diff --git a/lib/__tests__/lite-tokens.test.ts b/lib/__tests__/lite-tokens.test.ts
index 382842744..5913319f2 100644
--- a/lib/__tests__/lite-tokens.test.ts
+++ b/lib/__tests__/lite-tokens.test.ts
@@ -233,6 +233,13 @@ describe('liteRefreshTokens', () => {
     expect(readLiteRefreshToken(0)?.refreshToken).toBe('RT');
   });
 
+  it.each([429, 408])('keeps the token on a %i, which is an outage and not a sign-out', async (status) => {
+    saveLiteRefreshToken(0, { serverUrl: SERVER, username: 'a', refreshToken: 'RT' }, true);
+    fetchMock.mockResolvedValue(new Response('', { status }));
+    await expect(liteRefreshTokens(0)).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: 'token_exchange_failed', status });
+    expect(readLiteRefreshToken(0)?.refreshToken).toBe('RT');
+  });
+
   it('propagates network errors and keeps the token', async () => {
     saveLiteRefreshToken(0, { serverUrl: SERVER, username: 'a', refreshToken: 'RT' }, true);
     fetchMock.mockRejectedValue(new TypeError('offline'));
diff --git a/lib/auth/lite-tokens.ts b/lib/auth/lite-tokens.ts
index c31575ea3..b6610ba82 100644
--- a/lib/auth/lite-tokens.ts
+++ b/lib/auth/lite-tokens.ts
@@ -356,7 +356,12 @@ export async function liteRefreshTokens(slot: number, clientIdOverride?: string)
     }).toString(),
   });
 
-  if (response.status >= 500) {
+  // Only a definitive refusal (400/401/403) ends the session, as in the
+  // server build. A rate limit (429), a request timeout (408) or a 5xx is an
+  // outage: the refresh token stays, so the session resumes once the server
+  // answers again.
+  const refused = response.status === 400 || response.status === 401 || response.status === 403;
+  if (!response.ok && !refused) {
     throw new LiteLoginError('token_exchange_failed', response.status);
   }
   const tokens = (await response.json().catch(() => ({}))) as TokenResponse;