diff --git a/lib/server/rateLimit.ts b/lib/server/rateLimit.ts
index 2606ba8..a27c535 100644
--- a/lib/server/rateLimit.ts
+++ b/lib/server/rateLimit.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,47 @@
 import redis from "./redis";
 
+// Per-instance, volatile fallback windows used only when Redis is unreachable.
+// They reset on restart and are not shared across instances, so they are
+// best-effort defense-in-depth rather than a global guarantee. The point is
+// that a Redis outage must not turn the limiter into a fully open door:
+// without this, an attacker who can detect a Redis blip gets unlimited login
+// and registration attempts.
+const fallbackWindows = new Map<string, { count: number; resetAt: number }>();
+const FALLBACK_MAX_KEYS = 50_000;
+
+function fallbackRateLimit(
+  key: string,
+  limit: number,
+  windowMs: number
+): { success: boolean; reset: number; remaining: number } {
+  const now = Date.now();
+
+  // Prune expired windows once the map grows large so a long outage with many
+  // distinct keys (one per IP) can't grow memory without bound.
+  if (fallbackWindows.size > FALLBACK_MAX_KEYS) {
+    for (const [k, window] of fallbackWindows) {
+      if (window.resetAt <= now) fallbackWindows.delete(k);
+    }
+  }
+
+  const existing = fallbackWindows.get(key);
+  if (!existing || existing.resetAt <= now) {
+    const window = { count: 1, resetAt: now + windowMs };
+    fallbackWindows.set(key, window);
+    return { success: true, reset: window.resetAt, remaining: limit - 1 };
+  }
+
+  existing.count += 1;
+  return {
+    success: existing.count <= limit,
+    reset: existing.resetAt,
+    remaining: Math.max(0, limit - existing.count),
+  };
+}
+
 /**
- * Basic fixed-window rate limiter using Redis.
+ * Basic fixed-window rate limiter using Redis, with an in-process fallback
+ * when Redis is unreachable.
  * @param key The unique key to rate limit (e.g. "rl:login:ip:127.0.0.1")
  * @param limit Maximum number of allowed requests in the window
  * @param windowMs The time window in milliseconds
@@ -19,24 +59,24 @@ export async function rateLimit(
   try {
     results = await multi.exec();
   } catch {
-    // Fail open on a Redis connection error rather than locking everyone out.
-    return { success: true, reset: Date.now() + windowMs, remaining: limit };
+    // Redis unreachable: fall back to the in-process limiter rather than
+    // failing fully open.
+    return fallbackRateLimit(key, limit, windowMs);
   }
 
   if (!results) {
-    // If multi fails, fail open to prevent locking out users on Redis transient errors
-    return { success: true, reset: Date.now() + windowMs, remaining: limit };
+    return fallbackRateLimit(key, limit, windowMs);
   }
-  
+
   const count = results[0][1] as number;
   let ttl = results[1][1] as number;
-  
+
   if (ttl === -1 || ttl === -2) {
     // Key has no expiration or didn't exist when INCR ran
     await redis.pexpire(key, windowMs);
     ttl = windowMs;
   }
-  
+
   return {
     success: count <= limit,
     reset: Date.now() + ttl,
diff --git a/tests/unit/rate-limit.test.ts b/tests/unit/rate-limit.test.ts
index 354be08..3b3f723 100644
--- a/tests/unit/rate-limit.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/rate-limit.test.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ const fakeRedis = {
   counts: new Map<string, number>(),
   expires: new Map<string, number>(),
   failNextMulti: false,
+  alwaysFailMulti: false,
   pttlOf(key: string): number {
     const exp = this.expires.get(key);
     if (exp === undefined) return -1;
@@ -29,6 +30,9 @@ const fakeRedis = {
         return chain;
       },
       async exec(): Promise<[unknown, number][] | null> {
+        if (self.alwaysFailMulti) {
+          return null;
+        }
         if (self.failNextMulti) {
           self.failNextMulti = false;
           return null;
@@ -52,6 +56,7 @@ const fakeRedis = {
     this.counts.clear();
     this.expires.clear();
     this.failNextMulti = false;
+    this.alwaysFailMulti = false;
   },
 };
 
@@ -100,11 +105,37 @@ describe('rateLimit', () => {
     expect(overflow.remaining).toBe(0);
   });
 
-  it('fails open when multi.exec() returns null (transient redis error)', async () => {
+  it('falls back to the in-process limiter on a transient redis error', async () => {
     fakeRedis.failNextMulti = true;
     const result = await rateLimit('rl:test:transient', 5, 1000);
+    // The fallback still counts the request rather than failing fully open.
     expect(result.success).toBe(true);
-    expect(result.remaining).toBe(5);
+    expect(result.remaining).toBe(4);
+  });
+
+  it('enforces the limit in-process while redis is unavailable', async () => {
+    fakeRedis.alwaysFailMulti = true;
+    const key = 'rl:test:fallback-enforce';
+    for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+      expect((await rateLimit(key, 3, 10_000)).success).toBe(true);
+    }
+    const overflow = await rateLimit(key, 3, 10_000);
+    expect(overflow.success).toBe(false);
+    expect(overflow.remaining).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('resets the in-process window after it expires', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    try {
+      fakeRedis.alwaysFailMulti = true;
+      const key = 'rl:test:fallback-reset';
+      expect((await rateLimit(key, 1, 1000)).success).toBe(true);
+      expect((await rateLimit(key, 1, 1000)).success).toBe(false);
+      vi.advanceTimersByTime(1001);
+      expect((await rateLimit(key, 1, 1000)).success).toBe(true);
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers();
+    }
   });
 
   it('isolates buckets by key', async () => {