diff --git a/js/nostr/client.js b/js/nostr/client.js
index a6279725..ff0082e5 100644
--- a/js/nostr/client.js
+++ b/js/nostr/client.js
@@ -8608,9 +8608,18 @@ export class NostrClient {
             this.countUnsupportedRelays.add(url);
           } else {
             logRelayCountFailure(url, error);
-            this.markRelayUnreachable(url, 60000, {
-              reason: isTimeout ? "count-timeout" : "count-error",
-            });
+            // If the count request timed out, we don't want to kill the entire relay connection
+            // because it might still be good for subscriptions.
+            // We only trip the circuit breaker for hard errors.
+            if (!isTimeout) {
+              this.markRelayUnreachable(url, 60000, {
+                reason: "count-error",
+              });
+            } else if (isDevMode) {
+              devLogger.warn(
+                `[nostr] Relay ${url} count timed out (ignored for circuit breaker).`
+              );
+            }
           }
           return {
             url,
diff --git a/tests/unit/client-count-resilience.test.mjs b/tests/unit/client-count-resilience.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..41ccb679
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/client-count-resilience.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+
+import { test } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert";
+import { NostrClient } from "../../js/nostr/client.js";
+
+// Mock global objects if needed
+if (!globalThis.localStorage) {
+  globalThis.localStorage = {
+    getItem: () => null,
+    setItem: () => {},
+    removeItem: () => {},
+  };
+}
+
+test("NostrClient resilience to COUNT timeouts", async (t) => {
+  const client = new NostrClient();
+  const relayUrl = "wss://slow.relay.example";
+  client.relays = [relayUrl];
+
+  // Mock the pool
+  client.pool = {
+    ensureRelay: async (url) => {
+        return {
+            url,
+            count: async () => {
+                // Simulate timeout by waiting longer than the client's timeout
+                await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 100));
+                // In the real code, withRequestTimeout throws the error, the relay just hangs or returns late.
+                // But here we can simulate the client's wrapper throwing 'count-timeout'
+                // Actually, client.sendRawCountFrame handles the timeout wrapping.
+                // So we just need a promise that hangs.
+                return new Promise(() => {});
+            }
+        };
+    }
+  };
+
+  // We need to override getRequestTimeoutMs to be very short for the test
+  client.getRequestTimeoutMs = () => 10; // 10ms timeout
+
+  // Verify initial state
+  assert.strictEqual(client.unreachableRelays.has(relayUrl), false);
+
+  // Trigger the count
+  await client.countEventsAcrossRelays([{ kinds: [1] }]);
+
+  // Check if relay was marked unreachable
+  // logic:
+  // 1. sendRawCountFrame calls withRequestTimeout
+  // 2. timeouts after 10ms -> throws 'count-timeout'
+  // 3. countEventsAcrossRelays catches 'count-timeout'
+  // 4. currently calls markRelayUnreachable
+
+  const isUnreachable = client.unreachableRelays.has(relayUrl);
+
+  assert.strictEqual(isUnreachable, false, "Relay should NOT be marked unreachable after count timeout");
+});