diff --git a/src/review/visual/capture.ts b/src/review/visual/capture.ts
index 5e75c9d96..50bd42cce 100644
--- a/src/review/visual/capture.ts
+++ b/src/review/visual/capture.ts
@@ -707,6 +707,9 @@ export async function buildCapture(
   let previewFailed = target.previewFailed === true;
   let previewUnobtainable = false;
   let previewPending = false;
+  // Whether the deployments read below threw. The structurally-unobtainable flag's contract (#9881) is that
+  // the deployments read SUCCEEDED and found none — so a call where it threw must never set the flag (#10059).
+  let deploymentsReadFailed = false;
   // Hoisted above the discovery block below (was previously computed after it) so the eternal-"loading"-
   // placeholder fix's `buildState === "absent"` branch can consult it -- seeing this whole file top to
   // bottom, its own later use (guarding the actions_fallback dispatch) is unchanged.
@@ -721,8 +724,13 @@ export async function buildCapture(
         const status = await getLatestDeploymentStatus({ token, repo, sha: target.headSha, ref: target.headRef, apiVersion, rateLimitAdmissionKey });
         previewBase = status.url ?? "";
         previewFailed = status.failed;
+        // getLatestDeploymentStatus reports a read failure (403/rate-limit/5xx) via `error: true` rather than
+        // throwing — that call did NOT prove there is no deployment, so it must suppress previewUnobtainable
+        // exactly as a thrown read does (#10059).
+        if (status.error === true) deploymentsReadFailed = true;
       } catch {
         previewBase = "";
+        deploymentsReadFailed = true;
       }
       if (!previewBase && !previewFailed && target.previewFromChecks && target.headSha) {
         previewBase = (await findPreviewUrlFromChecks({ token, repo, sha: target.headSha, apiVersion, rateLimitAdmissionKey })) ?? "";
@@ -745,7 +753,7 @@ export async function buildCapture(
               await recordPreviewPollAttempt(env, target.headSha);
               previewPending = true;
             }
-          } else if (buildState === "absent" && !actionsFallbackEnabled) {
+          } else if ((buildState === "absent" || buildState === "unreadable") && !actionsFallbackEnabled) {
             // Eternal-"loading"-placeholder fix: 'absent' means no Workers-Builds-named check-run was found
             // AT ALL, not "still building" -- previously this fell through as a silent no-op, leaving
             // previewPending/previewFailed both false, so the caller's afterPlaceholder always resolved to
@@ -763,7 +771,11 @@ export async function buildCapture(
               // #9881: `absent` means no preview check-run was ever found, and the budget is now spent -- so
               // this is not a late or broken deploy, it is a repo with no preview pipeline. Recording it is
               // what lets the screenshot-table gate decline to CLOSE on evidence it could never obtain.
-              previewUnobtainable = true;
+              // #10059: record it ONLY on a PROVEN absence — the check-run read succeeded (`absent`, not the
+              // `unreadable` catch) AND the deployments read succeeded. A transient read failure is not proof.
+              if (buildState === "absent" && !deploymentsReadFailed) {
+                previewUnobtainable = true;
+              }
             } else {
               await recordPreviewPollAttempt(env, target.headSha);
               previewPending = true;
diff --git a/src/review/visual/preview-url.ts b/src/review/visual/preview-url.ts
index fadc335e2..9c2075e1c 100644
--- a/src/review/visual/preview-url.ts
+++ b/src/review/visual/preview-url.ts
@@ -307,8 +307,10 @@ export async function findPreviewUrlFromPrComments(params: {
 /**
  * State of the per-PR preview BUILD (Cloudflare Workers Builds check-run) for a head SHA, so capture can tell
  * "still building / its URL-comment is just lagging" (keep polling) apart from "failed" (show the terminal
- * failed card) and "no preview build at all" (don't poll). Returns 'absent' on any read failure (fail-safe:
- * never an infinite poll on a transient error).
+ * failed card) and "no preview build at all" (don't poll). A SUCCESSFUL read that finds no matching check-run
+ * returns 'absent'; a read that THREW returns 'unreadable' (still a value — the "never an infinite poll on a
+ * transient error" fail-safe is preserved — but a distinct one, so a caller can tell a proven "no build here"
+ * apart from "couldn't check", e.g. before recording structurally-unobtainable capture, #10059).
  */
 export async function getPreviewBuildState(params: {
   token: string;
@@ -316,7 +318,7 @@ export async function getPreviewBuildState(params: {
   sha: string;
   apiVersion?: string | undefined;
   rateLimitAdmissionKey?: GitHubRateLimitAdmissionKey | undefined;
-}): Promise<"building" | "succeeded" | "failed" | "absent"> {
+}): Promise<"building" | "succeeded" | "failed" | "absent" | "unreadable"> {
   const base = `https://api.github.com/repos/${params.repo.owner}/${params.repo.repo}`;
   const opts = { token: params.token, apiVersion: params.apiVersion, rateLimitAdmissionKey: params.rateLimitAdmissionKey };
   try {
@@ -333,7 +335,7 @@ export async function getPreviewBuildState(params: {
     );
     return state ?? "absent";
   } catch {
-    return "absent";
+    return "unreadable";
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/unit/preview-url.test.ts b/test/unit/preview-url.test.ts
index 31b8fd43f..6685c9bd3 100644
--- a/test/unit/preview-url.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/preview-url.test.ts
@@ -204,9 +204,10 @@ describe("preview-url pagination (#7450)", () => {
     await expect(getPreviewBuildState({ token: "t", repo: REPO, sha: "s3" })).resolves.toBe("absent");
   });
 
-  it("getPreviewBuildState is bounded and degrades to absent on a later-page failure", async () => {
+  it("getPreviewBuildState is bounded, returns absent when the read completes empty, and unreadable when a later-page read fails (#10059)", async () => {
     const spin = vi.fn(async () => Response.json({ check_runs: [] }, { headers: { link: NEXT_LINK } }));
     vi.stubGlobal("fetch", spin);
+    // A read that COMPLETED across every page and found no build is a genuine absence.
     await expect(getPreviewBuildState({ token: "t", repo: REPO, sha: "spin" })).resolves.toBe("absent");
     expect(spin).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(10); // PREVIEW_LIST_MAX_PAGES
 
@@ -215,7 +216,9 @@ describe("preview-url pagination (#7450)", () => {
       return Response.json({ check_runs: [] }, { headers: { link: NEXT_LINK } });
     });
     vi.stubGlobal("fetch", failLater);
-    await expect(getPreviewBuildState({ token: "t", repo: REPO, sha: "fail" })).resolves.toBe("absent");
+    // A read that THREW (here, mid-pagination) never proved absence — it is unreadable, still a value so the
+    // caller never infinite-polls, but distinct from a genuine empty read (#10059).
+    await expect(getPreviewBuildState({ token: "t", repo: REPO, sha: "fail" })).resolves.toBe("unreadable");
     expect(failLater).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
   });
 
diff --git a/test/unit/visual-capture.test.ts b/test/unit/visual-capture.test.ts
index 2ef7a5821..998b1f173 100644
--- a/test/unit/visual-capture.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/visual-capture.test.ts
@@ -342,6 +342,71 @@ describe("visual capture preview discovery", () => {
     await expect(previewPollAttemptCount(env, "budget-head-2")).resolves.toBe(MAX_PREVIEW_POLL_ATTEMPTS);
   });
 
+  const captureAt = (env: Env, headSha: string, prNumber: number) =>
+    buildCapture(env, "installation-token", { repoFullName: "owner/repo", prNumber, headSha, previewFromChecks: true }, ["apps/loopover-ui/src/routes/app.index.tsx"]);
+
+  it("REGRESSION (#10059): a rejecting check-runs read at an exhausted budget yields previewUnobtainable false, not a proven absence", async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", async (input: RequestInfo | URL) => {
+      const url = input.toString();
+      if (url.includes("/deployments?")) return Response.json([]);
+      if (url.includes("/status")) return Response.json({ statuses: [] });
+      if (url.includes("/check-runs")) throw new Error("simulated GitHub read failure");
+      if (url.includes("/comments")) return Response.json([]);
+      return new Response("not found", { status: 404 });
+    });
+    const env = createTestEnv({ PUBLIC_API_ORIGIN: "https://worker.example", PUBLIC_SITE_ORIGIN: "", REVIEW_AUDIT: memoryReviewAudit() });
+    for (let i = 0; i < MAX_PREVIEW_POLL_ATTEMPTS; i += 1) await recordPreviewPollAttempt(env, "unreadable-head");
+    const result = await captureAt(env, "unreadable-head", 21);
+    expect(result.previewUnobtainable).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.previewPending).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("#9881 pinned: a SUCCEEDING check-runs read that finds no preview build at an exhausted budget yields previewUnobtainable true", async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", async (input: RequestInfo | URL) => {
+      const url = input.toString();
+      if (url.includes("/deployments?")) return Response.json([]);
+      if (url.includes("/status")) return Response.json({ statuses: [] });
+      if (url.includes("/check-runs")) return Response.json({ check_runs: [{ name: "lint", status: "completed", conclusion: "success" }] });
+      if (url.includes("/comments")) return Response.json([]);
+      return new Response("not found", { status: 404 });
+    });
+    const env = createTestEnv({ PUBLIC_API_ORIGIN: "https://worker.example", PUBLIC_SITE_ORIGIN: "", REVIEW_AUDIT: memoryReviewAudit() });
+    for (let i = 0; i < MAX_PREVIEW_POLL_ATTEMPTS; i += 1) await recordPreviewPollAttempt(env, "absent-head");
+    const result = await captureAt(env, "absent-head", 22);
+    expect(result.previewUnobtainable).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("REGRESSION (#10059): a rejecting deployments read suppresses previewUnobtainable even when the check-runs read succeeds empty", async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", async (input: RequestInfo | URL) => {
+      const url = input.toString();
+      if (url.includes("/deployments?")) throw new Error("simulated deployments read failure");
+      if (url.includes("/status")) return Response.json({ statuses: [] });
+      if (url.includes("/check-runs")) return Response.json({ check_runs: [{ name: "lint", status: "completed", conclusion: "success" }] });
+      if (url.includes("/comments")) return Response.json([]);
+      return new Response("not found", { status: 404 });
+    });
+    const env = createTestEnv({ PUBLIC_API_ORIGIN: "https://worker.example", PUBLIC_SITE_ORIGIN: "", REVIEW_AUDIT: memoryReviewAudit() });
+    for (let i = 0; i < MAX_PREVIEW_POLL_ATTEMPTS; i += 1) await recordPreviewPollAttempt(env, "deploy-fail-head");
+    const result = await captureAt(env, "deploy-fail-head", 23);
+    expect(result.previewUnobtainable).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("REGRESSION (#10059): a sustained GitHub read failure across the whole poll budget never marks capture structurally unobtainable", async () => {
+    vi.stubGlobal("fetch", async (input: RequestInfo | URL) => {
+      const url = input.toString();
+      if (url.includes("/deployments?")) throw new Error("read failure");
+      if (url.includes("/check-runs")) throw new Error("read failure");
+      if (url.includes("/comments")) return Response.json([]);
+      if (url.includes("/status")) return Response.json({ statuses: [] });
+      return new Response("not found", { status: 404 });
+    });
+    const env = createTestEnv({ PUBLIC_API_ORIGIN: "https://worker.example", PUBLIC_SITE_ORIGIN: "", REVIEW_AUDIT: memoryReviewAudit() });
+    for (let i = 0; i <= MAX_PREVIEW_POLL_ATTEMPTS; i += 1) {
+      const result = await captureAt(env, "sustained-fail-head", 24);
+      expect(result.previewUnobtainable).toBe(false);
+    }
+  });
+
   it("eternal-loading-placeholder fix: marks the capture pending (not silently ignored) when no matching preview check run exists at all (buildState 'absent') and no actions_fallback is configured", async () => {
     vi.stubGlobal("fetch", async (input: RequestInfo | URL) => {
       const url = input.toString();