diff --git a/hooks/grade-recall.py b/hooks/grade-recall.py
index ef84cb57..9c3aa6fc 100755
--- a/hooks/grade-recall.py
+++ b/hooks/grade-recall.py
@@ -839,6 +839,16 @@ def main():
         "reports admitted-are-gold precision + gold coverage; exit 1 on kill",
     )
     a = ap.parse_args()
+    if CHITTA_EVAL_SOCKET:
+        # A dead replica must abort, not score 0.0 (happened 2026-09-13 when the
+        # replica refused to start mid-save and the grader ran anyway).
+        probe = subprocess.run(
+            _chitta_cli("recall", "--query", "ping", "--limit", "1"),
+            capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=60,
+        )
+        if probe.returncode != 0 or "Cannot connect" in (probe.stdout + probe.stderr):
+            print(f"eval replica at {CHITTA_EVAL_SOCKET} is not reachable; aborting", file=sys.stderr)
+            return 2
     if a.no_reranker:
         global _reranker
         _reranker = False
@@ -1083,4 +1093,4 @@ def main():
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    main()
+    sys.exit(main())