diff --git a/.changeset/retry-vqs-handler-errors-immediately.md b/.changeset/retry-vqs-handler-errors-immediately.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..793d96d4c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/retry-vqs-handler-errors-immediately.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@workflow/world-vercel": patch
+---
+
+Release failed VQS workflow handler messages on the configured retry cadence.
diff --git a/packages/world-vercel/src/queue.test.ts b/packages/world-vercel/src/queue.test.ts
index 78b3630652..b8b2490af8 100644
--- a/packages/world-vercel/src/queue.test.ts
+++ b/packages/world-vercel/src/queue.test.ts
@@ -353,7 +353,61 @@ describe('createQueue', () => {
       queue.createQueueHandler('__wkf_workflow_', async () => undefined);
 
       expect(mockHandleCallback).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-      expect(mockHandleCallback).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.any(Function));
+      expect(mockHandleCallback).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.any(Function), {
+        retry: expect.any(Function),
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('should ask VQS to retry handler errors with bounded backoff', () => {
+      mockHandleCallback.mockReturnValue(async () => new Response('ok'));
+      const randomSpy = vi.spyOn(Math, 'random').mockReturnValue(0);
+
+      try {
+        const queue = createQueue();
+        queue.createQueueHandler('__wkf_workflow_', async () => undefined);
+
+        const options = mockHandleCallback.mock.calls[0][1];
+        expect(
+          options.retry(new Error('workflow server unavailable'), {
+            messageId: 'msg-123',
+            deliveryCount: 1,
+          })
+        ).toEqual({ afterSeconds: 1 });
+        expect(
+          options.retry(new Error('workflow server unavailable'), {
+            messageId: 'msg-123',
+            deliveryCount: 2,
+          })
+        ).toEqual({ afterSeconds: 2 });
+        expect(
+          options.retry(new Error('workflow server unavailable'), {
+            messageId: 'msg-123',
+            deliveryCount: 4,
+          })
+        ).toEqual({ afterSeconds: 8 });
+        expect(
+          options.retry(new Error('workflow server unavailable'), {
+            messageId: 'msg-123',
+            deliveryCount: 8,
+          })
+        ).toEqual({ afterSeconds: 60 });
+
+        randomSpy.mockReturnValue(0.999);
+        expect(
+          options.retry(new Error('workflow server unavailable'), {
+            messageId: 'msg-123',
+            deliveryCount: 4,
+          })
+        ).toEqual({ afterSeconds: 6 });
+        expect(
+          options.retry(new Error('workflow server unavailable'), {
+            messageId: 'msg-123',
+            deliveryCount: 8,
+          })
+        ).toEqual({ afterSeconds: 45 });
+      } finally {
+        randomSpy.mockRestore();
+      }
     });
 
     it('should send new message with delaySeconds when handler returns timeoutSeconds', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/world-vercel/src/queue.ts b/packages/world-vercel/src/queue.ts
index 530062f677..8fdab46579 100644
--- a/packages/world-vercel/src/queue.ts
+++ b/packages/world-vercel/src/queue.ts
@@ -134,6 +134,25 @@ const MAX_DELAY_SECONDS = Number(
   process.env.VERCEL_QUEUE_MAX_DELAY_SECONDS || 82800 // 23 hours - leave 1h buffer before 24h retention limit
 );
 
+const HANDLER_ERROR_RETRY_AFTER_SECONDS = 1;
+const HANDLER_ERROR_MAX_RETRY_AFTER_SECONDS = 60;
+const HANDLER_ERROR_RETRY_JITTER_RATIO = 0.25;
+
+function getHandlerErrorRetryAfterSeconds(deliveryCount: number): number {
+  const backoffSeconds = Math.min(
+    Math.max(HANDLER_ERROR_RETRY_AFTER_SECONDS, 2 ** (deliveryCount - 1)),
+    HANDLER_ERROR_MAX_RETRY_AFTER_SECONDS
+  );
+  const jitterSeconds = Math.floor(
+    Math.random() *
+      (Math.ceil(backoffSeconds * HANDLER_ERROR_RETRY_JITTER_RATIO) + 1)
+  );
+  return Math.max(
+    HANDLER_ERROR_RETRY_AFTER_SECONDS,
+    backoffSeconds - jitterSeconds
+  );
+}
+
 /**
  * Extract known identifiers from a queue payload and return them as VQS headers.
  * This ensures observability headers are always set without relying on callers.
@@ -290,6 +309,17 @@ export function createQueue(config?: APIConfig): Queue {
           // we may get a duplicate invocation but won't lose the scheduled wakeup.
           await queue(queueName, payload, { deploymentId, delaySeconds });
         }
+      },
+      {
+        // Without an explicit retry directive, @vercel/queue leaves failed
+        // handler messages invisible until the default 300s visibility timeout
+        // expires. Start retrying quickly, then back off by delivery count
+        // with jitter so an outage or poison message cannot hot-loop or
+        // redrive in lockstep. Workflow handlers are event-sourced and must
+        // remain idempotent because queue retries can happen close together.
+        retry: (_error, { deliveryCount }) => ({
+          afterSeconds: getHandlerErrorRetryAfterSeconds(deliveryCount),
+        }),
       }
     );