diff --git a/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-session.service.spec.ts b/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-session.service.spec.ts
index ee2e776b7..bb4540b2a 100644
--- a/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-session.service.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-session.service.spec.ts
@@ -259,6 +259,28 @@ describe('StalkerSessionService identity-tagged token cache', () => {
         }
     );
 
+    it('does not treat a proxy page mentioning the phrase as an auth failure', async () => {
+        // End to end through makeAuthenticatedRequest, not just the
+        // primitive: this is the path that used to stringify the whole
+        // response and match an unanchored `authorization failed`. A short
+        // page from something in FRONT of the portal would retire the token,
+        // retry, and throw a message that itself matches the repair trigger —
+        // re-probing a portal that never refused anything.
+        service.setCachedToken('portal-1', 'LIVE', playlistA);
+        const body = 'The request Authorization failed. Try again later.';
+        sendIpcEvent.mockResolvedValue(body);
+
+        await expect(
+            service.makeAuthenticatedRequest(playlistA, {
+                action: 'get_genres',
+            })
+        ).resolves.toBe(body);
+
+        // No retry, no retirement, nothing for the repair layer to act on.
+        expect(sendIpcEvent).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect(service.getCachedToken('portal-1')).toBe('LIVE');
+    });
+
     it('retires a failed token even on the no-retry path (watchdog pings)', async () => {
         service.setCachedToken('portal-1', 'DEAD', playlistA);
         sendIpcEvent.mockResolvedValue('Authorization failed.');
diff --git a/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-session.service.ts b/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-session.service.ts
index 910036dec..746e95a6c 100644
--- a/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-session.service.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-session.service.ts
@@ -801,30 +801,17 @@ export class StalkerSessionService {
             return true;
         }
 
-        // Convert response to string for pattern matching
-        const responseStr = JSON.stringify(responseOrError).toLowerCase();
-
-        // Check for "Authorization failed. XX" pattern (like "Authorization failed. 75")
-        if (/authorization\s*failed\.?\s*\d*/i.test(responseStr)) {
-            return true;
-        }
-
-        // Check for common auth failure indicators
-        const jsData = response?.['js'] as Record<string, unknown>;
-        const errorMessage =
-            (response?.['message'] as string)?.toLowerCase?.() ||
-            jsData?.['error']?.toString?.().toLowerCase?.() ||
-            jsData?.['msg']?.toString?.().toLowerCase?.() ||
-            '';
-
-        return (
-            errorMessage.includes('authorization') ||
-            errorMessage.includes('unauthorized') ||
-            errorMessage.includes('auth failed') ||
-            errorMessage.includes('invalid token') ||
-            response?.['status'] === 401 ||
-            jsData?.['error'] === 'Authorization failed'
-        );
+        // Everything above is structural. What used to follow was a
+        // `JSON.stringify(responseOrError)` sweep with an UNANCHORED
+        // `authorization failed` pattern — the same false positive the body
+        // detector was just anchored against, reachable through a different
+        // door: a short proxy/WAF page containing the phrase retired the
+        // token, retried, and threw `Authorization failed after retry`,
+        // whose own message then matched the repair trigger and re-probed a
+        // portal that never refused anything. The shared detector already
+        // covers every real shape, including the `js.error`/`js.msg`
+        // envelopes, so the sweep only added the false positive.
+        return response?.['status'] === 401 || response?.['status'] === 403;
     }
 
     /**