diff --git a/tests/test_sources.py b/tests/test_sources.py
index 6427f9fe..7847ec8f 100644
--- a/tests/test_sources.py
+++ b/tests/test_sources.py
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ def handler(_: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
     assert attempts == 3
     assert sleep.await_count == 2
     sleep.assert_awaited_with(4.0)
+    assert "failed after 3 attempts" in str(caught.value)
     assert "private.example.invalid" not in str(caught.value)
     assert caught.value.__cause__ is None
 
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@ async def test_rss_source_does_not_retry_permanent_http_status(monkeypatch) -> N
     monkeypatch.setattr("weather_briefing.sources.asyncio.sleep", sleep)
 
     async with httpx.AsyncClient(transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler)) as client:
-        with pytest.raises(SourceFetchError):
+        with pytest.raises(SourceFetchError, match="failed after 1 attempt"):
             await RSSSource(client, max_attempts=3).fetch(
                 FeedConfig("source", "Source", "https://private.example.invalid")
             )
@@ -153,7 +154,7 @@ def handler(_: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
 
     monkeypatch.setattr("weather_briefing.sources.asyncio.sleep", sleep)
     async with httpx.AsyncClient(transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler)) as client:
-        with pytest.raises(SourceFetchError):
+        with pytest.raises(SourceFetchError, match="failed after 1 attempt"):
             await RSSSource(client, max_attempts=3).fetch(
                 FeedConfig("source", "Source", "https://private.example.invalid")
             )
@@ -184,6 +185,26 @@ def handler(request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
     assert sleep.await_count == 1
 
 
+async def test_rss_source_reports_exhausted_transport_attempts(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    attempts = 0
+    sleep = AsyncMock()
+
+    def handler(request: httpx.Request) -> httpx.Response:
+        nonlocal attempts
+        attempts += 1
+        raise httpx.ConnectError("connection failed", request=request)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("weather_briefing.sources.asyncio.sleep", sleep)
+    async with httpx.AsyncClient(transport=httpx.MockTransport(handler)) as client:
+        with pytest.raises(SourceFetchError, match="failed after 2 attempts"):
+            await RSSSource(client, max_attempts=2).fetch(
+                FeedConfig("source", "Source", "https://private.example.invalid")
+            )
+
+    assert attempts == 2
+    assert sleep.await_count == 1
+
+
 async def test_rss_source_respects_retry_after(monkeypatch) -> None:
     sleep = AsyncMock()
     monkeypatch.setattr("weather_briefing.sources.asyncio.sleep", sleep)
diff --git a/weather_briefing/sources.py b/weather_briefing/sources.py
index ff1c4cc9..0d78989f 100644
--- a/weather_briefing/sources.py
+++ b/weather_briefing/sources.py
@@ -139,9 +139,11 @@ async def fetch(self, config: FeedConfig) -> tuple[Article, ...]:
         return tuple(articles)
 
     async def _fetch_with_retry(self, config: FeedConfig) -> str:
+        attempts_made = 0
         for attempt in range(1, self._max_attempts + 1):
             retry_after: float | None = None
             try:
+                attempts_made += 1
                 response = await self._client.get(
                     config.url,
                     extensions=api_call_extensions("rss", "fetch"),
@@ -159,7 +161,8 @@ async def _fetch_with_retry(self, config: FeedConfig) -> str:
             if attempt < self._max_attempts:
                 delay = random.uniform(self._retry_min_seconds, self._retry_max_seconds)
                 await asyncio.sleep(max(delay, retry_after or 0.0))
-        raise SourceFetchError(f"RSS source {config.id} failed after {self._max_attempts} attempts") from None
+        attempt_label = "attempt" if attempts_made == 1 else "attempts"
+        raise SourceFetchError(f"RSS source {config.id} failed after {attempts_made} {attempt_label}") from None
 
 
 class HTTPContextSource: