diff --git a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerconfig.lua b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerconfig.lua
index 690f49bbc..19717d8c5 100644
--- a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerconfig.lua
+++ b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerconfig.lua
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ end
 
 function ReaderConfig:onShowConfigMenu()
     self.config_dialog = ConfigDialog:new{
-        covers_footer = true, -- hint for UIManager:repaintReaderFooter
         dimen = self.dimen:copy(),
         document = self.document,
         ui = self.ui,
diff --git a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerfooter.lua b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerfooter.lua
index 9c5ea25fa..ac616a065 100644
--- a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerfooter.lua
+++ b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerfooter.lua
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ local UIManager = require("ui/uimanager")
 local VerticalGroup = require("ui/widget/verticalgroup")
 local VerticalSpan = require("ui/widget/verticalspan")
 local WidgetContainer = require("ui/widget/container/widgetcontainer")
+local logger = require("logger")
 local util = require("util")
 local T = require("ffi/util").template
 local _ = require("gettext")
@@ -561,7 +562,14 @@ end
 function ReaderFooter:setupAutoRefreshTime()
     if not self.autoRefreshTime then
         self.autoRefreshTime = function()
-            self:onUpdateFooter(true)
+            -- Only actually repaint the footer if nothing's being shown over ReaderUI (#6616)
+            if UIManager:getTopWidget() == "ReaderUI" then
+                self:onUpdateFooter(true)
+            else
+                logger.dbg("Skipping ReaderFooter repaint, because ReaderUI is not the top-level widget")
+                -- NOTE: We *do* keep its content up-to-date, though
+                self:onUpdateFooter()
+            end
             UIManager:scheduleIn(61 - tonumber(os.date("%S")), self.autoRefreshTime)
         end
     end
@@ -1795,13 +1803,11 @@ function ReaderFooter:_updateFooterText(force_repaint, force_recompute)
             -- Unfortunately, it's not a modal (we never show() it), so it's not in the window stack,
             -- instead, it's baked inside ReaderUI, so it gets slightly trickier...
             -- NOTE: self.view.footer -> self ;).
-            if UIManager:repaintReaderFooter(self.view.footer) then
-                -- NOTE: repaintReaderFooter will sometimes choose *not* to repaint, in which case,
-                --       we don't want to generate a bogus setDirty call ;).
-                UIManager:setDirty(self.view.footer, function()
-                    return "ui", refresh_dim
-                end)
-            end
+            UIManager:setDirty(self.view.footer, function()
+                return "ui", refresh_dim
+            end)
+            -- c.f., ReaderView:paintTo()
+            UIManager:widgetRepaint(self.view.footer, 0, 0)
         else
             UIManager:setDirty(self.view.dialog, function()
                 return "ui", refresh_dim
@@ -2007,16 +2013,6 @@ function ReaderFooter:onSuspend()
     end
 end
 
--- We want to be able to disable auto_refresh_time when displaying *some* non-fullscreen widgets on top of ReaderUI,
--- otherwise it'll happily keep on ticking and drawing on top of stuff it ought not to... (#6616)
---- @note: If the widget actually makes it to UIManager's window stack (i.e., it's passed to UIManager:show()),
----        it's generally simpler to set covers_footer when initializing the Widget object.
--- Since these Events are not currently in use, comment the handlers out ;).
---[[
-ReaderFooter.onDisableFooterAutoRefresh = ReaderFooter.onSuspend
-ReaderFooter.onRestoreFooterAutoRefresh = ReaderFooter.onResume
---]]
-
 function ReaderFooter:onFrontlightStateChanged()
     if self.settings.frontlight then
         self:onUpdateFooter(true)
diff --git a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerlink.lua b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerlink.lua
index 6c259372b..0afc15d75 100644
--- a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerlink.lua
+++ b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readerlink.lua
@@ -1263,7 +1263,6 @@ function ReaderLink:showAsFootnotePopup(link, neglect_current_location)
     local FootnoteWidget = require("ui/widget/footnotewidget")
     local popup
     popup = FootnoteWidget:new{
-        covers_footer = true, -- hint for UIManager:repaintReaderFooter
         html = html,
         doc_font_size = Screen:scaleBySize(self.ui.font.font_size),
         doc_margins = self.ui.document:getPageMargins(),
diff --git a/frontend/ui/uimanager.lua b/frontend/ui/uimanager.lua
index 7c56bc4e3..a6375b108 100644
--- a/frontend/ui/uimanager.lua
+++ b/frontend/ui/uimanager.lua
@@ -1151,43 +1151,6 @@ function UIManager:widgetRepaint(widget, x, y)
     widget:paintTo(Screen.bb, x, y)
 end
 
--- Now, this one is basically widgetRepaint, but tailored for a very,
--- very specific use-case related to ReaderFooter:setupAutoRefreshTime
--- (c.f., #6648)
-function UIManager:repaintReaderFooter(readerfooter_widget)
-    if not readerfooter_widget then return false end
-
-    -- Don't repaint if there's another widget than ReaderUI flagged as covers_fullscreen being shown,
-    -- or if a non-fullscreen widget is flagged as covers_footer.
-    -- This isn't particularly pretty, but, oh, well (#6616).
-    local skip_repaint = false
-    -- c.f., UIManager:_repaint
-    for i = #self._window_stack, 1, -1 do
-        local widget = self._window_stack[i].widget
-        if widget.covers_fullscreen then
-            if widget.name and widget.name == "ReaderUI" then  -- luacheck: ignore
-                -- NOP (i.e., continue)
-            else
-                skip_repaint = true
-                logger.dbg("Skipping ReaderFooter repaint, because something covers ReaderUI")
-                break
-            end
-        elseif widget.covers_footer then
-            skip_repaint = true
-            logger.dbg("Skipping ReaderFooter repaint, because something covers ReaderFooter")
-            break
-        end
-    end
-    if skip_repaint then return false end
-
-    logger.dbg("Explicit ReaderFooter repaint:", readerfooter_widget.name or readerfooter_widget.id or tostring(readerfooter_widget))
-    -- c.f., ReaderView:paintTo()
-    readerfooter_widget:paintTo(Screen.bb, 0, 0)
-
-    -- Inform the caller that we did, in fact, repaint it.
-    return true
-end
-
 function UIManager:setInputTimeout(timeout)
     self.INPUT_TIMEOUT = timeout or 200*1000
 end
diff --git a/plugins/autoturn.koplugin/main.lua b/plugins/autoturn.koplugin/main.lua
index 38ece19f0..94c289d51 100644
--- a/plugins/autoturn.koplugin/main.lua
+++ b/plugins/autoturn.koplugin/main.lua
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ function AutoTurn:_schedule(settings_id)
     local delay = self.last_action_sec + self.autoturn_sec - os.time()
 
     if delay <= 0 then
-        if UIManager:getTopWidget() == "ReaderUI"then
+        if UIManager:getTopWidget() == "ReaderUI" then
             logger.dbg("AutoTurn: go to next page")
             self.ui:handleEvent(Event:new("GotoViewRel", self.autoturn_distance))
         end