diff --git a/__tests__/routes/public/rateLimit.ts b/__tests__/routes/public/rateLimit.ts
index 03e71d1759..3fde91da4b 100644
--- a/__tests__/routes/public/rateLimit.ts
+++ b/__tests__/routes/public/rateLimit.ts
@@ -53,5 +53,27 @@ describe('Public API Rate Limiting', () => {
 
       expect(remaining2).toBeLessThan(remaining1);
     });
+
+    it('should return 429 when user rate limit is exceeded', async () => {
+      const token = await createTokenForUser(state.con, '5');
+
+      // Limit is 60/min/user. Fire until we hit the limit.
+      let lastRes;
+      for (let i = 0; i < 61; i++) {
+        lastRes = await request(state.app.server)
+          .get('/public/v1/feeds/foryou')
+          .set('Authorization', `Bearer ${token}`);
+
+        if (lastRes.status === 429 && lastRes.body.statusCode === 429) {
+          break;
+        }
+      }
+
+      expect(lastRes!.status).toBe(429);
+      expect(lastRes!.body).toMatchObject({
+        error: 'rate_limit_exceeded',
+        message: expect.stringMatching(/rate limit/i),
+      });
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/routes/public/index.ts b/src/routes/public/index.ts
index ed64f4faf8..216c8767bd 100644
--- a/src/routes/public/index.ts
+++ b/src/routes/public/index.ts
@@ -137,11 +137,17 @@ export default async function (
     max: IP_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE,
     timeWindow: '1 minute',
     keyGenerator: (request: FastifyRequest) => request.ip,
-    errorResponseBuilder: () => ({
-      error: 'rate_limit_exceeded',
-      message: 'Too many requests from this IP. Please slow down.',
-      retryAfter: 60,
-    }),
+    errorResponseBuilder: () => {
+      // @fastify/rate-limit throws the return value of this builder. Return
+      // a proper Error so the global setErrorHandler can read err.name and
+      // err.statusCode (plain objects lose both).
+      const err = new Error(
+        'Too many requests from this IP. Please slow down.',
+      );
+      err.name = 'rate_limit_exceeded';
+      (err as Error & { statusCode: number }).statusCode = 429;
+      return err;
+    },
     skipOnError: false,
     addHeadersOnExceeding: {
       'x-ratelimit-limit': false,
@@ -177,11 +183,14 @@ export default async function (
     hook: 'preHandler',
     keyGenerator: (request: FastifyRequest) => request.apiUserId,
     skip: (request: FastifyRequest) => !request.apiUserId,
-    errorResponseBuilder: () => ({
-      error: 'rate_limit_exceeded',
-      message: 'User rate limit exceeded. Please slow down.',
-      retryAfter: 60,
-    }),
+    errorResponseBuilder: () => {
+      // See IP rate limiter above. Return a proper Error so name/statusCode
+      // survive the throw and reach the global setErrorHandler.
+      const err = new Error('User rate limit exceeded. Please slow down.');
+      err.name = 'rate_limit_exceeded';
+      (err as Error & { statusCode: number }).statusCode = 429;
+      return err;
+    },
     skipOnError: false,
     addHeadersOnExceeding: {
       'x-ratelimit-limit': true,