diff --git a/apps/api/src/categories/categories.service.ts b/apps/api/src/categories/categories.service.ts
index ed6e206..9c1bea6 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/categories/categories.service.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/categories/categories.service.ts
@@ -420,7 +420,11 @@ export class CategoriesService {
 
     // Build tree
     const tree = this.buildTree(dbCategories);
-    await this.redis.setJson(cacheKey, tree, 3600);
+    // Cache a populated tree for an hour; an EMPTY tree (transient decode/proxy
+    // failure) only for 60s so a blip doesn't poison the catalog for an hour —
+    // it self-heals on the next request after the source recovers, while still
+    // throttling re-decode attempts during a real outage.
+    await this.redis.setJson(cacheKey, tree, tree.length > 0 ? 3600 : 60);
     return tree;
   }