diff --git a/core/artwork/worker.go b/core/artwork/worker.go
index 237cab8c3..989cc604b 100644
--- a/core/artwork/worker.go
+++ b/core/artwork/worker.go
@@ -228,7 +228,9 @@ func (w *Worker) process(ctx context.Context, item model.ArtworkQueueItem) outco
 		}
 		// Retry budget exhausted: stop retrying. A bare failure settles absent so the stale-absent
 		// sweep (and a page view) can still recover it; a stale-found keeps its already-served art.
-		if out == outcomeFailed {
+		// Art we are already serving is kept too: exhaustion means the source stayed unreachable,
+		// not that the entity lost its cover.
+		if out == outcomeFailed && !w.hasResolvedArtwork(ctx, item) {
 			writeAbsent(ctx, w.deps.ds.Artwork(ctx), item)
 		}
 		if err := queue.DeleteIfUnchanged(item.ItemKind, item.ItemID, item.ImageType, item.RetryAt); err != nil {
@@ -238,6 +240,16 @@ func (w *Worker) process(ctx context.Context, item model.ArtworkQueueItem) outco
 	return out
 }
 
+// hasResolvedArtwork reports whether the item already has a hash-bearing state row.
+func (w *Worker) hasResolvedArtwork(ctx context.Context, item model.ArtworkQueueItem) bool {
+	kind, ok := model.ParseKind(item.ItemKind)
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+	ia, err := w.deps.ds.Artwork(ctx).GetItemArtwork(kind, item.ItemID, item.ImageType)
+	return err == nil && ia.Hash != ""
+}
+
 // precache warms the resize cache for a newly-acquired image at the UI cover size, so the
 // first UI request is a cache hit. Skipped when disabled; failures are debug-only.
 func (w *Worker) precache(ctx context.Context, item model.ArtworkQueueItem) {
diff --git a/core/artwork/worker_test.go b/core/artwork/worker_test.go
index cf1969c73..5d280edcc 100644
--- a/core/artwork/worker_test.go
+++ b/core/artwork/worker_test.go
@@ -336,6 +336,33 @@ var _ = Describe("Worker", func() {
 			Expect(ia.Hash).To(BeEmpty())
 		})
 
+		It("keeps already-served art when the retry budget is exhausted", func() {
+			conf.Server.CoverArtPriority = "external"
+			ds.MockedAlbum.(*tests.MockAlbumRepo).SetData(model.Albums{{ID: "al10", Name: "Album"}})
+			Expect(artRepo.PutItemArtwork(&model.ItemArtwork{
+				ItemKind: "al", ItemID: "al10", ImageType: model.ImageTypePrimary,
+				Hash: "cafebabe", Source: "external:lastfm",
+			})).To(Succeed())
+			imageAgents(&fakeImageAgent{name: "failAgent", err: errors.New("agent timed out")})
+			w = NewWorker(ds, store, ag, ffm, broker, imgCache)
+			Expect(queueRepo.Enqueue(model.ArtworkQueueItem{ItemKind: "al", ItemID: "al10"})).To(Succeed())
+			for k, v := range queueRepo.Data {
+				if v.ItemID == "al10" {
+					v.EnqueuedAt = time.Now().Add(-(giveUpAfter + time.Hour))
+					queueRepo.Data[k] = v
+				}
+			}
+
+			n, err := w.drain(ctx, 1)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(n).To(Equal(1))
+
+			Expect(findQueued(queueRepo, "al", "al10")).To(BeNil())
+			ia, err := artRepo.GetItemArtwork(model.KindAlbumArtwork, "al10", model.ImageTypePrimary)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(ia.Hash).To(Equal("cafebabe"), "a persistent outage must not discard served art")
+		})
+
 		It("resolves a private playlist under an admin context instead of failing forever", func() {
 			ds.MockedUser = adminUserRepo()
 			vds := &visibilityPlaylistDS{