diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6d7f222fe10..85ad205ff0e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Signal/config validation: add `channels.signal.groups` schema support so per-group `requireMention`, `tools`, and `toolsBySender` overrides no longer get rejected during config validation. (#27199) Thanks @unisone.
 - Config/discovery: accept `discovery.wideArea.domain` in strict config validation so unicast DNS-SD gateway configs no longer fail with an unrecognized-key error. (#35615) Thanks @ingyukoh.
 - Telegram/media errors: redact Telegram file URLs before building media fetch errors so failed inbound downloads do not leak bot tokens into logs. Thanks @space08.
+- Agents/failover: normalize abort-wrapped `429 RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED` provider failures before abort short-circuiting so wrapped Google/Vertex rate limits continue across configured fallback models, including the embedded runner prompt-error path. (#39820) Thanks @lupuletic.
 
 ## 2026.3.12
 
diff --git a/src/agents/failover-error.test.ts b/src/agents/failover-error.test.ts
index 1ddd1d9ceef..38e3530f011 100644
--- a/src/agents/failover-error.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/failover-error.test.ts
@@ -364,6 +364,23 @@ describe("failover-error", () => {
     expect(isTimeoutError(err)).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("classifies abort-wrapped RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED as rate_limit", () => {
+    const err = Object.assign(new Error("request aborted"), {
+      name: "AbortError",
+      cause: {
+        error: {
+          code: 429,
+          message: GEMINI_RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED_MESSAGE,
+          status: "RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED",
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(resolveFailoverReasonFromError(err)).toBe("rate_limit");
+    expect(coerceToFailoverError(err)?.reason).toBe("rate_limit");
+    expect(coerceToFailoverError(err)?.status).toBe(429);
+  });
+
   it("coerces failover-worthy errors into FailoverError with metadata", () => {
     const err = coerceToFailoverError("credit balance too low", {
       provider: "anthropic",
diff --git a/src/agents/failover-error.ts b/src/agents/failover-error.ts
index 205f12ee18b..dd482310a2b 100644
--- a/src/agents/failover-error.ts
+++ b/src/agents/failover-error.ts
@@ -68,20 +68,36 @@ export function resolveFailoverStatus(reason: FailoverReason): number | undefine
   }
 }
 
-function getStatusCode(err: unknown): number | undefined {
+function findErrorProperty<T>(
+  err: unknown,
+  reader: (candidate: unknown) => T | undefined,
+  seen: Set<object> = new Set(),
+): T | undefined {
+  const direct = reader(err);
+  if (direct !== undefined) {
+    return direct;
+  }
+  if (!err || typeof err !== "object") {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  if (seen.has(err)) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  seen.add(err);
+  const candidate = err as { error?: unknown; cause?: unknown };
+  return (
+    findErrorProperty(candidate.error, reader, seen) ??
+    findErrorProperty(candidate.cause, reader, seen)
+  );
+}
+
+function readDirectStatusCode(err: unknown): number | undefined {
   if (!err || typeof err !== "object") {
     return undefined;
   }
-  // Dig into nested `err.error` shapes (e.g. Google Vertex abort wrappers)
-  const nestedError =
-    "error" in err && err.error && typeof err.error === "object"
-      ? (err.error as { status?: unknown; code?: unknown })
-      : undefined;
   const candidate =
     (err as { status?: unknown; statusCode?: unknown }).status ??
-    (err as { statusCode?: unknown }).statusCode ??
-    nestedError?.code ??
-    nestedError?.status;
+    (err as { statusCode?: unknown }).statusCode;
   if (typeof candidate === "number") {
     return candidate;
   }
@@ -91,53 +107,55 @@ function getStatusCode(err: unknown): number | undefined {
   return undefined;
 }
 
-function getErrorCode(err: unknown): string | undefined {
+function getStatusCode(err: unknown): number | undefined {
+  return findErrorProperty(err, readDirectStatusCode);
+}
+
+function readDirectErrorCode(err: unknown): string | undefined {
   if (!err || typeof err !== "object") {
     return undefined;
   }
-  const nestedError =
-    "error" in err && err.error && typeof err.error === "object"
-      ? (err.error as { code?: unknown; status?: unknown })
-      : undefined;
-  const candidate = (err as { code?: unknown }).code ?? nestedError?.status ?? nestedError?.code;
-  if (typeof candidate !== "string") {
+  const directCode = (err as { code?: unknown }).code;
+  if (typeof directCode === "string") {
+    const trimmed = directCode.trim();
+    return trimmed ? trimmed : undefined;
+  }
+  const status = (err as { status?: unknown }).status;
+  if (typeof status !== "string" || /^\d+$/.test(status)) {
     return undefined;
   }
-  const trimmed = candidate.trim();
+  const trimmed = status.trim();
   return trimmed ? trimmed : undefined;
 }
 
-function getErrorMessage(err: unknown): string {
+function getErrorCode(err: unknown): string | undefined {
+  return findErrorProperty(err, readDirectErrorCode);
+}
+
+function readDirectErrorMessage(err: unknown): string | undefined {
   if (err instanceof Error) {
-    return err.message;
+    return err.message || undefined;
   }
   if (typeof err === "string") {
-    return err;
+    return err || undefined;
   }
   if (typeof err === "number" || typeof err === "boolean" || typeof err === "bigint") {
     return String(err);
   }
   if (typeof err === "symbol") {
-    return err.description ?? "";
+    return err.description ?? undefined;
   }
   if (err && typeof err === "object") {
     const message = (err as { message?: unknown }).message;
     if (typeof message === "string") {
-      return message;
-    }
-    // Extract message from nested `err.error.message` (e.g. Google Vertex wrappers)
-    const nestedMessage =
-      "error" in err &&
-      err.error &&
-      typeof err.error === "object" &&
-      typeof (err.error as { message?: unknown }).message === "string"
-        ? ((err.error as { message: string }).message ?? "")
-        : "";
-    if (nestedMessage) {
-      return nestedMessage;
+      return message || undefined;
     }
   }
-  return "";
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+function getErrorMessage(err: unknown): string {
+  return findErrorProperty(err, readDirectErrorMessage) ?? "";
 }
 
 function getErrorCause(err: unknown): unknown {
diff --git a/src/agents/model-fallback.probe.test.ts b/src/agents/model-fallback.probe.test.ts
index 7b7435b1bcc..a351730521f 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-fallback.probe.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-fallback.probe.test.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/config.js";
-import { registerLogTransport, resetLogger, setLoggerOverride } from "../logging/logger.js";
 import type { AuthProfileStore } from "./auth-profiles.js";
+import { registerLogTransport, resetLogger, setLoggerOverride } from "../logging/logger.js";
 import { makeModelFallbackCfg } from "./test-helpers/model-fallback-config-fixture.js";
 
 // Mock auth-profiles module — must be before importing model-fallback
@@ -395,14 +395,6 @@ describe("runWithModelFallback – probe logic", () => {
     // All three candidates must be attempted — the abort must not short-circuit
     expect(run).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
 
-    // Verify the primary error is classified as rate_limit, not timeout — the
-    // cause chain (RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED) must override the parent AbortError message.
-    try {
-      await runWithModelFallback({ cfg, provider: "google", model: "gemini-3-flash-preview", run });
-    } catch (err) {
-      expect(String(err)).toContain("(rate_limit)");
-      expect(String(err)).not.toMatch(/gemini.*\(timeout\)/);
-    }
     expect(run).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, "google", "gemini-3-flash-preview", {
       allowTransientCooldownProbe: true,
     });
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.overflow-compaction.mocks.shared.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.overflow-compaction.mocks.shared.ts
index 3e3d4a83461..dfc2bc0c961 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.overflow-compaction.mocks.shared.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.overflow-compaction.mocks.shared.ts
@@ -209,9 +209,20 @@ vi.mock("../defaults.js", () => ({
   DEFAULT_PROVIDER: "anthropic",
 }));
 
+export const mockedCoerceToFailoverError = vi.fn();
+export const mockedDescribeFailoverError = vi.fn((err: unknown) => ({
+  message: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
+  reason: undefined,
+  status: undefined,
+  code: undefined,
+}));
+export const mockedResolveFailoverStatus = vi.fn();
+
 vi.mock("../failover-error.js", () => ({
   FailoverError: class extends Error {},
-  resolveFailoverStatus: vi.fn(),
+  coerceToFailoverError: mockedCoerceToFailoverError,
+  describeFailoverError: mockedDescribeFailoverError,
+  resolveFailoverStatus: mockedResolveFailoverStatus,
 }));
 
 vi.mock("./lanes.js", () => ({
diff --git a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.overflow-compaction.test.ts b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.overflow-compaction.test.ts
index b9f7707c0b6..8458e840e70 100644
--- a/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.overflow-compaction.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/pi-embedded-runner/run.overflow-compaction.test.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ import {
   mockOverflowRetrySuccess,
   queueOverflowAttemptWithOversizedToolOutput,
 } from "./run.overflow-compaction.fixture.js";
-import { mockedGlobalHookRunner } from "./run.overflow-compaction.mocks.shared.js";
+import {
+  mockedCoerceToFailoverError,
+  mockedDescribeFailoverError,
+  mockedGlobalHookRunner,
+  mockedResolveFailoverStatus,
+} from "./run.overflow-compaction.mocks.shared.js";
 import {
   mockedContextEngine,
   mockedCompactDirect,
@@ -25,6 +30,9 @@ describe("runEmbeddedPiAgent overflow compaction trigger routing", () => {
     vi.clearAllMocks();
     mockedRunEmbeddedAttempt.mockReset();
     mockedCompactDirect.mockReset();
+    mockedCoerceToFailoverError.mockReset();
+    mockedDescribeFailoverError.mockReset();
+    mockedResolveFailoverStatus.mockReset();
     mockedSessionLikelyHasOversizedToolResults.mockReset();
     mockedTruncateOversizedToolResultsInSession.mockReset();
     mockedGlobalHookRunner.runBeforeAgentStart.mockReset();
@@ -36,6 +44,13 @@ describe("runEmbeddedPiAgent overflow compaction trigger routing", () => {
       compacted: false,
       reason: "nothing to compact",
     });
+    mockedCoerceToFailoverError.mockReturnValue(null);
+    mockedDescribeFailoverError.mockImplementation((err: unknown) => ({
+      message: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
+      reason: undefined,
+      status: undefined,
+      code: undefined,
+    }));
     mockedSessionLikelyHasOversizedToolResults.mockReturnValue(false);
     mockedTruncateOversizedToolResultsInSession.mockResolvedValue({
       truncated: false,
@@ -255,4 +270,57 @@ describe("runEmbeddedPiAgent overflow compaction trigger routing", () => {
     expect(result.meta.error?.kind).toBe("retry_limit");
     expect(result.payloads?.[0]?.isError).toBe(true);
   });
+
+  it("normalizes abort-wrapped prompt errors before handing off to model fallback", async () => {
+    const promptError = Object.assign(new Error("request aborted"), {
+      name: "AbortError",
+      cause: {
+        error: {
+          code: 429,
+          message: "Resource has been exhausted (e.g. check quota).",
+          status: "RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED",
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    const normalized = Object.assign(new Error("Resource has been exhausted (e.g. check quota)."), {
+      name: "FailoverError",
+      reason: "rate_limit",
+      status: 429,
+    });
+
+    mockedRunEmbeddedAttempt.mockResolvedValueOnce(makeAttemptResult({ promptError }));
+    mockedCoerceToFailoverError.mockReturnValueOnce(normalized);
+    mockedDescribeFailoverError.mockImplementation((err: unknown) => ({
+      message: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
+      reason: err === normalized ? "rate_limit" : undefined,
+      status: err === normalized ? 429 : undefined,
+      code: undefined,
+    }));
+    mockedResolveFailoverStatus.mockReturnValueOnce(429);
+
+    await expect(
+      runEmbeddedPiAgent({
+        ...overflowBaseRunParams,
+        cfg: {
+          agents: {
+            defaults: {
+              model: {
+                fallbacks: ["openai/gpt-5.2"],
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      }),
+    ).rejects.toBe(normalized);
+
+    expect(mockedCoerceToFailoverError).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      promptError,
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        provider: "anthropic",
+        model: "test-model",
+        profileId: "test-profile",
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(mockedResolveFailoverStatus).toHaveBeenCalledWith("rate_limit");
+  });
 });