diff --git a/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/Runtime/CultMesh/EveUnityCultMeshProviderDiscovery.cs b/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/Runtime/CultMesh/EveUnityCultMeshProviderDiscovery.cs
index 70efacf..11438de 100644
--- a/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/Runtime/CultMesh/EveUnityCultMeshProviderDiscovery.cs
+++ b/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/Runtime/CultMesh/EveUnityCultMeshProviderDiscovery.cs
@@ -59,13 +59,23 @@ namespace GameCult.Eve.UnityScene
             if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(rendezvousEndpoint))
                 throw new ArgumentException("Rendezvous endpoint must be non-empty.", nameof(rendezvousEndpoint));
 
-            var response = await CultMesh.CreateVerseDiscoveryClient().FetchAsync(
+            CultMeshVerseCatalogResponseMessage response;
+            try
+            {
+                response = await CultMesh.CreateVerseDiscoveryClient().FetchAsync(
                     rendezvousEndpoint,
                     new CultMeshVerseCatalogRequestMessage
                     {
                         VerseIds = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(verseId) ? null : new[] { verseId },
                         TransportVersion = "cultmesh.v0"
                     });
+            }
+            catch (Exception error)
+            {
+                throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                    $"Could not query CultMesh rendezvous endpoint '{rendezvousEndpoint}'.",
+                    error);
+            }
 
             var candidates = response.Verses
                 .Where(verse => string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(verseId) ||
diff --git a/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/Tests/Editor/EveUnityCultMeshAssetLookupTests.cs b/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/Tests/Editor/EveUnityCultMeshAssetLookupTests.cs
index ce69ca5..dfcc159 100644
--- a/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/Tests/Editor/EveUnityCultMeshAssetLookupTests.cs
+++ b/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/Tests/Editor/EveUnityCultMeshAssetLookupTests.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ using System;
 using System.Reflection;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Net;
+using System.Net.Sockets;
 using GameCult.Eve.UnityScene;
 using NUnit.Framework;
 using UnityEngine;
@@ -10,6 +12,21 @@ namespace GameCult.Eve.UnityScene.Tests
 {
     public sealed class EveUnityCultMeshAssetLookupTests
     {
+        [Test]
+        public void UnavailableTcpRendezvousIsReportedAsRetryablePreparationFailure()
+        {
+            var listener = new TcpListener(IPAddress.Loopback, 0);
+            listener.Start();
+            var port = ((IPEndPoint)listener.LocalEndpoint).Port;
+            listener.Stop();
+
+            var error = Assert.ThrowsAsync<InvalidOperationException>(() =>
+                new EveUnityCultMeshProviderDiscovery().DiscoverAsync($"cultnet+tcp://127.0.0.1:{port}"));
+
+            StringAssert.Contains("Could not query CultMesh rendezvous endpoint", error!.Message);
+            Assert.That(error.InnerException, Is.TypeOf<SocketException>());
+        }
+
         [Test]
         public void UnpreparedProviderGetterFailsFastWithoutStartingNetworkDiscovery()
         {
diff --git a/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/package.json b/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/package.json
index b95d5d8..d667c4b 100644
--- a/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/package.json
+++ b/packages/org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
     "name": "org.gamecult.eve.unity-scene",
     "displayName": "Eve Unity Scene Lowering",
-    "version": "0.3.93",
+    "version": "0.3.94",
     "unity": "6000.0",
     "description": "Provider-agnostic Unity scene shell for gamecult.eve.surface.v1 interactive world surfaces.",
     "dependencies": {