diff --git a/echolot-app/app/src/main/kotlin/app/echo_lot/app/RunViewModel.kt b/echolot-app/app/src/main/kotlin/app/echo_lot/app/RunViewModel.kt
index 3a39bde..9c6ee02 100644
--- a/echolot-app/app/src/main/kotlin/app/echo_lot/app/RunViewModel.kt
+++ b/echolot-app/app/src/main/kotlin/app/echo_lot/app/RunViewModel.kt
@@ -681,11 +681,15 @@ class RunViewModel(app: Application) : AndroidViewModel(app) {
                                 confidence = Confidence.HIGH,
                                 title = "This device cannot resolve names, but the DNS server is fine ($where)",
                                 description = "A DNS query sent straight from this device was " +
-                                    "answered by ${str("servers") ?: "the configured server"}, yet " +
-                                    "asking Android to resolve the same name fails. The network is " +
-                                    "working; this device's resolver is not. Turning wifi off and on " +
-                                    "again, or rejoining the network, usually clears it. If it " +
-                                    "returns after a restart, look at the network instead.",
+                                    "answered by ${str("servers") ?: "the configured server"} with " +
+                                    "a valid result, yet asking Android to resolve the same name " +
+                                    "fails. Whatever is wrong sits between this device's resolver " +
+                                    "and a server that demonstrably works. " +
+                                    "Turning wifi off and on, or rejoining the network, clears the " +
+                                    "common case. If it survives a restart it is not a stuck " +
+                                    "resolver: look for something on this device that filters DNS " +
+                                    "— an ad blocker, a private-DNS or VPN app — or a per-device " +
+                                    "rule on the router aimed at this client.",
                                 evidenceRefs = listOf(EvidenceRef(t.id)),
                             )
                         )
diff --git a/echolot-app/core-probe/src/main/kotlin/app/echo_lot/probe/DnsResolverProbe.kt b/echolot-app/core-probe/src/main/kotlin/app/echo_lot/probe/DnsResolverProbe.kt
index e8b2aa6..0ac2032 100644
--- a/echolot-app/core-probe/src/main/kotlin/app/echo_lot/probe/DnsResolverProbe.kt
+++ b/echolot-app/core-probe/src/main/kotlin/app/echo_lot/probe/DnsResolverProbe.kt
@@ -56,7 +56,15 @@ class DnsResolverProbe(
             var direct: Boolean? = null
             var directDetail = "no server answered"
             for (s in servers) {
-                val r = queryDirect(s, probeName)
+                val r = try {
+                    queryDirect(s, probeName)
+                } catch (e: DnsRefused) {
+                    // Distinguished deliberately: a server that replies with a failure is a
+                    // working server saying no, which points at the network rather than here.
+                    direct = false
+                    directDetail = "$s ${e.why}"
+                    break
+                }
                 if (r != null) {
                     direct = true
                     directDetail = "$s answered in ${r}ms"
@@ -112,7 +120,17 @@ class DnsResolverProbe(
      * component under suspicion. Anything that goes through the platform resolver would inherit
      * exactly the fault this is trying to detect.
      */
-    private fun queryDirect(server: String, name: String): Long? = runCatching {
+    private fun queryDirect(server: String, name: String): Long? {
+        return try {
+            queryDirectOrThrow(server, name)
+        } catch (e: DnsRefused) {
+            throw e
+        } catch (t: Throwable) {
+            null
+        }
+    }
+
+    private fun queryDirectOrThrow(server: String, name: String): Long? = run {
         val id = Random().nextInt(0xFFFF)
         val query = buildQuery(id, name)
         DatagramSocket().use { sock ->
@@ -124,11 +142,36 @@ class DnsResolverProbe(
             val reply = DatagramPacket(buf, buf.size)
             sock.receive(reply)
             val ms = (System.nanoTime() - t0) / 1_000_000
-            // Match the transaction id, or a stray packet counts as success.
+            // A reply is not an answer. Counting any packet as success would let a REFUSED or
+            // SERVFAIL — both perfectly well-formed responses — be reported as "the server
+            // answers", and this probe's whole output is the claim that the server is fine and
+            // the device is not. That would be an accusation pointed at the wrong component,
+            // stated with confidence.
             val replyId = ((buf[0].toInt() and 0xFF) shl 8) or (buf[1].toInt() and 0xFF)
-            if (replyId != id || reply.length < 12) null else ms
+            val rcode = if (reply.length >= 4) buf[3].toInt() and 0x0F else -1
+            val answers = if (reply.length >= 8) {
+                ((buf[6].toInt() and 0xFF) shl 8) or (buf[7].toInt() and 0xFF)
+            } else 0
+            when {
+                replyId != id || reply.length < 12 -> null
+                rcode != 0 -> throw DnsRefused(rcodeName(rcode))
+                answers == 0 -> throw DnsRefused("answered with no records")
+                else -> ms
+            }
         }
-    }.getOrNull()
+    }
+
+    /** The server replied, but with a failure — which is a network fault, not a device one. */
+    private class DnsRefused(val why: String) : Exception(why)
+
+    private fun rcodeName(rcode: Int): String = when (rcode) {
+        1 -> "rejected the query as malformed"
+        2 -> "reported its own failure (SERVFAIL)"
+        3 -> "said the name does not exist (NXDOMAIN)"
+        4 -> "does not implement this query"
+        5 -> "refused the query (REFUSED)"
+        else -> "returned rcode $rcode"
+    }
 
     /** A minimal DNS query: one question, class IN, type A, recursion desired. */
     private fun buildQuery(id: Int, name: String): ByteArray {