diff --git a/src/server/responses/policy-fallback.ts b/src/server/responses/policy-fallback.ts
index 0f910254d1a..f4151f5d660 100644
--- a/src/server/responses/policy-fallback.ts
+++ b/src/server/responses/policy-fallback.ts
@@ -146,7 +146,12 @@ export async function handleResponsesWithPolicyFallback(
     } : {}),
     onRequestBodyParsed: body => {
       options.onRequestBodyParsed?.(body);
-      if (body && typeof body === "object" && !Array.isArray(body)) rawBody = body as Record<string, unknown>;
+      if (rawBody === null && body && typeof body === "object" && !Array.isArray(body)) {
+        // Recovery and other core preparation may mutate the parsed body in place. Keep an
+        // immutable snapshot of the original wire body so a retry cannot serialize those
+        // mutations while losing object-identity metadata attached by the first attempt.
+        rawBody = structuredClone(body as Record<string, unknown>);
+      }
     },
     onStoredPool401ReplayDispatched: () => {
       storedPool401ReplayDispatched = true;
diff --git a/tests/routing/routing-policy-fallback.test.ts b/tests/routing/routing-policy-fallback.test.ts
index 347b9bdaaac..c089df8aa4e 100644
--- a/tests/routing/routing-policy-fallback.test.ts
+++ b/tests/routing/routing-policy-fallback.test.ts
@@ -110,6 +110,66 @@ describe("policy candidate fallback", () => {
     expect(cloneCalls).toBe(0);
   });
 
+  test("retries from an immutable snapshot of the initially parsed body", async () => {
+    const trace = policyTrace();
+    const logCtx = { routeDecision: trace } as RequestLogContext;
+    const seenInputs: unknown[] = [];
+    let calls = 0;
+    const response = await handleResponsesWithPolicyFallback(request(), {} as OcxConfig, logCtx, {}, {
+      runCore: async (req, _config, context, options) => {
+        calls += 1;
+        const body = await req.json() as { input: unknown; model: string };
+        options.onRequestBodyParsed?.(body);
+        seenInputs.push(body.input);
+        context.routeDecision = trace;
+        if (calls === 1) {
+          body.input = "recovered plaintext";
+          return Response.json({ error: { type: "rate_limit_error" } }, { status: 429 });
+        }
+        return Response.json({ status: "completed" });
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(seenInputs).toEqual(["hello", "hello"]);
+  });
+
+  test("the retry snapshot survives mutation inside the input array", async () => {
+    // The top-level field swap above also passes under a shallow `{...body}` copy. The
+    // real leaks mutate deeper: the sanitizer splices input entries in place and the
+    // assignment injector rewrites inside the same array. Pin a nested mutation so a
+    // shallow-copy regression cannot stay green.
+    const trace = policyTrace();
+    const logCtx = { routeDecision: trace } as RequestLogContext;
+    const seenInputs: unknown[] = [];
+    let calls = 0;
+    const req = new Request("http://localhost/v1/responses", {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ model: "policy/daily", input: [{ role: "user", content: "hello" }], stream: false }),
+    });
+    const response = await handleResponsesWithPolicyFallback(req, {} as OcxConfig, logCtx, {}, {
+      runCore: async (req, _config, context, options) => {
+        calls += 1;
+        const body = await req.json() as { input: { role: string; content: string }[]; model: string };
+        options.onRequestBodyParsed?.(body);
+        seenInputs.push(JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(body.input)));
+        context.routeDecision = trace;
+        if (calls === 1) {
+          body.input.splice(0, 1, { role: "assistant", content: "recovered plaintext" });
+          return Response.json({ error: { type: "rate_limit_error" } }, { status: 429 });
+        }
+        return Response.json({ status: "completed" });
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(seenInputs).toEqual([
+      [{ role: "user", content: "hello" }],
+      [{ role: "user", content: "hello" }],
+    ]);
+  });
+
   test("a local input-admission refusal hops instead of ending the chain (#1524)", async () => {
     // #1524: a candidate whose context window cannot fit the request used to TERMINATE the
     // fallback chain. It is a local preflight verdict about ONE candidate, not about the