diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/trpc/routers/viewer-github/index.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/trpc/routers/viewer-github/index.test.ts
index 58c8e45d81d..40497ac5d45 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/trpc/routers/viewer-github/index.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/trpc/routers/viewer-github/index.test.ts
@@ -69,4 +69,32 @@ describe("viewer GitHub on this machine", () => {
 		});
 		expect(tokensUsed).toEqual(["local-token"]);
 	});
+
+	test("a request that never reached GitHub is unavailable, not a server bug", async () => {
+		const failWith = (error: Error) =>
+			caller("local-token", {
+				graphql: (async () => {
+					throw error;
+				}) as unknown as Octokit["graphql"],
+				request: (async () => {
+					throw error;
+				}) as unknown as Octokit["request"],
+			}).call.getPullRequestDetail({ repoFullName: "acme/widgets", number: 7 });
+
+		const reset = Object.assign(new Error("read ECONNRESET"), {
+			code: "ECONNRESET",
+		});
+		await expect(
+			failWith(
+				Object.assign(new Error("read ECONNRESET"), {
+					status: 500,
+					cause: new TypeError("fetch failed", { cause: reset }),
+				}),
+			),
+		).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" });
+
+		await expect(
+			failWith(Object.assign(new Error("Server Error"), { status: 500 })),
+		).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: "INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR" });
+	});
 });
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/trpc/routers/viewer-github/index.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/trpc/routers/viewer-github/index.ts
index ff054bff8a5..4772550afe3 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/trpc/routers/viewer-github/index.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/trpc/routers/viewer-github/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { Octokit } from "@octokit/core";
+import { isGitHubUnreachableError } from "@superset/host-service";
 import { LocalGitCredentialProvider } from "@superset/host-service/git-credentials";
 import {
 	githubErrorCode,
@@ -68,7 +69,9 @@ export function createViewerGithubRouter(
 			);
 		} catch (error) {
 			throw new TRPCError({
-				code: githubErrorCode(error),
+				code: isGitHubUnreachableError(error)
+					? "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE"
+					: githubErrorCode(error),
 				message:
 					error instanceof Error && error.message ? error.message : fallback,
 				cause: error,
diff --git a/packages/host-service/src/index.ts b/packages/host-service/src/index.ts
index de5b098446a..2ff2aea676c 100644
--- a/packages/host-service/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/host-service/src/index.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ export type { HostAuthProvider } from "./providers/host-auth";
 export { PskHostAuthProvider } from "./providers/host-auth";
 export { resolveBrowserBridgeFromEnv } from "./runtime/browser-bridge/env";
 export type { GitCredentialProvider, GitFactory } from "./runtime/git";
+export { isGitHubUnreachableError } from "./runtime/pull-requests/utils/github-availability";
 export { startVitalsLog } from "./runtime/vitals";
 export { detachFromLaunchDirectory } from "./runtime/working-directory";
 export { installProcessSafetyNet, installUpgradeSocketGuard } from "./safety";