diff --git a/src/tools/delegate-task/model-selection.test.ts b/src/tools/delegate-task/model-selection.test.ts
index cd1f8b6e7..cc823a576 100644
--- a/src/tools/delegate-task/model-selection.test.ts
+++ b/src/tools/delegate-task/model-selection.test.ts
@@ -170,6 +170,50 @@ describe("resolveModelForDelegateTask", () => {
 				expect(result).toEqual({ model: "openai/gpt-5.2", variant: "medium", matchedFallback: true })
 			})
 		})
+
+		describe("#when user primary model is unreachable and user fallback_models are provided", () => {
+			test("#then promotes the first reachable user fallback (regression: bug where fallback_models were ignored when userModel set)", () => {
+				const result = resolveModelForDelegateTask({
+					userModel: "opencode/gemini-3.1-pro high",
+					userFallbackModels: [
+						"amazon-bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-7 max",
+						"opencode/claude-opus-4-7 max",
+						"openai/gpt-5.5",
+					],
+					availableModels: new Set([
+						"openai/gpt-5.5",
+						"openai/gpt-5.5-pro",
+						"amazon-bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-7",
+					]),
+				})
+
+				expect(result).toEqual({
+					model: "amazon-bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-7",
+					variant: "max",
+					matchedFallback: true,
+				})
+			})
+
+			test("#then keeps the user primary when it IS reachable (fast path preserved)", () => {
+				const result = resolveModelForDelegateTask({
+					userModel: "openai/gpt-5.5 xhigh",
+					userFallbackModels: ["openai/gpt-5.4"],
+					availableModels: new Set(["openai/gpt-5.5", "openai/gpt-5.4"]),
+				})
+
+				expect(result).toEqual({ model: "openai/gpt-5.5", variant: "xhigh" })
+			})
+
+			test("#then returns the user primary as-is when no user fallback is reachable either (trust-user legacy behavior)", () => {
+				const result = resolveModelForDelegateTask({
+					userModel: "opencode/gemini-3.1-pro high",
+					userFallbackModels: ["google/gemini-3.1-pro"],
+					availableModels: new Set(["openai/gpt-5.5"]),
+				})
+
+				expect(result).toEqual({ model: "opencode/gemini-3.1-pro", variant: "high" })
+			})
+		})
 	})
 
 	describe("#given provider cache exists and connected providers are known", () => {
diff --git a/src/tools/delegate-task/model-selection.ts b/src/tools/delegate-task/model-selection.ts
index 9577dc266..638fbe37d 100644
--- a/src/tools/delegate-task/model-selection.ts
+++ b/src/tools/delegate-task/model-selection.ts
@@ -57,10 +57,48 @@ export function resolveModelForDelegateTask(input: {
   const userModel = normalizeModel(input.userModel)
   if (userModel) {
     const parsed = parseUserFallbackModel(userModel)
-    if (parsed?.variant) {
-      return { model: parsed.baseModel, variant: parsed.variant }
+    const userResult = parsed?.variant
+      ? { model: parsed.baseModel, variant: parsed.variant }
+      : { model: userModel }
+
+    // When the availability cache is warm AND the user provided fallback_models,
+    // verify the user's explicit primary model is actually reachable. If it is
+    // not but one of their configured fallback_models is, promote that fallback
+    // instead of returning an unreachable model. Cold cache (no availability
+    // data yet) preserves the legacy "trust the user" behavior.
+    const userFallbackModels = input.userFallbackModels
+    if (
+      input.availableModels.size > 0 &&
+      userFallbackModels &&
+      userFallbackModels.length > 0
+    ) {
+      const providerHint = parsed?.providerHint
+      const primaryMatch = fuzzyMatchModel(userResult.model, input.availableModels, providerHint)
+      if (!primaryMatch) {
+        for (const fallbackModel of userFallbackModels) {
+          const parsedFallback = parseUserFallbackModel(fallbackModel)
+          if (!parsedFallback) continue
+          const fbMatch = fuzzyMatchModel(
+            parsedFallback.baseModel,
+            input.availableModels,
+            parsedFallback.providerHint,
+          )
+          if (fbMatch) {
+            log("[resolveModelForDelegateTask] user primary model unreachable; promoting user fallback_models entry", {
+              userPrimary: userResult.model,
+              selectedFallback: fbMatch,
+            })
+            return {
+              model: fbMatch,
+              variant: parsedFallback.variant,
+              matchedFallback: true,
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
     }
-    return { model: userModel }
+
+    return userResult
   }
 
   const connectedProviders = input.availableModels.size === 0 ? connectedProvidersCache.readConnectedProvidersCache() : null