diff --git a/studio/index.html b/studio/index.html
index c319511..16f2610 100644
--- a/studio/index.html
+++ b/studio/index.html
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ document.documentElement.setAttribute("data-theme",t);})();
     <tr><th>Turn</th><td>R / Shift+R, or the ⟲ ⟳ buttons</td></tr>
     <tr><th>Copy / delete</th><td>Ctrl+D / Delete</td></tr>
     <tr><th>Undo / redo</th><td>Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y</td></tr>
-    <tr><th>View</th><td>drag the ground to pan, Ctrl + wheel or pinch to zoom, ↺ ↻ to rotate, levels to look inside</td></tr>
+    <tr><th>View</th><td>drag the ground to pan, or drag with the middle mouse button anywhere (it never moves an object); Ctrl + wheel or pinch to zoom, ↺ ↻ to rotate, levels to look inside</td></tr>
     <tr><th>Agent</th><td>✦ Agent opens a chat with a language model that edits the scene for you; Undo takes its steps back. Drag the window by its title, resize it at the top-left corner</td></tr>
     <tr><th>MCP</th><td>connect an AI agent over MCP; its edits appear here live (see the panel when nothing is selected)</td></tr>
   </table>
diff --git a/tools/check_studio.py b/tools/check_studio.py
index 9dbe5a9..0f79b5f 100644
--- a/tools/check_studio.py
+++ b/tools/check_studio.py
@@ -198,6 +198,43 @@ with sync_playwright() as p:
     pg.evaluate("__studio.select(null)")
     pg.wait_for_timeout(400)
 
+    # the middle mouse button only moves the camera: it never drags, selects or places anything
+    pg.locator('#objects li[data-id="truck"]').click()
+    pg.evaluate("__studio.view.focus('truck', 3)")
+    pg.wait_for_timeout(400)
+    t0 = obj("truck")
+    p0 = at(t0["x"], t0["y"])
+    tb = pg.locator('.iso-svg g[data-obj="truck"] path.iso-t').first.bounding_box()
+    mx, my = tb["x"] + tb["width"] / 2, tb["y"] + tb["height"] / 2
+    pg.mouse.move(mx, my)
+    pg.mouse.down(button="middle")
+    for i in range(1, 11):
+        pg.mouse.move(mx + 8 * i, my + 5 * i)
+        pg.wait_for_timeout(15)
+    pg.mouse.up(button="middle")
+    pg.wait_for_timeout(600)
+    t1, p1 = obj("truck"), at(t0["x"], t0["y"])
+    check((t1["x"], t1["y"]) == (t0["x"], t0["y"]) and abs(p1[0] - p0[0] - 80) < 3 and abs(p1[1] - p0[1] - 50) < 3,
+          f"a middle-drag on the selected truck pans the view and leaves the truck where it was (moved {p1[0] - p0[0]:.0f}, {p1[1] - p0[1]:.0f} px)")
+    gb = pg.locator('.iso-svg g[data-obj="genset"] path.iso-t').first.bounding_box()
+    pg.mouse.click(gb["x"] + gb["width"] / 2, gb["y"] + gb["height"] / 2, button="middle")
+    pg.wait_for_timeout(400)
+    check(pg.evaluate("__studio.S.sel") == "truck", "a middle click on another object does not select it")
+    n2 = len(doc()["objects"])
+    pg.locator('.st-tile[data-type="tree"]').click()
+    pg.mouse.move(mx, my)
+    pg.mouse.down(button="middle")
+    for i in range(1, 11):
+        pg.mouse.move(mx - 8 * i, my - 5 * i)
+        pg.wait_for_timeout(15)
+    pg.mouse.up(button="middle")
+    pg.wait_for_timeout(600)
+    check(len(doc()["objects"]) == n2 and pg.evaluate("__studio.S.placing") == "tree",
+          "while placing, a middle-drag pans and places nothing")
+    pg.keyboard.press("Escape")
+    pg.evaluate("__studio.select(null)")
+    pg.wait_for_timeout(300)
+
     # an agent edits over MCP: the open Studio follows
     init = mcp({"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "initialize", "params": {"protocolVersion": "2025-06-18", "capabilities": {}, "clientInfo": {"name": "test", "version": "0"}}})
     check(init["result"]["serverInfo"]["name"] == "isokit", "MCP initialize")
diff --git a/viewer/isokit-view.js b/viewer/isokit-view.js
index 0fa2c93..5089a87 100644
--- a/viewer/isokit-view.js
+++ b/viewer/isokit-view.js
@@ -286,10 +286,14 @@
     var ptrs = {}, down = null, moved = false, pinch = null, hoverId = null, claimed = false;
     function npt() { return Object.keys(ptrs).length; }
     svg.addEventListener("pointerdown", function (e) {
+      // the middle (or any other non-left) mouse button only moves the camera: it never
+      // drags, places or selects an object, whatever is under the pointer
+      var cam = e.pointerType === "mouse" && e.button !== 0;
+      if (cam && e.button === 1) e.preventDefault();
       ptrs[e.pointerId] = { x: e.clientX, y: e.clientY };
       if (npt() === 1) {
-        down = { x: e.clientX, y: e.clientY, id: e.pointerId, t: e.target }; moved = false;
-        claimed = !!(opts.interact && call(opts.interact.down, e, { obj: targetObj(e.target), id: targetId(e.target), world: toWorld(e.clientX, e.clientY, 0) }));
+        down = { x: e.clientX, y: e.clientY, id: e.pointerId, t: e.target, cam: cam }; moved = false;
+        claimed = !cam && !!(opts.interact && call(opts.interact.down, e, { obj: targetObj(e.target), id: targetId(e.target), world: toWorld(e.clientX, e.clientY, 0) }));
         if (claimed) { try { svg.setPointerCapture(e.pointerId); } catch (er) { /* ignore */ } }
       }
       if (npt() === 2) {
@@ -336,12 +340,15 @@
       if (npt() < 2) pinch = null;
       if (wasDown) {
         if (claimed) call(opts.interact.up, e, { moved: moved, world: toWorld(e.clientX, e.clientY, 0), cancel: e.type !== "pointerup" });
-        else if (!moved && e.type === "pointerup") pick(e.target, e.clientX, e.clientY);
+        else if (!moved && !down.cam && e.type === "pointerup") pick(e.target, e.clientX, e.clientY);
       }
       if (npt() === 0) { down = null; claimed = false; wrap.classList.remove("iso-dragging"); }
     }
     svg.addEventListener("pointerup", up);
     svg.addEventListener("pointercancel", up);
+    // no browser autoscroll or paste on a middle click
+    svg.addEventListener("mousedown", function (e) { if (e.button === 1) e.preventDefault(); });
+    svg.addEventListener("auxclick", function (e) { if (e.button === 1) e.preventDefault(); });
     svg.addEventListener("pointerleave", function (e) { if (e.pointerType === "mouse" && hoverId) { setHover(hoverId, false); hoverId = null; if (!st.sel) hideTip(); } });
     svg.addEventListener("wheel", function (e) {
       if (!(e.ctrlKey || e.metaKey || opts.wheelZoom)) return;