diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8dd7ec41..4a7349a1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ All notable changes to `mcp/sdk` will be documented in this file.
 * Fix the client request timeout firing up to a second early and throwing a generic `RequestException`: it now throws `TimeoutException`, which extends `RequestException`, and sends `notifications/cancelled` for the abandoned request.
 * [BC Break] `TimeoutException` extends `RequestException` instead of `Exception`, so a `catch (RequestException)` now also catches timeouts. `ClientStateInterface::getPendingRequests()` reports `timestamp` as a `float` from `microtime(true)` instead of an `int`.
 * Fix the client's `HttpTransport` waiting out the request timeout when a non-streamed response to a request ends without its answer (truncated, empty, unreadable or not JSON): the call now fails at once with a `RequestException`, also when the body of an error status fails to read.
+* Fix an unreachable `Psr16SessionStore` cache being answered as "session not found" (`404`): the failure is logged and answered with `503`, so clients retry instead of re-initializing. `SessionStoreInterface::exists()` may throw the new `SessionStoreException`.
 * Serve both protocol eras over stdio: `StdioTransport` settles the era on the client's first request and serves `2026-07-28` requests, `subscriptions/listen` and `notifications/cancelled` on the one channel.
 * [BC Break] `StatelessAwareTransportInterface` declares `setHandshakeVersions()`, so a server without the modern era names only the revisions it negotiates when refusing a `2026-07-28` request, e.g. the one set with `Builder::setProtocolVersion()`.
 * Answer a bare `initialize` on a `2026-07-28`-only endpoint with `-32022` naming the served revisions, and a request without a session on the handshake leg with its id.
diff --git a/src/Exception/SessionStoreException.php b/src/Exception/SessionStoreException.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f5b0d92a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Exception/SessionStoreException.php
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the official PHP MCP SDK.
+ *
+ * A collaboration between Symfony and the PHP Foundation.
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Mcp\Exception;
+
+/**
+ * The session store could not be reached, so whether a session exists is unknown.
+ *
+ * @author Christopher Hertel <mail@christopher-hertel.de>
+ */
+class SessionStoreException extends Exception
+{
+}
diff --git a/src/Server/Protocol.php b/src/Server/Protocol.php
index 3d5aaa16..2359b8ea 100644
--- a/src/Server/Protocol.php
+++ b/src/Server/Protocol.php
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 use Mcp\Event\ServerRequestEvent;
 use Mcp\Exception\InvalidInputMessageException;
 use Mcp\Exception\RuntimeException;
+use Mcp\Exception\SessionStoreException;
 use Mcp\JsonRpc\MessageFactory;
 use Mcp\Schema\JsonRpc\Error;
 use Mcp\Schema\JsonRpc\Notification;
@@ -830,19 +831,27 @@ private function resolveSession(TransportInterface $transport, ?Uuid $sessionId,
 
         if (!$sessionId) {
             // Echo the id so a client probing with `server/discover` can correlate the refusal.
-            $id = match (true) {
-                1 !== \count($messages) => null,
-                $messages[0] instanceof Request => $messages[0]->getId(),
-                $messages[0] instanceof InvalidInputMessageException => $messages[0]->getRequestId(),
-                default => null,
-            };
-            $error = Error::forInvalidRequest('A valid session id is REQUIRED for non-initialize requests.', $id);
+            $error = Error::forInvalidRequest('A valid session id is REQUIRED for non-initialize requests.', self::findRequestId($messages));
             $this->sendResponse($transport, $error, null, ['status_code' => 400]);
 
             return null;
         }
 
-        if (!$this->sessionManager->exists($sessionId)) {
+        try {
+            $exists = $this->sessionManager->exists($sessionId);
+        } catch (SessionStoreException $e) {
+            // Not a 404: the session may well exist, so the client should retry instead of re-initializing.
+            $this->logger->error('Session store is unavailable.', [
+                'session_id' => $sessionId->toRfc4122(),
+                'exception' => $e,
+            ]);
+            $error = Error::forInternalError('Session store is unavailable.', self::findRequestId($messages));
+            $this->sendResponse($transport, $error, null, ['status_code' => 503]);
+
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        if (!$exists) {
             $error = Error::forInvalidRequest('Session not found or has expired.');
             $this->sendResponse($transport, $error, null, ['status_code' => 404]);
 
@@ -852,6 +861,21 @@ private function resolveSession(TransportInterface $transport, ?Uuid $sessionId,
         return $this->sessionManager->createWithId($sessionId);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * The id of a single request, so a refusal of the whole input can be correlated with it.
+     *
+     * @param array<int,mixed> $messages
+     */
+    private static function findRequestId(array $messages): string|int|null
+    {
+        return match (true) {
+            1 !== \count($messages) => null,
+            $messages[0] instanceof Request => $messages[0]->getId(),
+            $messages[0] instanceof InvalidInputMessageException => $messages[0]->getRequestId(),
+            default => null,
+        };
+    }
+
     /**
      * Destroy a specific session.
      */
diff --git a/src/Server/Session/Psr16SessionStore.php b/src/Server/Session/Psr16SessionStore.php
index 29ae8ac3..08ab0e3c 100644
--- a/src/Server/Session/Psr16SessionStore.php
+++ b/src/Server/Session/Psr16SessionStore.php
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 namespace Mcp\Server\Session;
 
+use Mcp\Exception\SessionStoreException;
 use Psr\SimpleCache\CacheInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Uid\Uuid;
 
@@ -35,8 +36,8 @@ public function exists(Uuid $id): bool
     {
         try {
             return $this->cache->has($this->getKey($id));
-        } catch (\Throwable) {
-            return false;
+        } catch (\Throwable $e) {
+            throw new SessionStoreException(\sprintf('Session store is unavailable: %s', $e->getMessage()), previous: $e);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Server/Session/SessionStoreInterface.php b/src/Server/Session/SessionStoreInterface.php
index 13f5f161..88fe6037 100644
--- a/src/Server/Session/SessionStoreInterface.php
+++ b/src/Server/Session/SessionStoreInterface.php
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 namespace Mcp\Server\Session;
 
+use Mcp\Exception\SessionStoreException;
 use Symfony\Component\Uid\Uuid;
 
 /**
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@ interface SessionStoreInterface
      * @param Uuid $id the session id
      *
      * @return bool true if the session exists, false otherwise
+     *
+     * @throws SessionStoreException if the store cannot be reached
      */
     public function exists(Uuid $id): bool;
 
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Server/ProtocolTest.php b/tests/Unit/Server/ProtocolTest.php
index 68444eab..5c230f1c 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Server/ProtocolTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Server/ProtocolTest.php
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 use Mcp\Server\Handler\Request\RequestHandlerInterface;
 use Mcp\Server\Protocol;
 use Mcp\Server\Session\InMemorySessionStore;
+use Mcp\Server\Session\Psr16SessionStore;
 use Mcp\Server\Session\Session;
 use Mcp\Server\Session\SessionInterface;
 use Mcp\Server\Session\SessionManager;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@
 use Psr\EventDispatcher\EventDispatcherInterface;
 use Psr\Log\AbstractLogger;
 use Psr\Log\LogLevel;
+use Psr\SimpleCache\CacheInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Uid\Uuid;
 
 final class ProtocolTest extends TestCase
@@ -295,6 +297,45 @@ public function testNonExistentSessionIdReturnsError(): void
         );
     }
 
+    #[TestDox('An unavailable session store answers 503 instead of 404 and is logged')]
+    public function testUnavailableSessionStoreReturnsServiceUnavailable(): void
+    {
+        $cache = $this->createMock(CacheInterface::class);
+        $cache->method('has')->willThrowException(new \RuntimeException('Connection refused'));
+
+        $this->transport->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('send')
+            ->with(
+                $this->callback(static function ($data) {
+                    $decoded = json_decode($data, true);
+
+                    return Error::INTERNAL_ERROR === ($decoded['error']['code'] ?? null)
+                        && 1 === ($decoded['id'] ?? null);
+                }),
+                $this->callback(static function ($context) {
+                    return 503 === ($context['status_code'] ?? null);
+                })
+            );
+
+        $logger = new LevelRecordingLogger();
+        $protocol = new Protocol(
+            requestHandlers: [],
+            notificationHandlers: [],
+            messageFactory: MessageFactory::make(),
+            sessionManager: new SessionManager(new Psr16SessionStore($cache), gcProbability: 0),
+            logger: $logger,
+        );
+
+        $sessionId = Uuid::v4();
+        $protocol->processInput(
+            $this->transport,
+            '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}',
+            $sessionId
+        );
+
+        $this->assertStringContainsString($sessionId->toRfc4122(), $logger->contextsAt([LogLevel::ERROR]));
+    }
+
     #[TestDox('Invalid JSON returns parse error')]
     public function testInvalidJsonReturnsParseError(): void
     {
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Server/Session/Psr16SessionStoreTest.php b/tests/Unit/Server/Session/Psr16SessionStoreTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f0a44ccb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/Server/Session/Psr16SessionStoreTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the official PHP MCP SDK.
+ *
+ * A collaboration between Symfony and the PHP Foundation.
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Mcp\Tests\Unit\Server\Session;
+
+use Mcp\Exception\SessionStoreException;
+use Mcp\Server\Session\Psr16SessionStore;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+use Psr\SimpleCache\CacheInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Uid\Uuid;
+
+final class Psr16SessionStoreTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testExistsReportsAMissingSession(): void
+    {
+        $cache = $this->createMock(CacheInterface::class);
+        $cache->method('has')->willReturn(false);
+
+        $this->assertFalse((new Psr16SessionStore($cache))->exists(Uuid::v4()));
+    }
+
+    public function testExistsThrowsWhenTheCacheIsUnavailable(): void
+    {
+        $failure = new \RuntimeException('Connection refused');
+        $cache = $this->createMock(CacheInterface::class);
+        $cache->method('has')->willThrowException($failure);
+
+        try {
+            (new Psr16SessionStore($cache))->exists(Uuid::v4());
+            $this->fail('Expected a SessionStoreException.');
+        } catch (SessionStoreException $e) {
+            $this->assertSame($failure, $e->getPrevious());
+        }
+    }
+}