use Save As to save to disk");
+        return false;
+    }
+
     try {
         LOG_INFO("Saving USD stage");
 
@@ -142,10 +148,17 @@ bool UsdStageManager::SaveStage() {
         // cannot be saved by UsdStage::Save() itself).
         MergeSessionLayerIntoRoot(m_stage);
 
+        // Explicitly save the root layer first.  UsdStage::Save() iterates
+        // the PCP composition stack and saves dirty layers, but sublayer-path
+        // edits (InsertSubLayerPath) are root-layer metadata changes that may
+        // not be flushed by stage-level Save() in all USD versions.
+        rootLayer->Save();
+
+        // Save any other dirty sublayers that have file paths.
         m_stage->Save();
         LOG_INFO("Successfully saved USD stage");
         return true;
-        
+
     } catch (const std::exception& e) {
         SetError(std::string("Exception while saving stage: ") + e.what());
         return false;
diff --git a/src/core/commands/LayerCommands.cpp b/src/core/commands/LayerCommands.cpp
index 5361484..b665d0f 100644
--- a/src/core/commands/LayerCommands.cpp
+++ b/src/core/commands/LayerCommands.cpp
@@ -15,15 +15,15 @@ LayerCreateCommand::LayerCreateCommand(LayerManager* mgr, std::string path, int
 
 void LayerCreateCommand::Execute() {
     if (!m_mgr) return;
-    // Record how many sublayers exist before insert to compute the real index used.
-    auto before = m_mgr->GetLayerStack().size();
+    auto before = m_mgr->GetSublayers().size();
     m_mgr->CreateSublayer(m_path, m_index);
-    auto after = m_mgr->GetLayerStack().size();
-    // If a layer was actually inserted, compute its index.
-    if (after > before) {
-        auto layers = m_mgr->GetLayerStack();
-        for (int i = 0; i < static_cast<int>(layers.size()); ++i) {
-            if (layers[i].identifier == m_path || layers[i].displayName == m_path) {
+    // Find the sublayer-local index so Undo() can call RemoveSublayer() correctly.
+    // RemoveSublayer() uses indices into GetSubLayerPaths() (0..N-1), not the full
+    // layer stack that includes session and root layers.
+    auto sublayers = m_mgr->GetSublayers();
+    if (sublayers.size() > before) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < static_cast<int>(sublayers.size()); ++i) {
+            if (sublayers[i].identifier == m_path) {
                 m_insertedIndex = i;
                 break;
             }
diff --git a/src/ui/Application.cpp b/src/ui/Application.cpp
index 8745ee0..1ec0395 100644
--- a/src/ui/Application.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/Application.cpp
@@ -397,7 +397,15 @@ void Application::SaveUsdFile() {
     if (!m_stageManager->HasStage()) {
         return;
     }
-    
+
+    // If the current stage is in-memory (anonymous root layer), fall through to
+    // Save As — UsdStage::Save() cannot write anonymous layers to disk.
+    auto rootLayer = m_stageManager->GetRootLayer();
+    if (!rootLayer || rootLayer->IsAnonymous()) {
+        SaveUsdFileAs();
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (!m_stageManager->SaveStage()) {
         LOG_ERROR("Failed to save USD file: " + m_stageManager->GetLastError());
     }
@@ -407,17 +415,23 @@ void Application::SaveUsdFileAs() {
     if (!m_stageManager->HasStage()) {
         return;
     }
-    
+
     std::string filePath = FileDialog::SaveFile(
         "USD Files (*.usd;*.usda;*.usdc)\0*.usd;*.usda;*.usdc\0All Files (*.*)\0*.*\0",
         "Save USD File As",
         "usd",
         m_imguiContext->GetWindowHandle()
     );
-    
+
     if (!filePath.empty()) {
         if (!m_stageManager->SaveStageAs(filePath)) {
             LOG_ERROR("Failed to save USD file: " + m_stageManager->GetLastError());
+        } else {
+            // SaveStageAs reopens m_stageManager's stage from the new file path.
+            // RefreshManagers syncs m_layerManager (and others) to that new stage;
+            // without this, subsequent sublayer edits go to the old (now stale) stage
+            // and are silently lost on the next save.
+            RefreshManagers();
         }
     }
 }