diff --git a/frontend/index.html b/frontend/index.html
index a054101..12b82b4 100644
--- a/frontend/index.html
+++ b/frontend/index.html
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ textarea { resize: vertical; min-height: 120px; }
         '<div class="muted">' + escapeHtml(p.state) + ' by ' + escapeHtml(String(p.user || '')) + '</div></div>').join('') : '<div class="muted">No PRs.</div>');
 
       paintDeltas(data.deltas || []);
-      setStatus('Live · updated just now');
+      setStatus(data.error ? 'Degraded · ' + data.error : 'Live · updated just now');
       setClock();
     } catch (e) {
       console.error('context failed', e);
diff --git a/tests/test_widgets.py b/tests/test_widgets.py
index adeca85..69e6794 100644
--- a/tests/test_widgets.py
+++ b/tests/test_widgets.py
@@ -9,3 +9,10 @@ async def test_dashboard_renders_repo_mix_placeholder_before_javascript_runs():
     server_rendered_html = html.split("<script>", 1)[0]
 
     assert '<div class="small" id="repo-mix">Loading…</div>' in server_rendered_html
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_dashboard_marks_fallback_context_as_degraded_instead_of_live():
+    html = await dashboard()
+
+    assert "data.error ? 'Degraded · ' + data.error : 'Live · updated just now'" in html