diff --git a/conf/CFBG.conf.dist b/conf/CFBG.conf.dist
index e9c91b1..5b1fabc 100644
--- a/conf/CFBG.conf.dist
+++ b/conf/CFBG.conf.dist
@@ -110,10 +110,11 @@
 #
 #   CFBG.BalanceTeamsOnEntry.Enabled
 #       Description: When a solo player enters a battleground while the teams are
-#                    uneven, move them to the smaller team according to the live
-#                    in-BG head counts at that moment. If the teams are already
-#                    even they keep the team chosen at invite time, and grouped
-#                    players are never moved.
+#                    uneven, move them to the smaller team according to the
+#                    invited counts at that moment (players inside plus accepted
+#                    or pending invitees still on their way). If the teams are
+#                    already even they keep the team chosen at invite time, and
+#                    grouped players are never moved.
 #       Default: 1 - (Enabled)
 #                0 - (Disabled)
 
diff --git a/src/CFBG.cpp b/src/CFBG.cpp
index b2d9b97..d47c889 100644
--- a/src/CFBG.cpp
+++ b/src/CFBG.cpp
@@ -376,10 +376,19 @@ void CFBG::BalanceTeamsOnEntry(Battleground* bg, Player* player)
 
     TeamId provisional = player->GetBgTeamId();
 
-    // Live head counts correctly EXCLUDE the entering player (counted later in
-    // Battleground::AddPlayer).
-    int32 countA = bg->GetPlayersCountByTeam(TEAM_ALLIANCE);
-    int32 countH = bg->GetPlayersCountByTeam(TEAM_HORDE);
+    // The invited ledger (entered + accepted-in-flight + pending-invited) sees
+    // reservations that live head counts miss while invitees are still porting
+    // (issue #172: a solo flipped onto a porting premade's side -> 1v3).
+    int32 countA = bg->GetInvitedCount(TEAM_ALLIANCE);
+    int32 countH = bg->GetInvitedCount(TEAM_HORDE);
+
+    // Accept does not release the reservation (RemovePlayer with
+    // decreaseInvitedCount=false), so the entrant is still ledgered on the
+    // provisional side: exclude them from the comparison.
+    if (provisional == TEAM_ALLIANCE)
+        --countA;
+    else
+        --countH;
 
     // Sides already balanced: keep the provisional team, no morph / count churn.
     if (countA == countH)
@@ -735,6 +744,13 @@ std::array<uint32, 2> CFBG::GetProjectedBaseCounts(Battleground* bg, Battlegroun
         if (gInfo->IsInvitedToBGInstanceGUID == bg->GetInstanceID())
             counts[gInfo->teamId] += gInfo->Players.size();
 
+    // A player between accept and worldport ack is in neither term above (the
+    // accept deleted their ginfo; AddPlayer has not run yet). The BG's invited
+    // ledger still holds every reservation, so clamp up to it; max() degrades
+    // gracefully if either register is skewed.
+    counts[TEAM_ALLIANCE] = std::max(counts[TEAM_ALLIANCE], bg->GetInvitedCount(TEAM_ALLIANCE));
+    counts[TEAM_HORDE] = std::max(counts[TEAM_HORDE], bg->GetInvitedCount(TEAM_HORDE));
+
     return counts;
 }