diff --git a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/udp.rs b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/udp.rs
index c7801d1..e029a45 100644
--- a/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/udp.rs
+++ b/crates/punktfunk-core/src/transport/udp.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,21 @@ use std::net::UdpSocket;
 /// silently truncating it.
 const RECV_BUF: usize = MAX_DATAGRAM_BYTES + 1;
 
+/// True for transient socket conditions that must be a lossy drop / "no data this poll" — NOT a
+/// stream teardown. Two cases:
+/// - `WouldBlock`: the kernel send/recv buffer is momentarily full (a frame burst saturated the tx
+///   queue — the dominant condition at 1 Gbps+). Drop the packet; FEC + the next frame recover.
+/// - `ConnectionRefused` / `ConnectionReset`: a *connected* UDP socket received an asynchronous ICMP
+///   port-unreachable / reset for an *earlier* datagram. With data-plane hole-punching the path
+///   blips — the peer's data socket briefly gone, a NAT rebind, or a stale ICMP from punch setup —
+///   so erroring out here kills a stream that the very next packet would resume. If the peer is
+///   genuinely gone, the QUIC control plane times out and ends the session cleanly instead. (This is
+///   the classic connected-UDP "ICMP errors are advisory" rule, doubly true with hole-punching.)
+fn is_transient_io(e: &std::io::Error) -> bool {
+    use std::io::ErrorKind::{ConnectionRefused, ConnectionReset, WouldBlock};
+    matches!(e.kind(), WouldBlock | ConnectionRefused | ConnectionReset)
+}
+
 /// Build one `mmsghdr` per `iovec` (each a single-buffer message) for `sendmmsg`/`recvmmsg`. Shared
 /// by `send_batch` + `recv_batch` so the raw-pointer scaffolding lives in exactly one place.
 ///
@@ -347,7 +362,7 @@ impl UdpTransport {
         };
         if n < 0 {
             let err = std::io::Error::last_os_error();
-            if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock {
+            if is_transient_io(&err) {
                 return Ok(0);
             }
             return Err(err);
@@ -371,7 +386,7 @@ impl Transport for UdpTransport {
             // latency, and erroring tears the session down. `Ok(false)` surfaces the drop so the
             // session counts it (`packets_send_dropped`) instead of it being invisible. Mirrors
             // the `recv` WouldBlock handling above.
-            Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock => Ok(false),
+            Err(e) if is_transient_io(&e) => Ok(false),
             Err(e) => Err(e),
         }
     }
@@ -401,9 +416,10 @@ impl Transport for UdpTransport {
             let n = unsafe { libc::sendmmsg(fd, hdrs.as_mut_ptr(), hdrs.len() as libc::c_uint, 0) };
             if n < 0 {
                 let err = std::io::Error::last_os_error();
-                // Nothing fit in the send buffer — drop this + the remaining chunks (counted by
-                // the caller). A real error (not WouldBlock) still tears the session down.
-                if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock {
+                // Nothing fit in the send buffer (or a stale ICMP from a connected-socket blip) —
+                // drop this + the remaining chunks (counted by the caller). Only a genuine error
+                // tears the session down; transient conditions are lossy drops (see is_transient_io).
+                if is_transient_io(&err) {
                     break;
                 }
                 return Err(err);
@@ -449,8 +465,9 @@ impl Transport for UdpTransport {
             }
             match send_one_gso(fd, &scratch, seg as u16) {
                 Ok(()) => sent += chunk.len(),
-                // Send buffer momentarily full — drop the rest (counted by the caller), never block.
-                Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock => break,
+                // Send buffer momentarily full, or a stale ICMP from a connected-socket blip — drop
+                // the rest (counted by the caller), never block, never tear down (see is_transient_io).
+                Err(e) if is_transient_io(&e) => break,
                 // GSO unsupported on this kernel/path — latch off and finish via sendmmsg.
                 Err(e) if gso_unsupported(&e) => {
                     gso::disable();
@@ -472,7 +489,7 @@ impl Transport for UdpTransport {
                 buf.truncate(n);
                 Ok(Some(buf))
             }
-            Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock => Ok(None),
+            Err(e) if is_transient_io(&e) => Ok(None),
             Err(e) => Err(e),
         }
     }
@@ -511,7 +528,7 @@ impl Transport for UdpTransport {
         };
         if n < 0 {
             let err = std::io::Error::last_os_error();
-            if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock {
+            if is_transient_io(&err) {
                 return Ok(0);
             }
             return Err(err);
@@ -557,8 +574,8 @@ impl Transport for UdpTransport {
             };
             if r < 0 {
                 let err = std::io::Error::last_os_error();
-                if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::WouldBlock {
-                    break; // socket drained
+                if is_transient_io(&err) {
+                    break; // socket drained, or a stale connected-socket ICMP — no data this poll
                 }
                 if got > 0 {
                     break; // report what we have; surface the error on the next empty poll
@@ -577,6 +594,26 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
     use crate::transport::Transport;
 
+    /// A connected UDP socket's stale ICMP (ECONNREFUSED/RESET) and a full buffer (EAGAIN) must all
+    /// be classified transient — a lossy drop, never a stream teardown. A real error must not be.
+    #[test]
+    fn transient_io_covers_connected_udp_blips() {
+        use std::io::{Error, ErrorKind};
+        for k in [
+            ErrorKind::WouldBlock,
+            ErrorKind::ConnectionRefused,
+            ErrorKind::ConnectionReset,
+        ] {
+            assert!(
+                is_transient_io(&Error::from(k)),
+                "{k:?} should be transient"
+            );
+        }
+        for k in [ErrorKind::PermissionDenied, ErrorKind::AddrInUse] {
+            assert!(!is_transient_io(&Error::from(k)), "{k:?} must stay fatal");
+        }
+    }
+
     /// `send_one_gso` must split one buffer into N separate UDP datagrams of `gso_size` bytes each
     /// (the kernel UDP GSO segmentation) — the multi-Gbps send lever. Loopback supports GSO; if the
     /// CI kernel doesn't, skip rather than fail.