diff --git a/src/features/background-agent/fallback-retry-handler.test.ts b/src/features/background-agent/fallback-retry-handler.test.ts
index 1a99503fa..03cd2b16f 100644
--- a/src/features/background-agent/fallback-retry-handler.test.ts
+++ b/src/features/background-agent/fallback-retry-handler.test.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ mock.module("../../shared/provider-model-id-transform", () => ({
 
 import { tryFallbackRetry } from "./fallback-retry-handler"
 import { shouldRetryError } from "../../shared/model-error-classifier"
+import { selectFallbackProvider } from "../../shared/model-error-classifier"
+import { readProviderModelsCache } from "../../shared"
 import type { BackgroundTask } from "./types"
 import type { ConcurrencyManager } from "./concurrency"
 
@@ -82,6 +84,8 @@ function createDefaultArgs(taskOverrides: Partial<BackgroundTask> = {}) {
 describe("tryFallbackRetry", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     ;(shouldRetryError as any).mockImplementation(() => true)
+    ;(selectFallbackProvider as any).mockImplementation((providers: string[]) => providers[0])
+    ;(readProviderModelsCache as any).mockReturnValue(null)
   })
 
   describe("#given retryable error with fallback chain", () => {
@@ -267,4 +271,24 @@ describe("tryFallbackRetry", () => {
       expect(args.task.attemptCount).toBe(2)
     })
   })
+
+  describe("#given disconnected fallback providers with connected preferred provider", () => {
+    test("keeps fallback entry and selects connected preferred provider", () => {
+      ;(readProviderModelsCache as any).mockReturnValue({ connected: ["provider-a"] })
+      ;(selectFallbackProvider as any).mockImplementation(
+        (_providers: string[], preferredProviderID?: string) => preferredProviderID ?? "provider-b",
+      )
+
+      const args = createDefaultArgs({
+        fallbackChain: [{ model: "fallback-model-1", providers: ["provider-b"], variant: undefined }],
+        model: { providerID: "provider-a", modelID: "original-model" },
+      })
+
+      const result = tryFallbackRetry(args)
+
+      expect(result).toBe(true)
+      expect(args.task.model?.providerID).toBe("provider-a")
+      expect(args.task.model?.modelID).toBe("fallback-model-1")
+    })
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/features/background-agent/fallback-retry-handler.ts b/src/features/background-agent/fallback-retry-handler.ts
index 94184fdbd..58c828e82 100644
--- a/src/features/background-agent/fallback-retry-handler.ts
+++ b/src/features/background-agent/fallback-retry-handler.ts
@@ -35,10 +35,14 @@ export function tryFallbackRetry(args: {
   const providerModelsCache = readProviderModelsCache()
   const connectedProviders = providerModelsCache?.connected ?? readConnectedProvidersCache()
   const connectedSet = connectedProviders ? new Set(connectedProviders.map(p => p.toLowerCase())) : null
+  const preferredProvider = task.model?.providerID?.toLowerCase()
 
   const isReachable = (entry: FallbackEntry): boolean => {
     if (!connectedSet) return true
-    return entry.providers.some((p) => connectedSet.has(p.toLowerCase()))
+    if (entry.providers.some((provider) => connectedSet.has(provider.toLowerCase()))) {
+      return true
+    }
+    return preferredProvider ? connectedSet.has(preferredProvider) : false
   }
 
   let selectedAttemptCount = attemptCount
diff --git a/src/hooks/model-fallback/hook.test.ts b/src/hooks/model-fallback/hook.test.ts
index 04cfcf659..fd3937311 100644
--- a/src/hooks/model-fallback/hook.test.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/model-fallback/hook.test.ts
@@ -255,6 +255,50 @@ describe("model fallback hook", () => {
     clearPendingModelFallback(sessionID)
   })
 
+  test("uses connected preferred provider when fallback entry providers are disconnected", async () => {
+    //#given
+    const sessionID = "ses_model_fallback_preferred_provider"
+    clearPendingModelFallback(sessionID)
+    readConnectedProvidersCacheMock.mockReturnValue(["provider-x"])
+
+    const hook = createModelFallbackHook() as unknown as {
+      "chat.message"?: (
+        input: { sessionID: string },
+        output: { message: Record<string, unknown>; parts: Array<{ type: string; text?: string }> },
+      ) => Promise<void>
+    }
+
+    setSessionFallbackChain(sessionID, [
+      { providers: ["provider-y"], model: "fallback-model" },
+    ])
+
+    expect(
+      setPendingModelFallback(
+        sessionID,
+        "Sisyphus (Ultraworker)",
+        "provider-x",
+        "current-model",
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true)
+
+    const output = {
+      message: {
+        model: { providerID: "provider-x", modelID: "current-model" },
+      },
+      parts: [{ type: "text", text: "continue" }],
+    }
+
+    //#when
+    await hook["chat.message"]?.({ sessionID }, output)
+
+    //#then
+    expect(output.message["model"]).toEqual({
+      providerID: "provider-x",
+      modelID: "fallback-model",
+    })
+    clearPendingModelFallback(sessionID)
+  })
+
   test("shows toast when fallback is applied", async () => {
     //#given
     const toastCalls: Array<{ title: string; message: string }> = []
diff --git a/src/hooks/model-fallback/hook.ts b/src/hooks/model-fallback/hook.ts
index dbb4aa46d..045bba2df 100644
--- a/src/hooks/model-fallback/hook.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/model-fallback/hook.ts
@@ -130,14 +130,21 @@ export function getNextFallback(
 
   const providerModelsCache = readProviderModelsCache()
   const connectedProviders = providerModelsCache?.connected ?? readConnectedProvidersCache()
-  const connectedSet = connectedProviders ? new Set(connectedProviders) : null
+  const connectedSet = connectedProviders
+    ? new Set(connectedProviders.map((provider) => provider.toLowerCase()))
+    : null
 
   const isReachable = (entry: FallbackEntry): boolean => {
     if (!connectedSet) return true
 
     // Gate only on provider connectivity. Provider model lists can be stale/incomplete,
     // especially after users manually add models to opencode.json.
-    return entry.providers.some((p) => connectedSet.has(p))
+    if (entry.providers.some((provider) => connectedSet.has(provider.toLowerCase()))) {
+      return true
+    }
+
+    const preferredProvider = state.providerID.toLowerCase()
+    return connectedSet.has(preferredProvider)
   }
 
   while (state.attemptCount < fallbackChain.length) {