diff --git a/ordinis-rest-api/src/main/java/cloud/nstart/terravault/ordinis/restapi/error/GlobalExceptionHandler.java b/ordinis-rest-api/src/main/java/cloud/nstart/terravault/ordinis/restapi/error/GlobalExceptionHandler.java
index 1c3ebc6..0634b82 100644
--- a/ordinis-rest-api/src/main/java/cloud/nstart/terravault/ordinis/restapi/error/GlobalExceptionHandler.java
+++ b/ordinis-rest-api/src/main/java/cloud/nstart/terravault/ordinis/restapi/error/GlobalExceptionHandler.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
 import org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageNotReadableException;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ExceptionHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestControllerAdvice;
+import org.springframework.web.server.ResponseStatusException;
 import org.springframework.web.servlet.NoHandlerFoundException;
 import org.springframework.web.servlet.resource.NoResourceFoundException;
 
@@ -112,6 +113,33 @@ public class GlobalExceptionHandler {
     return ResponseEntity.status(HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND).body(body);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Preserve status code from {@link ResponseStatusException} (Spring's standard
+   * way чтобы throw a specific HTTP status from controller). Without explicit
+   * handler the generic fallback below catches it и turns 401/403/409 в 500 —
+   * каждый use of throw new ResponseStatusException(...) silently downgraded.
+   *
+   * <p>Observed bug: MeNotificationsPreferencesController.requireSub() throws
+   * 401 anonymous, но клиент получал 500 пока этот handler не появился.
+   */
+  @ExceptionHandler(ResponseStatusException.class)
+  public ResponseEntity<ApiErrorResponse> onResponseStatusException(ResponseStatusException e) {
+    int status = e.getStatusCode().value();
+    String reason = e.getReason() != null ? e.getReason() : e.getStatusCode().toString();
+    // Lower-case-snake_case code from status reason — best-effort, falls back
+    // на 'http_<NNN>' если reason missing/multi-word.
+    String code = (e.getReason() != null && !e.getReason().contains(" "))
+        ? e.getReason().toLowerCase().replace(' ', '_')
+        : "http_" + status;
+    if (status >= 500) {
+      log.error("ResponseStatusException 5xx: {}", reason, e);
+    } else {
+      log.debug("ResponseStatusException {}: {}", status, reason);
+    }
+    var body = ApiErrorResponse.of(status, code, reason, currentTraceId());
+    return ResponseEntity.status(e.getStatusCode()).body(body);
+  }
+
   @ExceptionHandler(Exception.class)
   public ResponseEntity<ApiErrorResponse> onGeneric(Exception e) {
     log.error("Unhandled exception in REST API", e);