Export from AE to Media Encoder is very unreliable

Since the last couple of Beta releases of AE (I'm currently on 22.1.0 Build 46), exporting via Media Encoder is very unreliable - usually, the comp appears in Media Encoder, but if I click on the settings to tweak them, the usual "Dyanmic Link Connection - Connecting to project..." alert pops up, but nothing happens, even on a very, very simple project. I've currently just sent a simple comp to Media Encoder, clicked the settings, and the striped bar in the 'Connecting to project' box is moving, but my CPU and disks are idle - nothing happening at all. If I then click Cancel, then close ME, I get the "Sorry an error occurred" crash report pop up for Media Encoder.