diff --git a/examples/diffusion_router/README.md b/examples/diffusion_router/README.md
index c4af0e7b5..55c38c4d0 100644
--- a/examples/diffusion_router/README.md
+++ b/examples/diffusion_router/README.md
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ curl -X POST 'http://localhost:30080/add_worker?url=http://localhost:10090'
 | Method | Path | Description |
 |--------|------|-------------|
 | `POST` | `/generate` | Image generation (forwards to `/v1/images/generations`) |
-| `POST` | `/generate_video` | Video generation (forwards to `/v1/videos/generations`) |
+| `POST` | `/generate_video` | Video generation (forwards to `/v1/videos`) |
 | `GET` | `/health` | Aggregated router health |
 | `GET` | `/health_workers` | Per-worker health and load info |
 | `POST` | `/add_worker` | Register a diffusion worker (`?url=...` or JSON body) |
diff --git a/examples/diffusion_router/bench_router.py b/examples/diffusion_router/bench_router.py
index a20d64ac6..70f78783c 100644
--- a/examples/diffusion_router/bench_router.py
+++ b/examples/diffusion_router/bench_router.py
@@ -446,7 +446,9 @@ def main() -> int:
         if args.bench_extra_args:
             bench_cmd += shlex.split(args.bench_extra_args)
 
-        return subprocess.call(bench_cmd, env=env)
+        bench_proc = subprocess.Popen(bench_cmd, env=env, start_new_session=True)
+        processes.append(bench_proc)
+        return bench_proc.wait()
     finally:
         _terminate_all(reversed(processes))
 
diff --git a/miles/router/diffusion_router.py b/miles/router/diffusion_router.py
index d77671083..facc9c51d 100644
--- a/miles/router/diffusion_router.py
+++ b/miles/router/diffusion_router.py
@@ -137,9 +137,11 @@ def _use_url(self):
 
     def _finish_url(self, url):
         """Mark the request to the given URL as finished."""
-        assert url in self.worker_request_counts, f"URL {url} not recognized"
+        if url not in self.worker_request_counts:
+            raise ValueError(f"URL {url} not recognized")
         self.worker_request_counts[url] -= 1
-        assert self.worker_request_counts[url] >= 0, f"URL {url} count went negative"
+        if self.worker_request_counts[url] < 0:
+            raise RuntimeError(f"URL {url} count went negative")
 
     # ── Proxy helpers ────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -187,7 +189,11 @@ async def _forward_to_worker(self, request: Request, path: str) -> Response:
         try:
             response = await self.client.request(request.method, url, content=body, headers=headers)
             content = await response.aread()
-        finally:
+        except Exception as exc:
+            self._finish_url(worker_url)
+            logger.error(f"[diffusion-router] Failed to forward request to {worker_url}: {exc}")
+            return JSONResponse(status_code=502, content={"error": f"Worker request failed: {exc}"})
+        else:
             self._finish_url(worker_url)
 
         resp_headers = self._sanitize_response_headers(response.headers)
diff --git a/tests/fast/router/test_diffusion_router.py b/tests/fast/router/test_diffusion_router.py
index 65a2df394..0d2d2a134 100644
--- a/tests/fast/router/test_diffusion_router.py
+++ b/tests/fast/router/test_diffusion_router.py
@@ -50,6 +50,15 @@ def test_selects_min_load(self, router_factory):
         assert selected == "http://w2:8000"
         assert router.worker_request_counts["http://w2:8000"] == 3
 
+    def test_excludes_dead_workers(self, router_factory):
+        router = router_factory(
+            {"http://w1:8000": 5, "http://w2:8000": 2, "http://w3:8000": 8},
+            dead={"http://w2:8000"},
+        )
+        selected = router._use_url()
+        assert selected == "http://w1:8000"
+        assert router.worker_request_counts["http://w1:8000"] == 6
+
 
 # ── Round-robin ──────────────────────────────────────────────────