diff --git a/internal/backend/github_enrichment.go b/internal/backend/github_enrichment.go
index d135ee6b..a105a865 100644
--- a/internal/backend/github_enrichment.go
+++ b/internal/backend/github_enrichment.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package backend
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/base64"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
 	"regexp"
@@ -320,11 +321,11 @@ func (c *GitHubClient) hydrateTopRepoEvidence(ctx context.Context, repos []TopRe
 	for index := 0; index < limit; index++ {
 		owner := valueOrString(repos[index].OwnerLogin, fallbackOwner)
 		readme, readmeErr := c.fetchReadmeDocument(ctx, owner, repos[index].Name)
-		if readmeErr != nil && readmeErr != ErrGitHubUnavailable {
+		if readmeErr != nil && !errors.Is(readmeErr, ErrGitHubUnavailable) {
 			return readmeErr
 		}
 		languages, languageErr := c.fetchRepoLanguages(ctx, owner, repos[index].Name)
-		if languageErr != nil && languageErr != ErrGitHubUnavailable {
+		if languageErr != nil && !errors.Is(languageErr, ErrGitHubUnavailable) {
 			return languageErr
 		}
 		if readme != nil {
diff --git a/internal/backend/github_enrichment_test.go b/internal/backend/github_enrichment_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..982420ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/backend/github_enrichment_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+package backend
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// A plain 403 (no Retry-After, X-Ratelimit-Remaining != 0) wraps
+// ErrGitHubUnavailable. hydrateTopRepoEvidence used direct comparison, which
+// cannot match that sentinel and aborted the remaining candidate repositories.
+
+func newEvidenceTestClient(t *testing.T, handler http.HandlerFunc) *GitHubClient {
+	t.Helper()
+	server := httptest.NewServer(handler)
+	t.Cleanup(server.Close)
+	return NewGitHubClient("token").withBaseURL(server.URL).withHTTPClient(server.Client())
+}
+
+// base64 of a README carrying install/usage/api/testing signals, so the hydrated
+// repository has real parsed features rather than an empty document.
+const evidenceReadmeBase64 = "IyBFeGFtcGxlCgpBIHNtYWxsIGxpYnJhcnkuCgojIyBJbnN0YWxsCgpgYGBiYXNoCm5wbSBpIGV4YW1wbGUKYGBgCgojIyBVc2FnZQoKU2VlIHRoZSBkZW1vLgoKIyMgQVBJCgphcGkgc3VyZmFjZQoKIyMgVGVzdGluZwoKcnVuIHRlc3RzCg=="
+
+func TestHydrateTopRepoEvidenceContinuesAfterPlainForbidden(t *testing.T) {
+	requested := map[string]int{}
+	client := newEvidenceTestClient(t, func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		requested[r.URL.Path]++
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		w.Header().Set("X-Ratelimit-Remaining", "4998")
+		switch {
+		// The first repository's README is forbidden on every attempt.
+		case r.URL.Path == "/repos/alice/first/readme":
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusForbidden)
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"message":"Forbidden","documentation_url":"https://docs.github.com"}`))
+		case r.URL.Path == "/repos/alice/first/languages":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"Go":1200}`))
+		case r.URL.Path == "/repos/alice/first/contents":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`[{"name":"main.go"}]`))
+		case r.URL.Path == "/repos/alice/second/readme":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"path":"README.md","encoding":"base64","size":120,"content":"` + evidenceReadmeBase64 + `"}`))
+		case r.URL.Path == "/repos/alice/second/languages":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"TypeScript":800}`))
+		case r.URL.Path == "/repos/alice/second/contents":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`[{"name":"src"}]`))
+		default:
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"message":"Not Found"}`))
+		}
+	})
+
+	repos := []TopRepo{
+		{Name: "first", OwnerLogin: stringPointer("alice"), Stars: 40},
+		{Name: "second", OwnerLogin: stringPointer("alice"), Stars: 20},
+	}
+	if err := client.hydrateTopRepoEvidence(context.Background(), repos, "alice", 6); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("hydrateTopRepoEvidence returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// The forbidden README must not stop the loop: the second repository still gets
+	// its README, languages and root listing.
+	if requested["/repos/alice/second/readme"] == 0 {
+		t.Errorf("second repository README was never requested; paths seen = %v", requested)
+	}
+	if repos[1].Readme == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("second repository lost its README despite only the first being forbidden")
+	}
+	if len(repos[1].Languages) != 1 || repos[1].Languages[0].Name != "TypeScript" {
+		t.Errorf("second repository languages = %#v", repos[1].Languages)
+	}
+	if len(repos[1].RootPaths) != 1 || repos[1].RootPaths[0] != "src" {
+		t.Errorf("second repository root paths = %#v", repos[1].RootPaths)
+	}
+	// The degraded repository keeps its other evidence and simply has no README.
+	if repos[0].Readme != nil {
+		t.Errorf("first repository should have no README, got %#v", repos[0].Readme)
+	}
+	if len(repos[0].Languages) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("first repository languages = %#v, want the languages call to have succeeded", repos[0].Languages)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHydrateTopRepoEvidenceContinuesAfterForbiddenLanguages(t *testing.T) {
+	client := newEvidenceTestClient(t, func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		w.Header().Set("X-Ratelimit-Remaining", "4998")
+		switch r.URL.Path {
+		case "/repos/alice/first/readme", "/repos/alice/second/readme":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"path":"README.md","encoding":"base64","size":120,"content":"` + evidenceReadmeBase64 + `"}`))
+		case "/repos/alice/first/languages":
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusForbidden)
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"message":"Forbidden"}`))
+		case "/repos/alice/second/languages":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"TypeScript":800}`))
+		default:
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`[]`))
+		}
+	})
+
+	repos := []TopRepo{{Name: "first", OwnerLogin: stringPointer("alice")}, {Name: "second", OwnerLogin: stringPointer("alice")}}
+	if err := client.hydrateTopRepoEvidence(context.Background(), repos, "alice", 6); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a plain languages 403 must not abort later evidence: %v", err)
+	}
+	if repos[1].Readme == nil || len(repos[1].Languages) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("second repository was not hydrated: %#v", repos[1])
+	}
+	if len(repos[0].Languages) != 0 || repos[0].Readme == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("forbidden languages should retain the README and omit languages: %#v", repos[0])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHydrateTopRepoEvidenceStillAbortsOnRateLimit(t *testing.T) {
+	requested := map[string]int{}
+	client := newEvidenceTestClient(t, func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		requested[r.URL.Path]++
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		if r.URL.Path == "/repos/alice/first/readme" {
+			// A real rate-limit signal: remaining == 0. This is ErrGitHubRateLimited,
+			// not ErrGitHubUnavailable, and must still stop collection.
+			w.Header().Set("X-Ratelimit-Remaining", "0")
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusForbidden)
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"message":"API rate limit exceeded"}`))
+			return
+		}
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"message":"Not Found"}`))
+	})
+
+	repos := []TopRepo{
+		{Name: "first", OwnerLogin: stringPointer("alice"), Stars: 40},
+		{Name: "second", OwnerLogin: stringPointer("alice"), Stars: 20},
+	}
+	err := client.hydrateTopRepoEvidence(context.Background(), repos, "alice", 6)
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrGitHubRateLimited) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected ErrGitHubRateLimited after retries, got %v", err)
+	}
+	if requested["/repos/alice/first/readme"] != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("primary rate-limit response should be retried once, got %d requests", requested["/repos/alice/first/readme"])
+	}
+	if requested["/repos/alice/second/readme"] != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("rate limited pool should abort, but later repos were requested: %v", requested)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHydrateTopRepoEvidenceTreatsMissingReadmeAsAbsent(t *testing.T) {
+	// 404 is returned unwrapped as ErrGitHubAccountNotFound and means "no README".
+	// It must stay non-fatal after the errors.Is change.
+	client := newEvidenceTestClient(t, func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		switch r.URL.Path {
+		case "/repos/alice/first/readme":
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"message":"Not Found"}`))
+		case "/repos/alice/first/languages":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"Go":10}`))
+		case "/repos/alice/first/contents":
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`[]`))
+		default:
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"message":"Not Found"}`))
+		}
+	})
+	repos := []TopRepo{{Name: "first", OwnerLogin: stringPointer("alice"), Stars: 1}}
+	if err := client.hydrateTopRepoEvidence(context.Background(), repos, "alice", 6); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("a missing README must not abort collection: %v", err)
+	}
+	if repos[0].Readme != nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected no README, got %#v", repos[0].Readme)
+	}
+	if valueOrString(repos[0].ReadmeExcerpt, "") != "" {
+		t.Errorf("expected empty README excerpt, got %q", valueOrString(repos[0].ReadmeExcerpt, ""))
+	}
+}