diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7032ca1ee4..6306b7d283 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 ### Fixed
 
 - Fixed duplicated key displays in the help panel https://github.com/Textualize/textual/issues/5037
+- Fixed crash when removing then adding panes to `TabbedContent` https://github.com/Textualize/textual/issues/5215
 
 ## [0.85.2] - 2024-11-02
 
diff --git a/src/textual/widgets/_tabbed_content.py b/src/textual/widgets/_tabbed_content.py
index 5cec257265..6b22492c19 100644
--- a/src/textual/widgets/_tabbed_content.py
+++ b/src/textual/widgets/_tabbed_content.py
@@ -333,6 +333,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._tab_content: list[Widget] = []
         self._initial = initial
         self._cumulative_tab_count = 0
+        """Tracks the total number of tabs added to ensure unique IDs if tabs are removed"""
         super().__init__(name=name, id=id, classes=classes, disabled=disabled)
 
     @property