diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/Configuration.java b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/Configuration.java
index 4dc9f45..15425d3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/Configuration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/Configuration.java
@@ -516,6 +516,8 @@
     static final String MAX_TRIES_KEY = "maxTries";
     static final String RETRY_INTERVAL_KEY = "retryInterval";
     static final String THREAD_POOL_SIZE_KEY = "threadPoolSize";
+    static final String REUSE_CONNECTION_AFTER_503_KEY = "reuseConnectionAfter503";
+    static final boolean DEFAULT_REUSE_CONNECTION_AFTER_503 = true;
 
     private final String user;
     private final String password;
@@ -524,6 +526,7 @@
     private final int maxTries;
     private final Duration retryInterval;
     private final int threadPoolSize;
+    private final boolean reuseConnectionAfter503;
 
     private Http(Config cfg) {
       user = Strings.nullToEmpty(cfg.getString(HTTP_SECTION, null, USER_KEY));
@@ -533,6 +536,9 @@
       maxTries = getMaxTries(cfg, HTTP_SECTION, MAX_TRIES_KEY, DEFAULT_MAX_TRIES);
       retryInterval = getDuration(cfg, HTTP_SECTION, RETRY_INTERVAL_KEY, DEFAULT_RETRY_INTERVAL);
       threadPoolSize = getInt(cfg, HTTP_SECTION, THREAD_POOL_SIZE_KEY, DEFAULT_THREAD_POOL_SIZE);
+      reuseConnectionAfter503 =
+          cfg.getBoolean(
+              HTTP_SECTION, REUSE_CONNECTION_AFTER_503_KEY, DEFAULT_REUSE_CONNECTION_AFTER_503);
     }
 
     public String user() {
@@ -562,6 +568,10 @@
     public int threadPoolSize() {
       return threadPoolSize;
     }
+
+    public boolean reuseConnectionAfter503() {
+      return reuseConnectionAfter503;
+    }
   }
 
   /** Common parameters to cache, event, index and websession */
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/HttpClientProvider.java b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/HttpClientProvider.java
index a71e03f..fc90a10 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/HttpClientProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/HttpClientProvider.java
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 
 package com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.forwarder.rest;
 
+import static javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.SC_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE;
+
 import com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.Configuration;
 import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
@@ -24,6 +26,7 @@
 import javax.net.ssl.SSLContext;
 import javax.net.ssl.TrustManager;
 import javax.net.ssl.X509TrustManager;
+import org.apache.http.ConnectionReuseStrategy;
 import org.apache.http.auth.AuthScope;
 import org.apache.http.auth.UsernamePasswordCredentials;
 import org.apache.http.client.config.RequestConfig;
@@ -34,6 +37,7 @@
 import org.apache.http.conn.socket.PlainConnectionSocketFactory;
 import org.apache.http.conn.ssl.NoopHostnameVerifier;
 import org.apache.http.conn.ssl.SSLConnectionSocketFactory;
+import org.apache.http.impl.DefaultConnectionReuseStrategy;
 import org.apache.http.impl.client.BasicCredentialsProvider;
 import org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient;
 import org.apache.http.impl.client.HttpClients;
@@ -64,6 +68,7 @@
         .setConnectionManager(customConnectionManager())
         .setDefaultCredentialsProvider(buildCredentials())
         .setDefaultRequestConfig(customRequestConfig())
+        .setConnectionReuseStrategy(customConnectionReuseStrategy())
         .build();
   }
 
@@ -77,6 +82,10 @@
   }
 
   private HttpClientConnectionManager customConnectionManager() {
+    return buildConnectionManager();
+  }
+
+  PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager buildConnectionManager() {
     Registry<ConnectionSocketFactory> socketFactoryRegistry =
         RegistryBuilder.<ConnectionSocketFactory>create()
             .register("https", sslSocketFactory)
@@ -90,6 +99,16 @@
     return connManager;
   }
 
+  private ConnectionReuseStrategy customConnectionReuseStrategy() {
+    return (response, context) -> {
+      if (response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode() == SC_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
+          && !cfg.http().reuseConnectionAfter503()) {
+        return false;
+      }
+      return DefaultConnectionReuseStrategy.INSTANCE.keepAlive(response, context);
+    };
+  }
+
   private static SSLConnectionSocketFactory buildSslSocketFactory() {
     return new SSLConnectionSocketFactory(buildSslContext(), NoopHostnameVerifier.INSTANCE);
   }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
index 737b354..1a3a498 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
@@ -294,6 +294,14 @@
     Value is expressed in Gerrit time values as in [websession.cleanupInterval](#websessioncleanupInterval).
     When not specified, the default value is set to 10 seconds.
 
+```http.reuseConnectionAfter503```
+:   Whether to reuse the HTTP connection to the peer instance after receiving a
+    503 (Service Unavailable) response over it. When set to `false`, the plugin
+    will close the connection immediately on a 503 response and open a fresh one
+    for the next retry, which can help recover from situations where a peer has
+    transiently become unavailable without properly closing existing connections.
+    When not specified, the default value is `true`.
+
 ```http.threadPoolSize```
 :   Maximum number of threads used to execute REST calls towards target instances.
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/HttpClientProviderConnectionReuseTest.java b/src/test/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/HttpClientProviderConnectionReuseTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3bd3b14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/HttpClientProviderConnectionReuseTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2026 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.forwarder.rest;
+
+import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.aResponse;
+import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.get;
+import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.urlEqualTo;
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+import com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.Configuration;
+import com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.junit.WireMockRule;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.List;
+import org.apache.http.client.methods.CloseableHttpResponse;
+import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
+import org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient;
+import org.apache.http.impl.conn.PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.mockito.Answers;
+
+public class HttpClientProviderConnectionReuseTest {
+
+  private static final String ENDPOINT = "/test";
+  private static final Duration TIMEOUT = Duration.ofMillis(1000);
+
+  @Rule public WireMockRule wireMock = new WireMockRule(0);
+
+  private Configuration mockConfig(boolean reuseConnectionAfter503) {
+    Configuration cfg = mock(Configuration.class, Answers.RETURNS_DEEP_STUBS);
+    when(cfg.http().user()).thenReturn("");
+    when(cfg.http().password()).thenReturn("");
+    when(cfg.http().connectionTimeout()).thenReturn(TIMEOUT);
+    when(cfg.http().socketTimeout()).thenReturn(TIMEOUT);
+    when(cfg.http().reuseConnectionAfter503()).thenReturn(reuseConnectionAfter503);
+    return cfg;
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void connectionIsReturnedToPoolAfter503WhenReuseIsEnabled() throws Exception {
+    wireMock.givenThat(get(urlEqualTo(ENDPOINT)).willReturn(aResponse().withStatus(503)));
+
+    TestableHttpClientProvider provider = new TestableHttpClientProvider(mockConfig(true));
+    try (CloseableHttpClient client = provider.get()) {
+      executeConsuming(client);
+      // Connection must be back in the pool (available == 1) because reuseConnectionAfter503=true
+      assertThat(provider.connectionManager().getTotalStats().getAvailable()).isEqualTo(1);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void connectionIsDiscardedAfter503WhenReuseIsDisabled() throws Exception {
+    wireMock.givenThat(get(urlEqualTo(ENDPOINT)).willReturn(aResponse().withStatus(503)));
+
+    TestableHttpClientProvider provider = new TestableHttpClientProvider(mockConfig(false));
+    try (CloseableHttpClient client = provider.get()) {
+      executeConsuming(client);
+      // Connection must have been discarded (available == 0) because reuseConnectionAfter503=false
+      assertThat(provider.connectionManager().getTotalStats().getAvailable()).isEqualTo(0);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void connectionIsReturnedToPoolAfter500RegardlessOfReuseOption() throws Exception {
+    wireMock.givenThat(get(urlEqualTo(ENDPOINT)).willReturn(aResponse().withStatus(500)));
+
+    for (boolean reuseFlag : List.of(true, false)) {
+      TestableHttpClientProvider provider = new TestableHttpClientProvider(mockConfig(reuseFlag));
+      try (CloseableHttpClient client = provider.get()) {
+        executeConsuming(client);
+        // 500 is not 503 — the reuseConnectionAfter503 option must have no effect
+        assertThat(provider.connectionManager().getTotalStats().getAvailable()).isEqualTo(1);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void executeConsuming(CloseableHttpClient client) throws Exception {
+    String url = "http://localhost:" + wireMock.port() + ENDPOINT;
+    try (CloseableHttpResponse response = client.execute(new HttpGet(url))) {
+      if (response.getEntity() != null) {
+        response.getEntity().getContent().close();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Extends HttpClientProvider to capture the PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager so tests can
+   * inspect pool statistics after requests complete.
+   */
+  private static class TestableHttpClientProvider extends HttpClientProvider {
+    private PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager connManager;
+
+    TestableHttpClientProvider(Configuration cfg) {
+      super(cfg);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager buildConnectionManager() {
+      connManager = super.buildConnectionManager();
+      return connManager;
+    }
+
+    PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager connectionManager() {
+      return connManager;
+    }
+  }
+}