diff --git a/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs b/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
index 162bf6b294..ddce82324c 100644
--- a/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
+++ b/libs/pageserver_api/src/models.rs
@@ -110,12 +110,11 @@ impl TenantState {
             Self::Active => Attached,
             // If the (initial or resumed) attach procedure fails, the tenant becomes Broken.
             // However, it also becomes Broken if the regular load fails.
-            // We would need a separate TenantState variant to distinguish these cases.
-            // However, there's no practical difference from Console's perspective.
-            // It will run a Postgres-level health check as soon as it observes Attached.
-            // That will fail on Broken tenants.
-            // Console can then rollback the attach, or, wait for operator to fix the Broken tenant.
-            Self::Broken { .. } => Attached,
+            // From Console's perspective there's no practical difference
+            // because attachment_status is polled by console only during attach operation execution.
+            Self::Broken { reason, .. } => Failed {
+                reason: reason.to_owned(),
+            },
             // Why is Stopping a Maybe case? Because, during pageserver shutdown,
             // we set the Stopping state irrespective of whether the tenant
             // has finished attaching or not.
@@ -312,10 +311,11 @@ impl std::ops::Deref for TenantAttachConfig {
 
 /// See [`TenantState::attachment_status`] and the OpenAPI docs for context.
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Clone)]
-#[serde(rename_all = "snake_case")]
+#[serde(tag = "slug", content = "data", rename_all = "snake_case")]
 pub enum TenantAttachmentStatus {
     Maybe,
     Attached,
+    Failed { reason: String },
 }
 
 #[serde_as]
@@ -809,7 +809,9 @@ mod tests {
                 "slug": "Active",
             },
             "current_physical_size": 42,
-            "attachment_status": "attached",
+            "attachment_status": {
+                "slug":"attached",
+            }
         });
 
         let original_broken = TenantInfo {
@@ -831,7 +833,9 @@ mod tests {
                 }
             },
             "current_physical_size": 42,
-            "attachment_status": "attached",
+            "attachment_status": {
+                "slug":"attached",
+            }
         });
 
         assert_eq!(
diff --git a/pageserver/src/http/openapi_spec.yml b/pageserver/src/http/openapi_spec.yml
index 0d912c95e0..1f8298ca3e 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/http/openapi_spec.yml
+++ b/pageserver/src/http/openapi_spec.yml
@@ -928,12 +928,28 @@ components:
               writing to the tenant's S3 state, so, DO NOT ATTACH the
               tenant to any other pageserver, or we risk split-brain.
             - `attached` means that the attach operation has completed,
-              maybe successfully, maybe not. Perform a health check at
-              the Postgres level to determine healthiness of the tenant.
+              successfully
+            - `failed` means that attach has failed. For reason check corresponding `reason` failed.
+              `failed` is the terminal state, retrying attach call wont resolve the issue.
+              For example this can be caused by s3 being unreachable. The retry may be implemented
+              with call to detach, though it would be better to not automate it and inspec failed state
+              manually before proceeding with a retry.
 
             See the tenant `/attach` endpoint for more information.
-          type: string
-          enum: [ "maybe", "attached" ]
+          type: object
+          required:
+            - slug
+            - data
+          properties:
+            slug:
+              type: string
+              enum: [ "maybe", "attached", "failed" ]
+            data:
+            - type: object
+              properties:
+                reason:
+                  type: string
+
     TenantCreateRequest:
       allOf:
         - $ref: '#/components/schemas/TenantConfig'
diff --git a/test_runner/fixtures/pageserver/utils.py b/test_runner/fixtures/pageserver/utils.py
index c558387413..d7ffa633fd 100644
--- a/test_runner/fixtures/pageserver/utils.py
+++ b/test_runner/fixtures/pageserver/utils.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import time
-from typing import Optional
+from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
 
 from fixtures.log_helper import log
 from fixtures.pageserver.http import PageserverHttpClient
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def wait_until_tenant_state(
     expected_state: str,
     iterations: int,
     period: float = 1.0,
-) -> bool:
+) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     """
     Does not use `wait_until` for debugging purposes
     """
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ def wait_until_tenant_state(
             tenant = pageserver_http.tenant_status(tenant_id=tenant_id)
             log.debug(f"Tenant {tenant_id} data: {tenant}")
             if tenant["state"]["slug"] == expected_state:
-                return True
+                return tenant
         except Exception as e:
             log.debug(f"Tenant {tenant_id} state retrieval failure: {e}")
 
diff --git a/test_runner/regress/test_remote_storage.py b/test_runner/regress/test_remote_storage.py
index baef8ecacc..742dbfff95 100644
--- a/test_runner/regress/test_remote_storage.py
+++ b/test_runner/regress/test_remote_storage.py
@@ -147,7 +147,12 @@ def test_remote_storage_backup_and_restore(
     # listing the remote timelines will fail because of the failpoint,
     # and the tenant will be marked as Broken.
     client.tenant_attach(tenant_id)
-    wait_until_tenant_state(pageserver_http, tenant_id, "Broken", 15)
+
+    tenant_info = wait_until_tenant_state(pageserver_http, tenant_id, "Broken", 15)
+    assert tenant_info["attachment_status"] == {
+        "slug": "failed",
+        "data": {"reason": "storage-sync-list-remote-timelines"},
+    }
 
     # Ensure that even though the tenant is broken, we can't attach it again.
     with pytest.raises(Exception, match=f"tenant {tenant_id} already exists, state: Broken"):
diff --git a/test_runner/regress/test_tenant_detach.py b/test_runner/regress/test_tenant_detach.py
index 9d0fdcfaf8..2a015d5d17 100644
--- a/test_runner/regress/test_tenant_detach.py
+++ b/test_runner/regress/test_tenant_detach.py
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ def test_ignored_tenant_reattach(
 ):
     neon_env_builder.enable_remote_storage(
         remote_storage_kind=remote_storage_kind,
-        test_name="test_remote_storage_backup_and_restore",
+        test_name="test_ignored_tenant_reattach",
     )
     env = neon_env_builder.init_start()
     pageserver_http = env.pageserver.http_client()