diff --git a/nix/agent-modules/default.nix b/nix/agent-modules/default.nix
index 3bdbcc56..e84e51cc 100644
--- a/nix/agent-modules/default.nix
+++ b/nix/agent-modules/default.nix
@@ -131,6 +131,22 @@
     # that bypasses the daemon (e.g. direct nix-store invocations).
     nix.settings.sandbox-fallback = lib.mkForce true;
 
+    # Fall back to a local build when a remote builder can't be reached,
+    # instead of hard-failing the whole invocation.
+    #
+    # This is NOT redundant with the host daemon's own setting, and that
+    # is the subtle part: `fallback` (protocol `tryFallback`) is a *client*
+    # option. Every nix client transmits it to the daemon on connect, so
+    # the client — i.e. this container — decides whether a failed remote
+    # dispatch may degrade to a local build, even though the build itself
+    # executes on the host daemon under NIX_REMOTE=daemon below. Contrast
+    # `builders`, which is genuinely daemon-side and which an untrusted
+    # client cannot override. Without this, a container inherits nix's
+    # default `false`, so a momentarily unreachable remote builder kills
+    # the invocation while the exact same build started on the host
+    # succeeds.
+    nix.settings.fallback = true;
+
     # Route ALL nix invocations in this container through the host
     # nix-daemon socket, regardless of whether the caller is root or
     # non-root. Without this, root contexts (PID 1, systemd services
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-ci.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-ci.nix
index dcce7244..cd8e3a34 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-ci.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-ci.nix
@@ -205,8 +205,9 @@ in
         # Route the container's nix through the HOST nix-daemon (as the agent
         # containers do) instead of an in-container daemon: with
         # NIX_REMOTE=daemon below, builds run on the host daemon and inherit
-        # its buildMachines + max-jobs + fallback, so a remote builder that's
-        # down degrades to a local build instead of hard-failing the check.
+        # its buildMachines + max-jobs. Note that `fallback` is NOT inherited
+        # that way — it's a client-side option transmitted per connection, so
+        # the container sets it itself (see nix.settings.fallback below).
         # Bind the *directory* (not the socket file) so the mount stays live
         # across a host nix-daemon restart, which recreates the socket inode.
         "/nix/var/nix/daemon-socket" = {
@@ -252,6 +253,13 @@ in
           # through the host daemon (the daemon governs sandboxing).
           # See docs/gotchas.md and harness-base.nix.
           nix.settings.sandbox-fallback = lib.mkForce true;
+          # Degrade to a local build when a remote builder is unreachable
+          # rather than failing the check. `fallback` is a client-side
+          # option (transmitted per daemon connection), so routing through
+          # the host daemon does NOT inherit the host's value — the
+          # container has to set it. Same reasoning as the agent
+          # containers; see nix/agent-modules/default.nix.
+          nix.settings.fallback = true;
           nix.settings.experimental-features = [
             "nix-command"
             "flakes"