diff --git a/agent/nous_rate_guard.py b/agent/nous_rate_guard.py
index d6c2729b8a..d7095a38b3 100644
--- a/agent/nous_rate_guard.py
+++ b/agent/nous_rate_guard.py
@@ -159,9 +159,13 @@ def welcome_refusal_from_headers(
     its body named) into the ``parse_welcome_refusal`` shape. Long wait or an empty bucket =
     ``rate_limited``; a short or unexplained one = ``at_capacity``. A missing wait stays 0 so the
     breaker never trips on a guess."""
-    wait = _parse_reset_seconds(headers) or body_wait or 0.0
-    empty = any(remaining is not None and remaining <= 0
-                for remaining, _reset in _parse_buckets_from_headers(headers).values())
+    buckets = _parse_buckets_from_headers(headers).values()
+    # Only an empty bucket's reset is a wait; a healthy bucket's reset is just its window end.
+    exhausted_wait = max((reset for remaining, reset in buckets
+                          if remaining is not None and remaining <= 0 and (reset or 0) > 0), default=None)
+    wait = (exhausted_wait or parse_retry_after_seconds(lower_headers(headers).get("retry-after"))
+            or body_wait or 0.0)
+    empty = any(remaining is not None and remaining <= 0 for remaining, _reset in buckets)
     reason = "rate_limited" if wait >= WELCOME_LONG_WAIT_SECONDS or empty else "at_capacity"
     return {"reason": reason, "retry_after": max(0, int(wait)), "alternates": [], "upgrade_url": ""}
 
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_free_tier_rate_limit_class.py b/tests/agent/test_free_tier_rate_limit_class.py
index e40fadcb5d..6f21f5fd6b 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_free_tier_rate_limit_class.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_free_tier_rate_limit_class.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import pytest
 
 from agent.error_classifier import classify_api_error
 from agent.error_surface import build_error_surface_from_result
-from agent.nous_rate_guard import is_long_welcome_rate_limit
+from agent.nous_rate_guard import is_long_welcome_rate_limit, welcome_refusal_from_headers
 from agent.turn_recovery import max_retries_exhausted_result, nonretryable_client_error_result
 from tests.hermes_cli.anon_portal import make_jwt
 
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ CASES = [
     ("retry-after-only", 429, {}, {"Retry-After": "900"}, "rate_limited", True),
     ("bucket-empty", 429, {}, {"x-ratelimit-remaining-requests-1h": "0",
                               "x-ratelimit-reset-requests-1h": "3000"}, "rate_limited", True),
+    ("healthy-hourly-short-header", 429, {}, {"Retry-After": "4", "x-ratelimit-remaining-requests-1h": "750",
+                                              "x-ratelimit-reset-requests-1h": "2000"}, "at_capacity", False),
     ("short-header", 429, {}, {"Retry-After": "4"}, "at_capacity", False),
     ("bare", 429, {}, None, "at_capacity", False),
     ("unknown-reason", 429, {"reason": "something_else", "retry_after": 5}, None, "at_capacity", False),
@@ -87,3 +89,11 @@ def test_named_account_same_response_is_not_a_free_tier_refusal(case_id, status,
     result = _result(agent, error, classified, status)
     assert "free_tier" not in result
     assert "To sign in: /login." not in result["final_response"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("remaining,reason,retry_after", [("750", "at_capacity", 4), ("0", "rate_limited", 2000)])
+def test_header_wait_is_the_exhausted_bucket_reset_else_retry_after(remaining, reason, retry_after):
+    headers = {"Retry-After": "4", "x-ratelimit-remaining-requests-1h": remaining,
+               "x-ratelimit-reset-requests-1h": "2000"}
+    refusal = welcome_refusal_from_headers(headers)
+    assert (refusal["reason"], refusal["retry_after"]) == (reason, retry_after)