diff --git a/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml b/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
index 9b4482dcee4..44160df4b37 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/qwen-triage.yml
@@ -942,6 +942,30 @@ jobs:
             fi
             exit 1
           fi
+          # A non-empty response is not necessarily a triage: on an API error
+          # the stream-json adapter appends the formatted error LAST
+          # (BaseJsonOutputAdapter appendText), optionally followed by
+          # rate-limit guidance. Run 33070765162 (triage for #10285) answered
+          # with a bare 268-char "[API Error: Connection error. ...]" that
+          # this step passed as success, so nothing retried or alerted. Strip
+          # the known suffixes, right-trim, then fail on the trailing shape --
+          # a real summary that merely quotes an API error mid-prose keeps
+          # writing afterwards and stays green. Same pattern as
+          # qwen-code-pr-review.yml.
+          BODY="${RESPONSE}"
+          for S in \
+            'Possible quota limitations in place or slow response times detected. Please wait and try again later.' \
+            'Please wait and try again later. To increase your limits, request a quota increase through AI Studio, or switch to another /auth method' \
+            'Please wait and try again later. To increase your limits, request a quota increase through Vertex, or switch to another /auth method'; do
+            BODY="${BODY%"$S"}"
+          done
+          BODY="${BODY%"${BODY##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+          case "${BODY}" in
+            *"[API Error: "*"]")
+              echo "::error title=Triage aborted by an API error::The model API returned an error instead of a triage, so no triage was posted. This is infrastructure, not this issue -- re-run the failed job."
+              exit 1
+              ;;
+          esac
           echo "Triage response received (${#RESPONSE} chars)."
 
       - name: 'Notify silent triage re-run'
diff --git a/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js b/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
index 5671b20339c..39faf010ad9 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
+++ b/scripts/tests/qwen-triage-workflow.test.js
@@ -372,6 +372,63 @@ describe('qwen-triage tmux workflow', () => {
     expect(run({ RESPONSE: 'null' }).status).not.toBe(0);
   });
 
+  it('fails an API-error response instead of passing it as a triage (#10314)', () => {
+    const checkStep = step('Check triage response');
+    const body = checkStep.match(/run: \|-\n([\s\S]*)$/)?.[1];
+    expect(body).toBeTruthy();
+    const script = body.replace(/^ {10}/gm, '');
+    const run = (env) => {
+      const proc = spawnSync('bash', ['-c', script], {
+        env: {
+          ...process.env,
+          RESPONSE: '',
+          TRIAGE_OUTCOME: 'success',
+          ...env,
+        },
+        encoding: 'utf8',
+      });
+      return { status: proc.status, out: `${proc.stdout}${proc.stderr}` };
+    };
+
+    // The verbatim 268-char response of run 33070765162 (triage for #10285):
+    // a bare model-layer connection error that the old check classified as a
+    // successful triage, so nothing retried or alerted.
+    const apiError =
+      '[API Error: Connection error. (cause: connect ETIMEDOUT 47.94.20.201:443; connect ENETUNREACH 2408:400a:3e:effd:6ac1:ae6e:cde9:4efe:443 - Local (:::0); connect ETIMEDOUT 101.201.58.201:443; connect ENETUNREACH 2408:400a:3e:effb:c146:fb04:1e3d:5cc1:443 - Local (:::0))]';
+    const bare = run({ RESPONSE: apiError });
+    expect(bare.status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(bare.out).toContain('API error');
+
+    // The stream-json adapter appends the formatted error LAST
+    // (BaseJsonOutputAdapter appendText), optionally followed by rate-limit
+    // guidance: an error after partial output and a quota error ending in
+    // the guidance suffix must fail too. Same shapes as
+    // qwen-code-pr-review.yml's classifier.
+    expect(
+      run({ RESPONSE: `Partial triage notes\n${apiError}` }).status,
+    ).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(
+      run({
+        RESPONSE:
+          '[API Error: Quota exceeded.] Please wait and try again later. To increase your limits, request a quota increase through AI Studio, or switch to another /auth method',
+      }).status,
+    ).not.toBe(0);
+
+    // A real summary still passes: one that merely QUOTES an API error
+    // mid-prose keeps writing afterwards (parity with the pr-review
+    // workflow's success_mentions_api_error case), and the normal
+    // empty/'null' behavior is untouched.
+    expect(
+      run({
+        RESPONSE:
+          'This issue reports "[API Error: Connection error.]" which points at the model endpoint; needs the endpoint config.',
+      }).status,
+    ).toBe(0);
+    expect(run({ RESPONSE: 'triaged' }).status).toBe(0);
+    expect(run({ RESPONSE: '' }).status).not.toBe(0);
+    expect(run({ RESPONSE: 'null' }).status).not.toBe(0);
+  });
+
   it('notifies the author when a manual triage re-run posts no review', () => {
     const notifyStep = step('Notify silent triage re-run');