diff --git a/src/services/agent-action-executor.ts b/src/services/agent-action-executor.ts
index 86fd39259a..c63648eb0a 100644
--- a/src/services/agent-action-executor.ts
+++ b/src/services/agent-action-executor.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { bumpPullRequestMergeAttempt, createPendingAgentActionIfAbsent, insertNotificationDeliveryIfAbsent, isGlobalAgentFrozen, markPullRequestApproved, markPullRequestMergeBlocked, recordAuditEvent } from "../db/repositories";
 import { classifyMergeFailure, MERGE_RETRY_CAP } from "./merge-failure";
 import { notifyActionToDiscord, notifyActionToSlack, type NotifyOutcome } from "./notify-discord";
-import { createInstallationToken, githubErrorStatus } from "../github/app";
+import { createInstallationToken, githubErrorStatus, isGitHubRateLimitedError } from "../github/app";
 import { fetchLiveCiAggregate, refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation } from "../github/backfill";
 import { githubRateLimitAdmissionKeyForToken } from "../github/client";
 import { ensurePullRequestLabel, removePullRequestLabel } from "../github/labels";
@@ -24,6 +24,18 @@ const AGENT_ACTOR = "gittensory";
 // (PR_WRITE_ACTION_CLASSES is a superset), so this runtime guard never disagrees with the readiness gate.
 export const PR_WRITE_CLASSES = new Set<AgentActionClass>(["request_changes", "approve", "merge", "close", "update_branch"]);
 
+const INSTALLATION_HEALTH_REFRESH_COOLDOWN_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000;
+const installationHealthRefreshAttempts = new Map<number, number>();
+
+function shouldRefreshInstallationHealthAfterPrWriteFailure(installationId: number, error: unknown, nowMs = Date.now()): boolean {
+  if (githubErrorStatus(error) !== 403 || isGitHubRateLimitedError(error)) return false;
+  if (!/resource not accessible by integration|not have permission/i.test(errorMessage(error))) return false;
+  const lastAttemptMs = installationHealthRefreshAttempts.get(installationId);
+  if (lastAttemptMs !== undefined && nowMs - lastAttemptMs < INSTALLATION_HEALTH_REFRESH_COOLDOWN_MS) return false;
+  installationHealthRefreshAttempts.set(installationId, nowMs);
+  return true;
+}
+
 export type AgentActionExecutionContext = {
   installationId: number;
   repoFullName: string;
@@ -181,14 +193,11 @@ export async function executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env: Env, ctx: AgentActionE
       if (action.actionClass === "merge" && ctx.headSha) {
         await handleMergeFailure(env, ctx, error);
       }
-      // #2265: a 403 on a PR-write mutation often means the LOCAL installations.permissions snapshot is stale —
-      // GitHub webhooks a consented permission UPGRADE but sends nothing for a maintainer-initiated downgrade, so
-      // the write-permission readiness gate (step 6 above) can keep reporting "ready" for up to the 30-minute
-      // health-refresh cron interval after a live downgrade. Opportunistically refresh now so the DB row (and
-      // therefore every later sweep/webhook read of it, for this or any other PR on the installation) self-heals
-      // immediately instead of waiting for the next cron tick. GitHub's own server-side enforcement (this very
-      // 403) is already the real backstop, so a failed refresh here is safe to swallow.
-      if (PR_WRITE_CLASSES.has(action.actionClass) && githubErrorStatus(error) === 403) {
+      // #2265: a permission-looking 403 on a PR-write mutation can mean the LOCAL installations.permissions
+      // snapshot is stale after a maintainer-initiated downgrade (GitHub sends no downgrade webhook). Rate-limit
+      // 403s and operation-specific forbidden states are not permission evidence, and this refresh scans broad
+      // installation state, so keep the hot error path narrowly filtered and per-installation cooled down.
+      if (PR_WRITE_CLASSES.has(action.actionClass) && shouldRefreshInstallationHealthAfterPrWriteFailure(ctx.installationId, error)) {
         await refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation(env, ctx.installationId).catch(() => undefined);
       }
     }
diff --git a/test/unit/agent-action-executor.test.ts b/test/unit/agent-action-executor.test.ts
index 604aec1192..a987d0a7bb 100644
--- a/test/unit/agent-action-executor.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/agent-action-executor.test.ts
@@ -519,12 +519,44 @@ describe("executeAgentMaintenanceActions (#778 gate stack)", () => {
     expect(refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("does not refresh installation health for rate-limit or operation-specific forbidden 403s (#2265)", async () => {
+    const env = createTestEnv({});
+    vi.mocked(updatePullRequestBranch)
+      .mockRejectedValueOnce(Object.assign(new Error("secondary rate limit: please retry later"), { status: 403 }))
+      .mockRejectedValueOnce(Object.assign(new Error("Update branch is not allowed for this pull request"), { status: 403 }));
+
+    await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx({ installationId: 124 }), [updateBranch, updateBranch]);
+
+    expect(refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("debounces permission-looking installation health refreshes per installation (#2265)", async () => {
+    const env = createTestEnv({});
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    vi.setSystemTime(new Date("2026-07-02T00:00:00Z"));
+    vi.mocked(closePullRequest).mockRejectedValue(Object.assign(new Error("Resource not accessible by integration"), { status: 403 }));
+
+    try {
+      await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx({ installationId: 125 }), [close]);
+      await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx({ installationId: 125 }), [close]);
+      vi.setSystemTime(new Date("2026-07-02T00:05:01Z"));
+      await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx({ installationId: 125 }), [close]);
+
+      expect(refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect(refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, env, 125);
+      expect(refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, env, 125);
+    } finally {
+      vi.useRealTimers();
+    }
+  });
+
   it("swallows a failed installation-health refresh — best-effort, does not affect the recorded outcome (#2265)", async () => {
     const env = createTestEnv({});
     vi.mocked(closePullRequest).mockRejectedValueOnce(Object.assign(new Error("Resource not accessible by integration"), { status: 403 }));
     vi.mocked(refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation).mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("refresh boom"));
-    const outcomes = await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx(), [close]);
+    const outcomes = await executeAgentMaintenanceActions(env, ctx({ installationId: 126 }), [close]);
     expect(outcomes[0]?.outcome).toBe("error");
+    expect(refreshInstallationHealthForInstallation).toHaveBeenCalledWith(env, 126);
     expect((await auditFor(env, "close"))?.outcome).toBe("error");
   });
 });