diff --git a/docs/model-artifacts.md b/docs/model-artifacts.md
index f59c2c7a32..bd52410375 100644
--- a/docs/model-artifacts.md
+++ b/docs/model-artifacts.md
@@ -58,7 +58,10 @@ lengths; affected totals and storage validation remain unknown.
 Safetensors reports the header extent, exact string `__metadata__` values, dtype,
 shape and declared data ranges. JSON duplicate keys, invalid UTF-8, out-of-file
 ranges, overlaps, gaps, trailing unindexed data and known dtype/shape byte-length
-contradictions are rejected with a typed `file_format_rejected` constraint (public code `target_unavailable`, category `unsupported_target`). Empty
+contradictions are rejected with a typed `file_format_rejected` constraint (public code `target_unavailable`, category `unsupported_target`).
+A missing, non-regular or otherwise unusable selected path is also `target_unavailable`;
+host I/O or resource failures on a valid selection, such as `EMFILE` or `EIO`, are
+`execution_failure` with the path and reason in `details.diagnostics`. Empty
 tensors and scalar shapes are supported; packed sub-byte types require whole
 byte storage. Unknown dtypes retain declared ranges and an explicit limitation
 that shape-to-storage validation is unavailable. Each tensor records
diff --git a/src/model/ModelArtifactProvider.ts b/src/model/ModelArtifactProvider.ts
index 30113bfcfa..8e5efa2541 100644
--- a/src/model/ModelArtifactProvider.ts
+++ b/src/model/ModelArtifactProvider.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,17 @@ export const MODEL_ARTIFACT_PROVIDER_IDENTITY = {
   version: "1",
 } as const;
 const OPERATION = "inspect_model_artifact";
+// Codes that describe the selected path itself. Other host errors (EMFILE,
+// EIO, ...) are execution failures, not a reason to reselect the model.
+const SELECTED_TARGET_CODES = new Set([
+  "ENOENT",
+  "ENOTDIR",
+  "ELOOP",
+  "ENAMETOOLONG",
+  "EISDIR",
+  "ENOTFILE",
+  "ESTALE",
+]);
 
 /** One admitted descriptor and bounded report at a time; retained cleanup blocks new work. */
 export class ModelArtifactProvider implements ModelArtifactPort {
@@ -182,7 +193,11 @@ export class ModelArtifactProvider implements ModelArtifactPort {
           {},
           { cause: primary },
         );
-      else if (primary instanceof Error && "code" in primary)
+      else if (
+        primary instanceof Error &&
+        "code" in primary &&
+        SELECTED_TARGET_CODES.has(String(primary.code))
+      )
         error = new BinaryTargetError(input.path, primary.message, { cause });
       else
         error = new ProviderAdapterError(this.identity.id, OPERATION, {
diff --git a/tests/process-global/modelHostReadFailure.test.ts b/tests/process-global/modelHostReadFailure.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc0c135cc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/process-global/modelHostReadFailure.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+import { writeFile, type FileHandle } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, expect, vi } from "vitest";
+
+const fault = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  path: "",
+  stage: "" as "" | "open" | "read",
+  cause: undefined as Error | undefined,
+  handles: [] as FileHandle[],
+}));
+vi.mock("node:fs/promises", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const original = await importOriginal<typeof import("node:fs/promises")>();
+  return {
+    ...original,
+    open: async (...args: Parameters<typeof original.open>) => {
+      const selected = String(args[0]) === fault.path;
+      if (selected && fault.stage === "open") throw fault.cause;
+      const handle = await original.open(...args);
+      if (selected) {
+        fault.handles.push(handle);
+        if (fault.stage === "read")
+          handle.read = (async () => {
+            throw fault.cause;
+          }) as FileHandle["read"];
+      }
+      return handle;
+    },
+  };
+});
+
+import { ModelArtifactProvider } from "../../src/model/ModelArtifactProvider.js";
+import { ModelArtifactService } from "../../src/application/model/ModelArtifactService.js";
+import { EvidenceMcpServer } from "../../src/server/EvidenceMcpServer.js";
+import { registerModelArtifactTools } from "../../src/server/registerModelArtifactTools.js";
+import { createToolResultDelivery } from "../../src/server/toolResult.js";
+import { silentLogger } from "../../src/logger.js";
+import { ggufFixture, safetensorsFixture } from "../fixtures/model/model.js";
+import { parseMcpToolError } from "../fixtures/mcpToolError.js";
+import { createTestTempDirectory } from "../fixtures/temporaryDirectory.js";
+import { mcpTest } from "../support/mcp/mcpFixture.js";
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  fault.path = "";
+  fault.stage = "";
+  fault.cause = undefined;
+  fault.handles = [];
+});
+
+mcpTest.for(["gguf", "safetensors"] as const)(
+  "reports host I/O failures for a valid %s file as execution failures, not unavailable targets",
+  async (format, { mcp }) => {
+    const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-model-host-failure-");
+    const path = join(root, `selected.${format}`);
+    await writeFile(
+      path,
+      format === "gguf" ? ggufFixture().bytes : safetensorsFixture().bytes,
+    );
+    const provider = new ModelArtifactProvider();
+    const server = new EvidenceMcpServer(
+      { name: "model-host-failure-test", version: "1" },
+      {},
+      undefined,
+      createToolResultDelivery(undefined),
+    );
+    registerModelArtifactTools(
+      server,
+      new ModelArtifactService(provider),
+      silentLogger,
+    );
+    const client = await mcp.connect(server);
+    const call = (selected = path) =>
+      client.callTool({
+        name: "inspect_model_artifact",
+        arguments: { path: selected, detail: "complete" },
+      });
+    try {
+      expect((await call()).isError).not.toBe(true);
+      fault.path = path;
+      for (const [stage, code] of [
+        ["open", "EMFILE"],
+        ["read", "EIO"],
+      ] as const) {
+        fault.stage = stage;
+        fault.cause = Object.assign(
+          new Error(`controlled ${stage} failure (${code})`),
+          { code },
+        );
+        const { error } = parseMcpToolError(await call());
+        expect(error).toMatchObject({
+          code: "execution_failure",
+          category: "execution_failure",
+          retryable: false,
+          details: {
+            provider_id: "model-artifact",
+            diagnostics: {
+              path,
+              reason: `controlled ${stage} failure (${code})`,
+            },
+          },
+        });
+        expect(error.message).not.toContain("Check that the path exists");
+        if (stage === "read") expect(fault.handles.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+        expect(fault.handles.every((handle) => handle.fd === -1)).toBe(true);
+        fault.stage = "";
+        expect((await call()).isError).not.toBe(true);
+      }
+      // Errors about the selected path itself remain target refusals.
+      for (const code of [
+        "ENOENT",
+        "ENOTDIR",
+        "ELOOP",
+        "ENAMETOOLONG",
+        "EISDIR",
+        "ENOTFILE",
+        "ESTALE",
+      ]) {
+        fault.stage = "open";
+        fault.cause = Object.assign(new Error(`controlled ${code}`), { code });
+        const { error } = parseMcpToolError(await call());
+        expect(error, code).toMatchObject({
+          code: "target_unavailable",
+          category: "unavailable",
+        });
+      }
+      fault.stage = "";
+      const { error } = parseMcpToolError(
+        await call(join(root, `missing.${format}`)),
+      );
+      expect(error).toMatchObject({
+        code: "target_unavailable",
+        category: "unavailable",
+      });
+    } finally {
+      await provider.close();
+    }
+  },
+);