diff --git a/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.AlarmHistorian/SqliteStoreAndForwardSink.cs b/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.AlarmHistorian/SqliteStoreAndForwardSink.cs
index 570ded36..f00ea542 100644
--- a/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.AlarmHistorian/SqliteStoreAndForwardSink.cs
+++ b/src/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.AlarmHistorian/SqliteStoreAndForwardSink.cs
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
     public const long DefaultCapacity = 1_000_000;
     public static readonly TimeSpan DefaultDeadLetterRetention = TimeSpan.FromDays(30);
 
+    /// <summary>Default max delivery attempts before a perpetually-retrying (poison) row is dead-lettered.</summary>
+    public const int DefaultMaxAttempts = 10;
+
     private static readonly TimeSpan[] BackoffLadder =
     [
         TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1),
@@ -66,6 +69,7 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
     private readonly int _batchSize;
     private readonly long _capacity;
     private readonly TimeSpan _deadLetterRetention;
+    private readonly int _maxAttempts;
     private readonly Func<DateTime> _clock;
 
     private readonly SemaphoreSlim _drainGate = new(1, 1);
@@ -115,6 +119,7 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
     /// <param name="batchSize">The maximum number of rows to forward in a single batch. Defaults to 100.</param>
     /// <param name="capacity">The maximum queue capacity before evicting oldest rows. Defaults to 1,000,000.</param>
     /// <param name="deadLetterRetention">The timespan to retain dead-lettered rows before purging. Defaults to 30 days.</param>
+    /// <param name="maxAttempts">The maximum number of delivery attempts before a perpetually-retrying (poison) row is dead-lettered. Defaults to 10.</param>
     /// <param name="clock">Optional clock function for testing; defaults to <see cref="DateTime.UtcNow"/>.</param>
     public SqliteStoreAndForwardSink(
         string databasePath,
@@ -123,6 +128,7 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
         int batchSize = 100,
         long capacity = DefaultCapacity,
         TimeSpan? deadLetterRetention = null,
+        int maxAttempts = DefaultMaxAttempts,
         Func<DateTime>? clock = null)
     {
         if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(databasePath))
@@ -132,6 +138,7 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
         _batchSize = batchSize > 0 ? batchSize : throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(batchSize));
         _capacity = capacity > 0 ? capacity : throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(capacity));
         _deadLetterRetention = deadLetterRetention ?? DefaultDeadLetterRetention;
+        _maxAttempts = maxAttempts > 0 ? maxAttempts : throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(maxAttempts));
         _clock = clock ?? (() => DateTime.UtcNow);
         // DefaultTimeout gives ADO.NET command-level retry; the PRAGMA busy_timeout
         // applied in OpenConnection backs it with SQLite's own busy-handler so an
@@ -457,14 +464,28 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
                             rowsLeavingQueue++;
                             break;
                         case HistorianWriteOutcome.RetryPlease:
-                            BumpAttempt(conn, tx, rowId, "retry-please");
+                            // finding 002: cap retries so a perpetually-RetryPlease (poison)
+                            // row cannot retry forever at the 60s backoff floor. The incoming
+                            // AttemptCount is the count BEFORE this attempt; +1 accounts for the
+                            // bump this drain represents. At the cap, dead-letter instead of
+                            // bumping — and count it as leaving the live queue like PermanentFail.
+                            if (liveRows[i].AttemptCount + 1 >= _maxAttempts)
+                            {
+                                DeadLetterRow(conn, tx, rowId, $"max attempts ({_maxAttempts}) exceeded");
+                                rowsLeavingQueue++;
+                            }
+                            else
+                            {
+                                BumpAttempt(conn, tx, rowId, "retry-please");
+                            }
                             break;
                     }
                 }
                 tx.Commit();
             }
             // Ack-deleted + PermanentFail-dead-lettered rows both leave the
-            // non-dead-lettered queue — keep the counter aligned (Core.AlarmHistorian-008).
+            // non-dead-lettered queue, as do RetryPlease rows that hit the max-attempts
+            // cap (finding 002) — keep the counter aligned (Core.AlarmHistorian-008).
             if (rowsLeavingQueue > 0)
                 Interlocked.Add(ref _queuedRowCount, -rowsLeavingQueue);
 
@@ -552,14 +573,14 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
     ///     the <see cref="RowId"/> always stays bound to its own row so outcomes can
     ///     never be mapped to the wrong row.
     /// </summary>
-    private readonly record struct QueueRow(long RowId, AlarmHistorianEvent? Event);
+    private readonly record struct QueueRow(long RowId, AlarmHistorianEvent? Event, long AttemptCount);
 
     private List<QueueRow> ReadBatch(SqliteConnection conn)
     {
         var rows = new List<QueueRow>();
         using var cmd = conn.CreateCommand();
         cmd.CommandText = """
-            SELECT RowId, PayloadJson FROM Queue
+            SELECT RowId, PayloadJson, AttemptCount FROM Queue
             WHERE DeadLettered = 0
             ORDER BY RowId ASC
             LIMIT $limit
@@ -570,6 +591,7 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
         {
             var rowId = reader.GetInt64(0);
             var payload = reader.GetString(1);
+            var attemptCount = reader.GetInt64(2);
             AlarmHistorianEvent? evt;
             try
             {
@@ -580,7 +602,7 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSink : IAlarmHistorianSink, IDisposable
                 // Malformed JSON — carry a null event so the caller dead-letters this row.
                 evt = null;
             }
-            rows.Add(new QueueRow(rowId, evt));
+            rows.Add(new QueueRow(rowId, evt, attemptCount));
         }
         return rows;
     }
diff --git a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Historian/AlarmHistorianOptions.cs b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Historian/AlarmHistorianOptions.cs
index 5bdb8096..c01fc059 100644
--- a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Historian/AlarmHistorianOptions.cs
+++ b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/Historian/AlarmHistorianOptions.cs
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ public sealed class AlarmHistorianOptions
     /// <summary>Days to retain dead-lettered rows before purge. Defaults to 30.</summary>
     public int DeadLetterRetentionDays { get; init; } = 30;
 
+    /// <summary>Maximum delivery attempts before a perpetually-retrying (poison) row is dead-lettered.
+    /// Defaults to 10 (matches <c>SqliteStoreAndForwardSink</c>'s <c>DefaultMaxAttempts</c>).</summary>
+    public int MaxAttempts { get; init; } = SqliteStoreAndForwardSink.DefaultMaxAttempts;
+
     /// <summary>Returns operator-facing misconfiguration warnings for an <c>Enabled</c> historian
     /// (empty when disabled or correctly configured). Pure — the registration logs each entry.</summary>
     /// <returns>Zero or more human-readable warning messages.</returns>
@@ -70,6 +74,8 @@ public sealed class AlarmHistorianOptions
             warnings.Add($"AlarmHistorian:Capacity is {Capacity} — must be > 0; the sink constructor will throw at startup.");
         if (DeadLetterRetentionDays <= 0)
             warnings.Add($"AlarmHistorian:DeadLetterRetentionDays is {DeadLetterRetentionDays} — must be > 0; dead-lettered rows would be purged on every drain tick.");
+        if (MaxAttempts <= 0)
+            warnings.Add($"AlarmHistorian:MaxAttempts is {MaxAttempts} — must be > 0; the sink constructor will throw at startup.");
         return warnings;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
index c97131ac..c0604569 100644
--- a/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Server/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Runtime/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ public static class ServiceCollectionExtensions
                 Serilog.Log.Logger.ForContext<SqliteStoreAndForwardSink>(),
                 batchSize: opts.BatchSize,
                 capacity: opts.Capacity,
-                deadLetterRetention: TimeSpan.FromDays(opts.DeadLetterRetentionDays));
+                deadLetterRetention: TimeSpan.FromDays(opts.DeadLetterRetentionDays),
+                maxAttempts: opts.MaxAttempts);
             sink.StartDrainLoop(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(opts.DrainIntervalSeconds));
             return sink;
         });
diff --git a/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.AlarmHistorian.Tests/SqliteStoreAndForwardSinkTests.cs b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.AlarmHistorian.Tests/SqliteStoreAndForwardSinkTests.cs
index 0ae583d6..d0348822 100644
--- a/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.AlarmHistorian.Tests/SqliteStoreAndForwardSinkTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Core/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Core.AlarmHistorian.Tests/SqliteStoreAndForwardSinkTests.cs
@@ -268,6 +268,37 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSinkTests : IDisposable
         sink.CurrentBackoff.ShouldBe(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60));
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    ///     Regression for finding 002: a permanently-malformed (poison) event that the
+    ///     writer can only ever map to <see cref="HistorianWriteOutcome.RetryPlease"/>
+    ///     must NOT retry forever. After <c>maxAttempts</c> retry-please drains the row
+    ///     is dead-lettered so the queue head can never stall on it indefinitely.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task RetryPlease_dead_letters_row_after_MaxAttempts()
+    {
+        var writer = new FakeWriter { DefaultOutcome = HistorianWriteOutcome.RetryPlease };
+        using var sink = new SqliteStoreAndForwardSink(
+            _dbPath, writer, _log, maxAttempts: 3);
+
+        await sink.EnqueueAsync(Event("poison"), CancellationToken.None);
+
+        // Drain 1 + 2: still retrying — the row stays queued, not yet dead-lettered.
+        await sink.DrainOnceAsync(CancellationToken.None);
+        sink.GetStatus().QueueDepth.ShouldBe(1, "after 1 attempt the row is still queued");
+        sink.GetStatus().DeadLetterDepth.ShouldBe(0, "not yet dead-lettered after 1 attempt");
+
+        await sink.DrainOnceAsync(CancellationToken.None);
+        sink.GetStatus().QueueDepth.ShouldBe(1, "after 2 attempts the row is still queued");
+        sink.GetStatus().DeadLetterDepth.ShouldBe(0, "not yet dead-lettered after 2 attempts");
+
+        // Drain 3: the 3rd attempt hits the cap — dead-letter it.
+        await sink.DrainOnceAsync(CancellationToken.None);
+        var status = sink.GetStatus();
+        status.QueueDepth.ShouldBe(0, "row left the live queue once max attempts exceeded");
+        status.DeadLetterDepth.ShouldBe(1, "poison row dead-lettered at the max-attempts cap");
+    }
+
     /// <summary>Verifies that NullAlarmHistorianSink reports disabled status.</summary>
     [Fact]
     public void NullAlarmHistorianSink_reports_disabled_status()
@@ -295,6 +326,7 @@ public sealed class SqliteStoreAndForwardSinkTests : IDisposable
         Should.Throw<ArgumentNullException>(() => new SqliteStoreAndForwardSink(_dbPath, w, null!));
         Should.Throw<ArgumentOutOfRangeException>(() => new SqliteStoreAndForwardSink(_dbPath, w, _log, batchSize: 0));
         Should.Throw<ArgumentOutOfRangeException>(() => new SqliteStoreAndForwardSink(_dbPath, w, _log, capacity: 0));
+        Should.Throw<ArgumentOutOfRangeException>(() => new SqliteStoreAndForwardSink(_dbPath, w, _log, maxAttempts: 0));
     }
 
     /// <summary>Verifies that a disposed sink rejects enqueue operations.</summary>