diff --git a/CodenameOne/src/com/codename1/ui/SideMenuBar.java b/CodenameOne/src/com/codename1/ui/SideMenuBar.java
index c3d5306893..2fa0e1c4b8 100644
--- a/CodenameOne/src/com/codename1/ui/SideMenuBar.java
+++ b/CodenameOne/src/com/codename1/ui/SideMenuBar.java
@@ -1805,8 +1805,21 @@ public int hashCode() {
         @Override
         public void actionPerformed(final ActionEvent evt) {
             if (Toolbar.isOnTopSideMenu() && (Toolbar.isGlobalToolbar() || Display.getInstance().getCommandBehavior() != Display.COMMAND_BEHAVIOR_SIDE_NAVIGATION)) {
-                Display.getInstance().getCurrent().getToolbar().closeSideMenu();
-                cmd.actionPerformed(evt);
+                // Issue #4979: fire the command *after* the side-menu
+                // dispose animation has finished and the Toolbar's
+                // layered-pane dim backdrop has been detached. The
+                // previous code ran cmd.actionPerformed synchronously
+                // right after starting the async dispose, so if the
+                // command invoked a modal Dialog.show() the Dialog's
+                // event pump took over the EDT before
+                // detachToolbarLayeredPane could fire -- leaving the
+                // dim backdrop visible after the Dialog was dismissed.
+                Display.getInstance().getCurrent().getToolbar().closeSideMenu(new Runnable() {
+                    @Override
+                    public void run() {
+                        cmd.actionPerformed(evt);
+                    }
+                });
                 return;
             }
             if (transitionRunning) {
diff --git a/CodenameOne/src/com/codename1/ui/Toolbar.java b/CodenameOne/src/com/codename1/ui/Toolbar.java
index 47000ab7fe..8605720f11 100644
--- a/CodenameOne/src/com/codename1/ui/Toolbar.java
+++ b/CodenameOne/src/com/codename1/ui/Toolbar.java
@@ -439,12 +439,91 @@ public void openRightSideMenu() {
 
     /// Closes the current side menu
     public void closeSideMenu() {
-        closeLeftSideMenu();
-        closeRightSideMenu();
+        closeSideMenu(null);
+    }
+
+    /// Closes the current side menu and invokes `onFinish` once the
+    /// side-menu dispose animation has completed and the Toolbar
+    /// layered-pane dim has been detached. When no side menu is
+    /// currently open `onFinish` runs synchronously.
+    ///
+    /// Tapping a command in the on-top side menu was previously
+    /// implemented as `closeSideMenu()` followed by a synchronous
+    /// `cmd.actionPerformed(evt)` on the same EDT call. If the command
+    /// then showed a modal Dialog, the Dialog's event pump took over
+    /// before the dispose animation had a chance to advance, the
+    /// `detachToolbarLayeredPane` callback never fired, and the dim
+    /// backdrop stayed visible after the Dialog was dismissed (issue
+    /// #4979). `SideMenuBar.actionPerformed` now routes the
+    /// command-fire through this `onFinish`, so the layered pane is
+    /// guaranteed to be detached before the command runs.
+    ///
+    /// #### Parameters
+    ///
+    /// - `onFinish`: callback to invoke once the side menu is closed,
+    /// or `null` to skip
+    public void closeSideMenu(final Runnable onFinish) {
+        boolean leftShowing = onTopSideMenu && sidemenuDialog != null && sidemenuDialog.isShowing();
+        boolean rightShowing = onTopSideMenu && rightSidemenuDialog != null && rightSidemenuDialog.isShowing();
+        if (!leftShowing && !rightShowing) {
+            closeLeftSideMenu();
+            closeRightSideMenu();
+            if (onFinish != null) {
+                onFinish.run();
+            }
+            return;
+        }
+        int pending = (leftShowing ? 1 : 0) + (rightShowing ? 1 : 0);
+        Runnable countdown = onFinish == null ? null : new CloseSideMenuCountdown(pending, onFinish);
+        if (leftShowing) {
+            closeLeftSideMenu(countdown);
+        }
+        if (rightShowing) {
+            closeRightSideMenu(countdown);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Runnable that decrements a counter and fires its delegate when
+    /// the counter reaches zero. Used by [#closeSideMenu(Runnable)][closeSideMenu]
+    /// to wait for both left and right dispose animations when both
+    /// side menus are open. Declared as a static nested class so the
+    /// Runnable does not retain an implicit reference to the
+    /// surrounding Toolbar instance.
+    private static final class CloseSideMenuCountdown implements Runnable {
+        private int remaining;
+        private final Runnable delegate;
+
+        CloseSideMenuCountdown(int remaining, Runnable delegate) {
+            this.remaining = remaining;
+            this.delegate = delegate;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void run() {
+            remaining--;
+            if (remaining == 0) {
+                delegate.run();
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /// Closes the left side menu
     public void closeLeftSideMenu() {
+        closeLeftSideMenu(null);
+    }
+
+    /// Closes the left side menu and invokes `onFinish` once the
+    /// dispose animation has completed and the Toolbar layered-pane
+    /// dim has been detached. When no left side menu is currently
+    /// open `onFinish` runs synchronously. See
+    /// [#closeSideMenu(Runnable)][closeSideMenu] for rationale (issue
+    /// #4979).
+    ///
+    /// #### Parameters
+    ///
+    /// - `onFinish`: callback to invoke once the menu is closed, or
+    /// `null` to skip
+    public void closeLeftSideMenu(final Runnable onFinish) {
         if (onTopSideMenu) {
             if (sidemenuDialog != null && sidemenuDialog.isShowing()) {
                 final Container cnt = getComponentForm().getFormLayeredPane(Toolbar.class, false);
@@ -452,6 +531,9 @@ public void closeLeftSideMenu() {
                     @Override
                     public void run() {
                         detachToolbarLayeredPane(cnt);
+                        if (onFinish != null) {
+                            onFinish.run();
+                        }
                     }
                 };
                 if (!isRTL()) {
@@ -459,14 +541,33 @@ public void run() {
                 } else {
                     sidemenuDialog.disposeToTheRight(onDisposed);
                 }
+                return;
             }
         } else {
             SideMenuBar.closeCurrentMenu();
         }
+        if (onFinish != null) {
+            onFinish.run();
+        }
     }
 
     /// Closes the right side menu
     public void closeRightSideMenu() {
+        closeRightSideMenu(null);
+    }
+
+    /// Closes the right side menu and invokes `onFinish` once the
+    /// dispose animation has completed and the Toolbar layered-pane
+    /// dim has been detached. When no right side menu is currently
+    /// open `onFinish` runs synchronously. See
+    /// [#closeSideMenu(Runnable)][closeSideMenu] for rationale (issue
+    /// #4979).
+    ///
+    /// #### Parameters
+    ///
+    /// - `onFinish`: callback to invoke once the menu is closed, or
+    /// `null` to skip
+    public void closeRightSideMenu(final Runnable onFinish) {
         if (onTopSideMenu) {
             if (rightSidemenuDialog != null && rightSidemenuDialog.isShowing()) {
                 final Container cnt = getComponentForm().getFormLayeredPane(Toolbar.class, false);
@@ -474,6 +575,9 @@ public void closeRightSideMenu() {
                     @Override
                     public void run() {
                         detachToolbarLayeredPane(cnt);
+                        if (onFinish != null) {
+                            onFinish.run();
+                        }
                     }
                 };
                 if (!isRTL()) {
@@ -481,8 +585,12 @@ public void run() {
                 } else {
                     rightSidemenuDialog.disposeToTheLeft(onDisposed);
                 }
+                return;
             }
         }
+        if (onFinish != null) {
+            onFinish.run();
+        }
     }
 
     /// Detaches the Toolbar's shared FormLayeredPane once the side-menu
diff --git a/maven/core-unittests/src/test/java/com/codename1/ui/ToolbarTest.java b/maven/core-unittests/src/test/java/com/codename1/ui/ToolbarTest.java
index 3dc9807016..e0f420b8bc 100644
--- a/maven/core-unittests/src/test/java/com/codename1/ui/ToolbarTest.java
+++ b/maven/core-unittests/src/test/java/com/codename1/ui/ToolbarTest.java
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ void rightBarCommandsAndTitleComponentCustomization() {
     }
 
     @FormTest
-    void rightSideMenuCommandsDispatch() {
+    void rightSideMenuCommandsDispatch() throws Exception {
         implementation.setBuiltinSoundsEnabled(false);
         Toolbar.setOnTopSideMenu(true);
 
@@ -158,6 +158,14 @@ void rightSideMenuCommandsDispatch() {
         Button rightButton = toolbar.findCommandComponent(rightSide);
         assertNotNull(rightButton, "Right side menu button should be created");
 
+        // Issue #4979: command dispatch from the side menu is deferred
+        // to the dispose-animation onFinish so the dim layered pane is
+        // fully detached before the command runs. The test EDT cannot
+        // tick wall-clock animations while blocked on the test body,
+        // so disable the dispose animation to make the deferred fire
+        // synchronous.
+        disableSideMenuAnimation(toolbar, "rightSidemenuDialog");
+
         int px = rightButton.getAbsoluteX() + rightButton.getWidth() / 2;
         int py = rightButton.getAbsoluteY() + rightButton.getHeight() / 2;
         rightButton.pointerPressed(px, py);
@@ -172,6 +180,17 @@ void rightSideMenuCommandsDispatch() {
         awaitAnimations(form);
     }
 
+    private static void disableSideMenuAnimation(Toolbar toolbar, String dialogFieldName) throws Exception {
+        java.lang.reflect.Field dialogField = Toolbar.class.getDeclaredField(dialogFieldName);
+        dialogField.setAccessible(true);
+        Object dialog = dialogField.get(toolbar);
+        if (dialog == null) {
+            return;
+        }
+        java.lang.reflect.Method setAnimateShow = dialog.getClass().getMethod("setAnimateShow", boolean.class);
+        setAnimateShow.invoke(dialog, false);
+    }
+
     @FormTest
     void sideMenuAndOverflowCommands() {
         implementation.setBuiltinSoundsEnabled(false);
@@ -289,6 +308,82 @@ private static boolean isFormInRevalidateQueue(Form form) throws Exception {
         return false;
     }
 
+    /// Regression test for issue #4979: tapping a command in the
+    /// on-top side menu used to run cmd.actionPerformed synchronously
+    /// right after kicking off the side menu's async dispose
+    /// animation. If the command then showed a modal Dialog (the
+    /// archetype's default `hello()` does exactly this) the Dialog's
+    /// event pump stole the EDT before the dispose animation could
+    /// advance, the detachToolbarLayeredPane onFinish never fired,
+    /// and the dim backdrop stayed visible after the Dialog was
+    /// dismissed.
+    ///
+    /// The fix routes the command-fire through the new
+    /// closeSideMenu(Runnable) onFinish, so the layered pane is
+    /// guaranteed to be detached *before* the command runs. The
+    /// assertion below checks that ordering directly: when the
+    /// command's listener fires, the Toolbar layered pane must
+    /// already be gone.
+    @FormTest
+    void sideMenuCommandFiresAfterLayeredPaneDetach() throws Exception {
+        implementation.setBuiltinSoundsEnabled(false);
+        Toolbar.setOnTopSideMenu(true);
+
+        Form form = Display.getInstance().getCurrent();
+        Toolbar toolbar = new Toolbar();
+        form.setToolbar(toolbar);
+        form.show();
+        form.getAnimationManager().flush();
+        flushSerialCalls();
+
+        // Capture the *specific* dim layered-pane instance via this
+        // array so the listener can check that exact reference. We
+        // cannot just call form.getFormLayeredPane(Toolbar.class,
+        // false) inside the listener because that method is
+        // get-or-create — once the original pane is removed it would
+        // hand back a brand new attached Container.
+        final Container[] capturedPane = new Container[1];
+        final boolean[] paneAttachedWhenCommandFired = {true};
+        final int[] invocation = {0};
+        Command hello = toolbar.addCommandToSideMenu("Hello", null, evt -> {
+            Container p = capturedPane[0];
+            paneAttachedWhenCommandFired[0] = p != null && p.getParent() != null;
+            invocation[0]++;
+        });
+
+        toolbar.openSideMenu();
+        form.getAnimationManager().flush();
+        flushSerialCalls();
+        awaitAnimations(form);
+        assertTrue(toolbar.isSideMenuShowing(), "Side menu should be showing after open");
+        capturedPane[0] = form.getFormLayeredPane(Toolbar.class, false);
+        assertNotNull(capturedPane[0], "Toolbar layered pane must exist while menu is open");
+        assertNotNull(capturedPane[0].getParent(), "Layered pane must be attached while menu is open");
+
+        // Make the dispose synchronous so we don't depend on the
+        // animation thread inside the test; the bug we are pinning
+        // down is about ordering between the dispose onFinish and the
+        // command-fire, not about the animation duration.
+        disableSideMenuAnimation(toolbar, "sidemenuDialog");
+
+        // Dispatch through the same path the side-menu button click
+        // would take — the CommandWrapper.actionPerformed branch that
+        // does the close-then-fire dance.
+        Button helloButton = toolbar.findCommandComponent(hello);
+        assertNotNull(helloButton, "Side menu command should have a button while menu is open");
+        int px = helloButton.getAbsoluteX() + helloButton.getWidth() / 2;
+        int py = helloButton.getAbsoluteY() + helloButton.getHeight() / 2;
+        helloButton.pointerPressed(px, py);
+        helloButton.pointerReleased(px, py);
+        flushSerialCalls();
+
+        assertEquals(1, invocation[0], "Command listener should have fired exactly once");
+        assertFalse(paneAttachedWhenCommandFired[0],
+                "Issue #4979: command listener must run *after* the Toolbar layered pane "
+                        + "is detached so a modal Dialog opened by the command cannot leave "
+                        + "the dim backdrop visible behind it");
+    }
+
     /// Regression test for the JavaScript port "ghost side menu +
     /// previous preview visible as background" bug. closeLeftSideMenu
     /// used to synchronously detach the Toolbar's FormLayeredPane