diff --git a/cmd/atenet/internal/router/xds.go b/cmd/atenet/internal/router/xds.go
index 964fc5e9..7eeabc9a 100644
--- a/cmd/atenet/internal/router/xds.go
+++ b/cmd/atenet/internal/router/xds.go
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import (
 	endpointgrpc "github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/envoy/service/endpoint/v3"
 	listenergrpc "github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/envoy/service/listener/v3"
 	routegrpc "github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/envoy/service/route/v3"
+	typev3 "github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/envoy/type/v3"
 	"github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/pkg/cache/types"
 	cachev3 "github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/pkg/cache/v3"
 	resourcev3 "github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/pkg/resource/v3"
@@ -145,7 +146,6 @@ func (x *XdsServer) UpdateSnapshot() error {
 		resourcev3.RouteType:    routes,
 		resourcev3.ListenerType: listeners,
 	})
-
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to build xDS Snapshot: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -264,6 +264,21 @@ func (x *XdsServer) buildDynamicForwardProxyCluster() *clusterv3.Cluster {
 				TypedConfig: clusterConfigAny,
 			},
 		},
+		CircuitBreakers: &clusterv3.CircuitBreakers{
+			Thresholds: []*clusterv3.CircuitBreakers_Thresholds{
+				{
+					Priority: corev3.RoutingPriority_DEFAULT,
+					RetryBudget: &clusterv3.CircuitBreakers_Thresholds_RetryBudget{
+						// Set to Envoy's default to scale retries with load.
+						BudgetPercent: &typev3.Percent{Value: 20.0},
+						// Floor for low-traffic periods, raised above the default
+						// of 3 so a burst of simultaneous first-request resumes
+						// is not throttled when overall load is low.
+						MinRetryConcurrency: wrapperspb.UInt32(20),
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 }
 
@@ -287,6 +302,22 @@ func (x *XdsServer) buildRoutes() *routev3.RouteConfiguration {
 									Cluster: "dynamic_forward_proxy_cluster",
 								},
 								Timeout: durationpb.New(10 * time.Second),
+								// A request can arrive at the router in the brief window
+								// after an actor is resumed but before its workload is
+								// accepting connections, or while a pooled upstream
+								// connection to a just-suspended actor is going stale.
+								// Either case surfaces as an upstream reset/connection
+								// failure before response headers. Retry these transient
+								// failures (with backoff) so the request lands once the
+								// listener is ready instead of returning a 503.
+								RetryPolicy: &routev3.RetryPolicy{
+									RetryOn:    "reset,connect-failure",
+									NumRetries: wrapperspb.UInt32(5),
+									RetryBackOff: &routev3.RetryPolicy_RetryBackOff{
+										BaseInterval: durationpb.New(50 * time.Millisecond),
+										MaxInterval:  durationpb.New(1 * time.Second),
+									},
+								},
 							},
 						},
 					},
diff --git a/cmd/atenet/internal/router/xds_test.go b/cmd/atenet/internal/router/xds_test.go
index 92e34764..a9a4cd6b 100644
--- a/cmd/atenet/internal/router/xds_test.go
+++ b/cmd/atenet/internal/router/xds_test.go
@@ -83,6 +83,17 @@ func TestXdsServer_UpdateSnapshot(t *testing.T) {
 		if c.GetName() != "dynamic_forward_proxy_cluster" {
 			t.Errorf("Expected 'dynamic_forward_proxy_cluster', got %s", c.GetName())
 		}
+
+		// A retry budget must replace Envoy's static default of 3 concurrent
+		// retries so simultaneous first-request resumes are not throttled.
+		thresholds := c.GetCircuitBreakers().GetThresholds()
+		if len(thresholds) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("Expected 1 circuit-breaker threshold, got %d", len(thresholds))
+		}
+		budget := thresholds[0].GetRetryBudget()
+		if budget == nil {
+			t.Fatal("Expected a retry budget on the dynamic_forward_proxy cluster, got none")
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Verify Virtual Hosts generated inside Route configuration
@@ -116,6 +127,18 @@ func TestXdsServer_UpdateSnapshot(t *testing.T) {
 		if fallbackRoute.GetMatch().GetPrefix() != "/" {
 			t.Errorf("Expected path mapping prefix '/', got '%s'", fallbackRoute.GetMatch().GetPrefix())
 		}
+
+		// Transient upstream resets/connection failures during actor resume must
+		// be retried rather than surfaced as 503s.
+		retry := fallbackRoute.GetRoute().GetRetryPolicy()
+		if retry == nil {
+			t.Fatal("Expected a retry policy on the actor route, got none")
+		}
+		for _, on := range []string{"reset", "connect-failure"} {
+			if !strings.Contains(retry.GetRetryOn(), on) {
+				t.Errorf("Expected retry_on to include %q, got %q", on, retry.GetRetryOn())
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Verify listeners generated