diff --git a/backend/protondrive/protondrive.go b/backend/protondrive/protondrive.go
index 9b54fef4a..9188383cf 100644
--- a/backend/protondrive/protondrive.go
+++ b/backend/protondrive/protondrive.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/config/configmap"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/config/configstruct"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/config/obscure"
+	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/fserrors"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/fshttp"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/hash"
 	"github.com/rclone/rclone/lib/dircache"
@@ -250,8 +251,31 @@ type Object struct {
 
 // shouldRetry returns a boolean as to whether this err deserves to be
 // retried.  It returns the err as a convenience
+//
+// 429 rate-limit and 503 responses are retried inside go-proton-api's resty
+// layer (see catchTooManyRequests / catchRetryAfter) using the Retry-After
+// header, so we do not retry them again here.
 func shouldRetry(ctx context.Context, err error) (bool, error) {
-	return false, err
+	if fserrors.ContextError(ctx, &err) {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if err == nil {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	var apiErr *proton.APIError
+	if errors.As(err, &apiErr) {
+		// Transient storage block error ("Please retry").
+		if apiErr.Code == 200501 {
+			fs.Debugf(nil, "Retrying storage block error: %v", err)
+			return true, err
+		}
+		// Server errors. 503 is already handled by the SDK; retry the rest.
+		if apiErr.Status >= 500 && apiErr.Status < 600 && apiErr.Status != 503 {
+			return true, err
+		}
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return fserrors.ShouldRetry(err), err
 }
 
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/backend/protondrive/protondrive_internal_test.go b/backend/protondrive/protondrive_internal_test.go
index 7c6751244..aaf2945ae 100644
--- a/backend/protondrive/protondrive_internal_test.go
+++ b/backend/protondrive/protondrive_internal_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
 package protondrive
 
 import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/rclone/go-proton-api"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
 var protonDriveAppVersionPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)^external-drive(-[a-z_]+)+@[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?-((stable|beta|RC|alpha)(([.-]?\d+)*)?)?([.-]?dev)?(\+.*)?$`)
@@ -53,3 +59,38 @@ func TestProtonDriveAppVersionFromRcloneVersion(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestShouldRetry(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	cancelledCtx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	cancel()
+
+	apiErr := func(status int, code proton.Code) error {
+		return &proton.APIError{Status: status, Code: code, Message: "test"}
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name      string
+		ctx       context.Context
+		err       error
+		wantRetry bool
+	}{
+		{"nil error", ctx, nil, false},
+		{"cancelled context", cancelledCtx, errors.New("some error"), false},
+		{"storage block error Code=200501", ctx, apiErr(422, 200501), true},
+		{"server error Status=500", ctx, apiErr(500, 0), true},
+		{"server error Status=502", ctx, apiErr(502, 0), true},
+		{"server error Status=504", ctx, apiErr(504, 0), true},
+		{"server error Status=503 (handled by SDK, not retried here)", ctx, apiErr(503, 0), false},
+		{"rate limit Status=429 (handled by SDK, not retried here)", ctx, apiErr(429, 0), false},
+		{"client error Status=400", ctx, apiErr(400, 0), false},
+		{"client error Status=404", ctx, apiErr(404, 0), false},
+		{"wrapped API error retried via errors.As", ctx, fmt.Errorf("wrapped: %w", &proton.APIError{Status: 500}), true},
+		{"non-API error falls back to fserrors.ShouldRetry", ctx, errors.New("plain error"), false},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			gotRetry, _ := shouldRetry(tc.ctx, tc.err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.wantRetry, gotRetry)
+		})
+	}
+}