diff --git a/src/oauth/oauth-flow-service.ts b/src/oauth/oauth-flow-service.ts
index bad3f29a..41ae2903 100644
--- a/src/oauth/oauth-flow-service.ts
+++ b/src/oauth/oauth-flow-service.ts
@@ -396,8 +396,14 @@ export class OAuthFlowService {
       };
     } catch (error) {
       if (error instanceof ProviderDispatchRequestError) {
-        if (request) await this.requests.fail(request.connectionRequestId, "rate_limited", error.message);
-        throw error;
+        if (!request) throw error;
+        await this.requests.fail(request.connectionRequestId, "rate_limited", error.message);
+        throw new OAuthCallbackError(
+          "rate_limited",
+          error.message,
+          callbackReturnUri(request, "error", "rate_limited", error.message),
+          error,
+        );
       }
       if (request) {
         const code =
diff --git a/src/server/connect-server.ts b/src/server/connect-server.ts
index 4e46c473..bafedb07 100644
--- a/src/server/connect-server.ts
+++ b/src/server/connect-server.ts
@@ -420,12 +420,16 @@ export class ConnectServer {
     else app.notFound(notFound);
     app.onError((error, context) => {
       if (error instanceof ProviderDispatchRequestError) {
-        return writeRuntimeFailure(context, {
-          status: 429,
-          errorCode: "rate_limited",
-          message: error.message,
-          data: toProviderExecutionError(error, error.message).error?.details,
-        });
+        if (context.req.path.startsWith("/v1/"))
+          return writeRuntimeFailure(context, {
+            status: 429,
+            errorCode: "rate_limited",
+            message: error.message,
+            data: toProviderExecutionError(error, error.message).error?.details,
+          });
+        const seconds = optionalRecord(error.details)?.retryAfterSeconds;
+        if (typeof seconds === "number") context.header("Retry-After", String(seconds));
+        return jsonError(context, 429, "rate_limited", error.message);
       }
       if (error instanceof SaasError) {
         this.options.logger?.warn(
diff --git a/src/server/connector-runtime.test.ts b/src/server/connector-runtime.test.ts
index 1f5844b2..0f0c2133 100644
--- a/src/server/connector-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/connector-runtime.test.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,126 @@ afterEach(async () => {
 });
 
 describe("headless runtime", () => {
+  it.each([45, undefined])(
+    "preserves console and runtime denial formats with retry delay %s",
+    async (retryAfterSeconds) => {
+      const fetcher = vi.fn<typeof fetch>();
+      vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetcher);
+      runtime = await createConnectorRuntime({
+        ...(await fixture()),
+        providerHttpDispatch: { beforeAttempt: () => ({ allow: false, retryAfterSeconds }) },
+      });
+      const consoleResponse = await request(
+        "/api/connections/github",
+        { authType: "api_key", values: { apiKey: "fixture-secret" } },
+        "admin-token",
+        "PUT",
+      );
+      const runtimeResponse = await request("/v1/connections/github/connect/api-key", { apiKey: "fixture-secret" });
+      for (const response of [consoleResponse, runtimeResponse]) {
+        expect(response.status).toBe(429);
+        expect(response.headers.get("Retry-After")).toBe(
+          retryAfterSeconds === undefined ? null : String(retryAfterSeconds),
+        );
+      }
+      expect(await consoleResponse.json()).toEqual({
+        error: { code: "rate_limited", message: "Provider HTTP dispatch is temporarily unavailable." },
+      });
+      expect(await runtimeResponse.json()).toMatchObject({
+        success: false,
+        errorCode: "rate_limited",
+        message: "Provider HTTP dispatch is temporarily unavailable.",
+      });
+      expect(fetcher).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect((await (await request("/v1/connections")).json()).data).toEqual([]);
+    },
+  );
+
+  it.each([
+    ["oauth", "https://host.example/settings/connections"],
+    ["credential_validation", "https://host.example/settings/connections"],
+    ["oauth", undefined],
+    ["credential_validation", undefined],
+  ])("completes a denied %s connection request with return URI %s", async (operation, returnUri) => {
+    const fetcher = vi.fn<typeof fetch>(async () =>
+      Response.json({ access_token: "fixture-access-token", token_type: "bearer", scope: "read:user" }),
+    );
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetcher);
+    runtime = await createConnectorRuntime({
+      ...(await fixture()),
+      providerHttpDispatch: {
+        beforeAttempt: (attempt) =>
+          attempt.context.operation === operation ? { allow: false, retryAfterSeconds: 45 } : { allow: true },
+      },
+    });
+    expect(
+      (
+        await request(
+          "/api/oauth/configs/github",
+          { clientId: "fixture-client", clientSecret: "fixture-secret" },
+          "admin-token",
+          "PUT",
+        )
+      ).status,
+    ).toBe(200);
+    const started = await request("/v1/connections/github/connect", { returnUri });
+    expect(started.status).toBe(200);
+    const attempt = (await started.json()).data;
+    const state = new URL(attempt.authorizationUrl).searchParams.get("state")!;
+    const path = `/oauth/callback?state=${encodeURIComponent(state)}&code=fixture-code`;
+    const callback = await request(path);
+    if (returnUri) {
+      expect(callback.status).toBe(302);
+      const returned = new URL(callback.headers.get("location")!);
+      expect(`${returned.origin}${returned.pathname}`).toBe(returnUri);
+      expect(Object.fromEntries(returned.searchParams)).toEqual({
+        status: "error",
+        service: "github",
+        code: "rate_limited",
+        message: "Provider HTTP dispatch is temporarily unavailable.",
+      });
+    } else {
+      expect(callback.status).toBe(400);
+      expect(await callback.json()).toEqual({
+        error: { code: "rate_limited", message: "Provider HTTP dispatch is temporarily unavailable." },
+      });
+    }
+    expect(callback.headers.get("Retry-After")).toBeNull();
+    const completed = await request(`/v1/connection-requests/${attempt.connectionRequestId}`);
+    expect((await completed.json()).data).toMatchObject({ status: "failed", errorCode: "rate_limited" });
+    expect((await (await request("/v1/connections")).json()).data).toEqual([]);
+    expect(fetcher).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(operation === "oauth" ? 0 : 1);
+    const replay = await request(path);
+    expect(replay.status).toBe(400);
+    expect(await replay.json()).toMatchObject({ error: { code: "invalid_oauth_state" } });
+  });
+
+  it("preserves dispatch denial for OAuth authorizations without a connection request", async () => {
+    const fetcher = vi.fn<typeof fetch>();
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", fetcher);
+    runtime = await createConnectorRuntime({
+      ...(await fixture()),
+      providerHttpDispatch: { beforeAttempt: () => ({ allow: false, retryAfterSeconds: 45 }) },
+    });
+    await request(
+      "/api/oauth/configs/github",
+      { clientId: "fixture-client", clientSecret: "fixture-secret" },
+      "admin-token",
+      "PUT",
+    );
+    const started = await request("/api/oauth/authorizations", { service: "github" });
+    expect(started.status).toBe(200);
+    const { state } = await started.json();
+    const callback = await request(`/oauth/callback?state=${encodeURIComponent(state)}&code=fixture-code`);
+    expect(callback.status).toBe(429);
+    expect(callback.headers.get("Retry-After")).toBe("45");
+    expect(await callback.json()).toEqual({
+      error: { code: "rate_limited", message: "Provider HTTP dispatch is temporarily unavailable." },
+    });
+    expect(fetcher).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect((await (await request("/v1/connections")).json()).data).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
   it("preserves admission denial after a real provider remaps it into validation and transport errors", async () => {
     let deny = false;
     const fetcher = vi.fn<typeof fetch>(async () => Response.json({ credit_balance: 100 }));