diff --git a/src/EventSourcingTests/Daemon/postgres_listen_notify_wakeup_tests.cs b/src/EventSourcingTests/Daemon/postgres_listen_notify_wakeup_tests.cs
index 5ab90fa5a5..81b268171a 100644
--- a/src/EventSourcingTests/Daemon/postgres_listen_notify_wakeup_tests.cs
+++ b/src/EventSourcingTests/Daemon/postgres_listen_notify_wakeup_tests.cs
@@ -154,6 +154,57 @@ public async Task daemon_wakes_up_through_pg_notify_when_flag_is_on()
         loaded!.Total.ShouldBe(7);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task wait_async_falls_back_to_timeout_when_the_database_is_unreachable()
+    {
+        // Repro for #4961: when the database is down (restart / failover /
+        // maintenance), the dedicated LISTEN connection cannot be opened.
+        // WaitAsync must NOT let that exception escape — the HighWaterAgent
+        // poll loop awaits the wakeup OUTSIDE any try/catch, so a throw here
+        // permanently kills the high-water loop and freezes all projection
+        // progress until the process is restarted. Instead the wakeup should
+        // log and fall back to a plain timeout wait, so the loop keeps polling
+        // and self-heals once the database returns.
+        //
+        // Follow-up (defense in depth, tracked in JasperFx.Events, jasperfx#524):
+        // this Marten fix stops THIS wakeup from throwing, but HighWaterAgent
+        // has two latent bugs of its own — (A) it awaits IDaemonWakeup.WaitAsync
+        // outside any try/catch, so any wakeup that throws still kills the loop,
+        // and (C) its restart watchdog observes the wrong task (a Task<Task> that
+        // completes at the first await) so it never restarts a faulted loop.
+        // Those live in the sibling repo; when they land, an end-to-end test that
+        // survives a real DB restart mid-poll belongs alongside them.
+        var unreachable =
+            "Host=localhost;Port=59371;Database=marten_testing;Username=postgres;password=postgres;Timeout=2;Command Timeout=2";
+        var dataSource = NpgsqlDataSource.Create(unreachable);
+        try
+        {
+            using var wakeup = new PostgresqlListenWakeup(
+                dataSource,
+                NullLogger.Instance,
+                channel: "marten_test_listen_notify_wakeup_unreachable");
+
+            using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30));
+
+            var sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
+
+            // The heart of the fix: the connection error is swallowed rather
+            // than propagated out of WaitAsync.
+            await Should.NotThrowAsync(async () =>
+                await wakeup.WaitAsync(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(500), cts.Token));
+
+            sw.Stop();
+
+            // And it returned promptly (fell back to the timeout wait) rather
+            // than hanging or bubbling up the connection failure.
+            sw.Elapsed.ShouldBeLessThan(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15));
+        }
+        finally
+        {
+            await dataSource.DisposeAsync();
+        }
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public async Task wait_async_returns_when_timeout_elapses_without_a_notification()
     {
diff --git a/src/Marten/Events/Daemon/HighWater/PostgresqlListenWakeup.cs b/src/Marten/Events/Daemon/HighWater/PostgresqlListenWakeup.cs
index 48be9eb6e8..bb9d40d531 100644
--- a/src/Marten/Events/Daemon/HighWater/PostgresqlListenWakeup.cs
+++ b/src/Marten/Events/Daemon/HighWater/PostgresqlListenWakeup.cs
@@ -33,7 +33,32 @@ public sealed class PostgresqlListenWakeup(
 
     public async Task WaitAsync(TimeSpan timeout, CancellationToken token)
     {
-        await ensureListeningAsync(token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+        try
+        {
+            await ensureListeningAsync(token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+        }
+        catch (OperationCanceledException)
+        {
+            // Cancellation is the daemon shutting down — let it propagate,
+            // exactly like the SemaphoreSlim/Task.Delay waits below.
+            throw;
+        }
+        catch (Exception e)
+        {
+            // The database is unreachable (restart / failover / maintenance
+            // window). This MUST NOT escape: the HighWaterAgent poll loop
+            // awaits us outside any try/catch, so a throw here permanently
+            // kills the high-water loop and freezes all projection progress
+            // until the process is restarted (marten #4961). Fall back to a
+            // plain timeout wait — receiveLoop already nulled _connection, so
+            // the next call retries the LISTEN and self-heals once the
+            // database returns.
+            logger.LogWarning(e,
+                "Unable to establish the PostgreSQL LISTEN connection on channel '{Channel}'; falling back to timeout-based polling until the database is reachable again",
+                channel);
+            await Task.Delay(timeout, token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            return;
+        }
 
         // Drain any accumulated signals so we don't spin through
         // multiple rapid iterations after a burst of notifications.