diff --git a/routstr/payment/models.py b/routstr/payment/models.py
index 8d7788a1..f75b5620 100644
--- a/routstr/payment/models.py
+++ b/routstr/payment/models.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import json
 import random
 
 import httpx
-from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Request
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Request, Response
 from pydantic import BaseModel as V2BaseModel
 from pydantic.v1 import BaseModel, validator
 from sqlmodel.ext.asyncio.session import AsyncSession
@@ -767,13 +767,19 @@ async def model_paths_for_model(model_id: str) -> dict:
     return result
 
 
-@models_router.get("/v1/models")
-@models_router.get("/v1/models/", include_in_schema=False)
-@models_router.get("/models")
-@models_router.get("/models/", include_in_schema=False)
-async def models(session: AsyncSession = Depends(get_session)) -> dict:
+@models_router.get("/v1/models", response_model=None)
+@models_router.get("/v1/models/", include_in_schema=False, response_model=None)
+@models_router.get("/models", response_model=None)
+@models_router.get("/models/", include_in_schema=False, response_model=None)
+async def models(
+    request: Request, session: AsyncSession = Depends(get_session)
+) -> dict | Response:
     """Get all available models from all providers with database overrides applied."""
-    from ..proxy import get_unique_models
+    from ..proxy import get_unique_models, is_warming_up, models_warming_up_response
+
+    # An empty list here reads as "this node serves nothing"; tell clients to retry.
+    if is_warming_up():
+        return models_warming_up_response(request)
 
     items = get_unique_models()
     data = []
diff --git a/routstr/proxy.py b/routstr/proxy.py
index 7c0cf908..6f04d2be 100644
--- a/routstr/proxy.py
+++ b/routstr/proxy.py
@@ -106,6 +106,19 @@ def is_warming_up() -> bool:
     return _warming_up
 
 
+def models_warming_up_response(request: Request) -> Response:
+    response = create_error_response(
+        "service_unavailable",
+        "Models are still loading, retry shortly",
+        503,
+        request=request,
+        code=MODELS_WARMING_UP,
+        error_scope=ERROR_SCOPE_NODE,
+    )
+    response.headers["Retry-After"] = str(WARMING_UP_RETRY_AFTER_SECONDS)
+    return response
+
+
 async def reinitialize_upstreams() -> None:
     """Re-initialize upstream providers from database (called after admin changes)."""
     global _upstreams
@@ -671,16 +684,7 @@ async def _proxy(
 
     if not candidates:
         if is_warming_up():
-            response = create_error_response(
-                "service_unavailable",
-                "Models are still loading, retry shortly",
-                503,
-                request=request,
-                code=MODELS_WARMING_UP,
-                error_scope=ERROR_SCOPE_NODE,
-            )
-            response.headers["Retry-After"] = str(WARMING_UP_RETRY_AFTER_SECONDS)
-            return response
+            return models_warming_up_response(request)
         return create_error_response(
             "invalid_model", f"Model '{model_id}' not found", 400, request=request
         )
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_models_warming_up.py b/tests/unit/test_models_warming_up.py
index 99f286e7..ea3077bc 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_models_warming_up.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_models_warming_up.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import json
 from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
 
 import pytest
+from fastapi import Response
 
 from routstr import proxy as proxy_module
 from routstr.core.error_scope import ERROR_SCOPE_HEADER, ERROR_SCOPE_NODE
@@ -56,3 +57,26 @@ async def test_failed_initialization_still_ends_warm_up() -> None:
         await proxy_module.initialize_upstreams()
 
     assert not proxy_module.is_warming_up()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_models_list_while_warming_up_is_retryable_503() -> None:
+    from routstr.payment.models import models
+
+    proxy_module.mark_warming_up()
+
+    response = await models(_chat_request(), MagicMock())
+
+    assert isinstance(response, Response)
+    assert response.status_code == 503
+    assert response.headers["Retry-After"] == "2"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_models_list_after_warm_up_returns_data() -> None:
+    from routstr.payment.models import models
+
+    with patch.object(proxy_module, "get_unique_models", return_value=[]):
+        response = await models(_chat_request(), MagicMock())
+
+    assert response == {"data": []}