diff --git a/src/approvals/index.ts b/src/approvals/index.ts
index 4b377cf..45a24e9 100644
--- a/src/approvals/index.ts
+++ b/src/approvals/index.ts
@@ -89,10 +89,12 @@ export class ApprovalClient {
   ): Promise<void> {
     this.running = true;
     const projectId = options?.projectId ?? null;
-    const gatewayUrl = await this.resolveGatewayUrl(projectId);
 
     while (this.running) {
       try {
+        // Resolve inside the loop so a failed resolution backs off and
+        // retries like a failed poll. It caches on success.
+        const gatewayUrl = await this.resolveGatewayUrl(projectId);
         const poll = await this.poll(gatewayUrl, projectId);
 
         for (const request of poll.requests) {
diff --git a/test/approvals/client.test.ts b/test/approvals/client.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2359948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/approvals/client.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { OneCLI } from "../../src/index.js";
+import type { ApprovalRequest } from "../../src/approvals/types.js";
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.restoreAllMocks();
+  vi.useRealTimers();
+});
+
+const makeRequest = (
+  overrides?: Partial<ApprovalRequest>,
+): ApprovalRequest => ({
+  id: "ap-1",
+  method: "POST",
+  url: "https://api.example.com/v1/send",
+  host: "api.example.com",
+  path: "/v1/send",
+  headers: {},
+  bodyPreview: null,
+  agent: { id: "a-1", name: "Agent", externalId: null },
+  createdAt: "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+  expiresAt: "2026-01-01T00:05:00Z",
+  timeoutSeconds: 300,
+  ...overrides,
+});
+
+/** A fetch that stays pending until its request is aborted, then rejects — so
+ * the poll loop parks on the next poll instead of busy-spinning. */
+const hangUntilAborted = (init?: RequestInit): Promise<Response> =>
+  new Promise((_resolve, reject) => {
+    const abort = () =>
+      reject(new DOMException("The operation was aborted.", "AbortError"));
+    const signal = init?.signal ?? undefined;
+    if (signal?.aborted) return abort();
+    signal?.addEventListener("abort", abort);
+  });
+
+describe("configureManualApproval", () => {
+  it("retries a failed gateway-URL resolution instead of giving up on polling", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+
+    const request = makeRequest({ id: "ap-7" });
+    let resolutions = 0;
+    let polls = 0;
+    vi.spyOn(globalThis, "fetch").mockImplementation((input, init) => {
+      const url = String(input);
+      if (url.includes("/v1/gateway-url")) {
+        resolutions += 1;
+        // OneCLI is not reachable yet on the first attempt.
+        return resolutions === 1
+          ? Promise.resolve(new Response("unavailable", { status: 503 }))
+          : Promise.resolve(
+              new Response(JSON.stringify({ url: "http://gw.local/" }), {
+                status: 200,
+              }),
+            );
+      }
+      if (url.includes("/v1/approvals/pending")) {
+        polls += 1;
+        return polls === 1
+          ? Promise.resolve(
+              new Response(
+                JSON.stringify({ requests: [request], timeoutSeconds: 300 }),
+                { status: 200 },
+              ),
+            )
+          : hangUntilAborted(init as RequestInit);
+      }
+      // decision endpoint
+      return Promise.resolve(new Response(null, { status: 200 }));
+    });
+
+    const onecli = new OneCLI({
+      url: "http://localhost:3000",
+      apiKey: "oc_key",
+    });
+    const seen: string[] = [];
+    const handle = onecli.configureManualApproval(async (req) => {
+      seen.push(req.id);
+      return "approve";
+    });
+
+    // First resolution fails; after the 5s backoff it succeeds and polls.
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(5000);
+
+    expect(resolutions).toBe(2);
+    expect(seen).toEqual(["ap-7"]);
+
+    handle.stop();
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(0);
+  });
+});