diff --git a/litellm/__init__.py b/litellm/__init__.py
index 261457d6889..ccfbf80369f 100644
--- a/litellm/__init__.py
+++ b/litellm/__init__.py
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ context_window_fallbacks: Optional[List] = None
 content_policy_fallbacks: Optional[List] = None
 allowed_fails: int = 3
 allow_dynamic_callback_disabling: bool = True
-num_retries_per_request: Optional[int] = None  # cap on Router retries of one model group; resets per fallback hop
+num_retries_per_request: Optional[int] = None  # for the request overall (incl. fallbacks + model retries)
 ####### SECRET MANAGERS #####################
 secret_manager_client: Optional[Any] = (
     None  # list of instantiated key management clients - e.g. azure kv, infisical, etc.
diff --git a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/core_helpers.py b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/core_helpers.py
index 6e76bf9d49e..15380bc5d57 100644
--- a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/core_helpers.py
+++ b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/core_helpers.py
@@ -309,8 +309,8 @@ def max_retries_per_request_hit(kwargs: Mapping[str, object], num_retries_per_re
     metadata: Final = kwargs.get(get_metadata_variable_name_from_kwargs(kwargs))
     if not isinstance(metadata, Mapping):
         return False
-    attempted_retries: Final = metadata.get("attempted_retries")
-    return type(attempted_retries) is int and 0 < attempted_retries and num_retries_per_request <= attempted_retries
+    retry_count: Final = metadata.get("request_retry_count")
+    return type(retry_count) is int and 0 < retry_count and num_retries_per_request <= retry_count
 
 
 def get_or_create_metadata_bucket(
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py b/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
index ea09ab734a7..563db811edc 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/litellm_pre_call_utils.py
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ _CLIENT_PRICING_METADATA_FIELDS: Final = frozenset({"model_info", "standard_logg
 # and read by spend logs as fact; a client value has no legitimate meaning and no
 # key or team setting keeps it, so the strip is never gated.
 _ROUTER_RESERVED_METADATA_FIELDS: Final = frozenset(
-    {"attempted_fallbacks", "original_model_group", CLIENT_OUTPUT_CEILING_METADATA_KEY}
+    {"attempted_fallbacks", "original_model_group", "request_retry_count", CLIENT_OUTPUT_CEILING_METADATA_KEY}
 )
 _ALLOW_CLIENT_PRICING_OVERRIDE_METADATA_KEY: Final = "allow_client_pricing_override"
 
diff --git a/litellm/router.py b/litellm/router.py
index 6751711d690..a414bdabf80 100644
--- a/litellm/router.py
+++ b/litellm/router.py
@@ -8377,7 +8377,8 @@ class Router:
 
     def log_retry(self, kwargs: dict, e: Exception) -> dict:
         """
-        When a retry or fallback happens, record which model group, deployment and attempt just failed and why
+        When a retry or fallback happens, record which model group, deployment and attempt just failed and why,
+        and count it toward the request-wide num_retries_per_request cap
         """
         from litellm.types.router import RetryAttemptRecord
 
@@ -8401,7 +8402,10 @@ class Router:
             else ()
         )
         breadcrumbs: Final = (*kept_breadcrumbs, attempt_record)
+        earlier: Final = request_metadata.get("request_retry_count")
+        request_retry_count: Final = (earlier if type(earlier) is int and 0 <= earlier else 0) + 1
         kwargs[_metadata_var]["previous_models"] = breadcrumbs  # rebind-ok: the logging object already holds this dict
+        kwargs[_metadata_var]["request_retry_count"] = request_retry_count  # rebind-ok: same dict, read by the cap
         return kwargs
 
     def _update_usage(self, deployment_id: str, parent_otel_span: Span | None) -> int:
diff --git a/tests/router_unit_tests/test_router_helper_utils.py b/tests/router_unit_tests/test_router_helper_utils.py
index 5b06c5fdb01..b18bf9351c8 100644
--- a/tests/router_unit_tests/test_router_helper_utils.py
+++ b/tests/router_unit_tests/test_router_helper_utils.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import litellm
 from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock, AsyncMock
 from create_mock_standard_logging_payload import create_standard_logging_payload
 from litellm.types.utils import StandardLoggingPayload
-from litellm.types.router import Deployment, LiteLLM_Params, ModelInfo
+from litellm.types.router import Deployment, DeploymentTypedDict, LiteLLM_Params, ModelInfo
 from litellm.constants import DEFAULT_AUTO_ROUTER_MAX_INPUT_CHARS
 
 
@@ -630,10 +630,12 @@ def test_deployment_callback_respects_cooldown_time(model_list):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("metadata_key", ["metadata", "litellm_metadata"])
-def test_log_retry(model_list, metadata_key):
-    """log_retry appends one flat record per failed attempt and copies neither the request kwargs nor
-    the request metadata into it"""
+def test_log_retry(model_list: list[DeploymentTypedDict], metadata_key: str) -> None:
+    """log_retry appends one flat record per failed attempt, copies neither the request kwargs nor the
+    request metadata into it, counts every failed attempt of the request independently of the
+    per-hop attempted_retries, and never trusts a negative count planted before the first failure"""
     router = Router(model_list=model_list)
+    rate_limit_error = litellm.RateLimitError(message="slow down", llm_provider="openai", model="gpt-3.5-turbo")
     new_kwargs = router.log_retry(
         kwargs={
             "model": "gpt-3.5-turbo",
@@ -641,7 +643,7 @@ def test_log_retry(model_list, metadata_key):
             "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
             metadata_key: {"model_info": {"id": "deployment-1"}, "attempted_retries": 2, "user_api_key": "sk-proxy"},
         },
-        e=litellm.RateLimitError(message="slow down", llm_provider="openai", model="gpt-3.5-turbo"),
+        e=rate_limit_error,
     )
     assert json.loads(json.dumps(new_kwargs[metadata_key]["previous_models"])) == [
         {
@@ -652,6 +654,10 @@ def test_log_retry(model_list, metadata_key):
             "attempted_retries": 2,
         }
     ]
+    assert new_kwargs[metadata_key]["request_retry_count"] == 1
+    assert router.log_retry(kwargs=new_kwargs, e=rate_limit_error)[metadata_key]["request_retry_count"] == 2
+    planted_kwargs = {"model": "gpt-3.5-turbo", metadata_key: {"request_retry_count": -100}}
+    assert router.log_retry(kwargs=planted_kwargs, e=rate_limit_error)[metadata_key]["request_retry_count"] == 1
 
 
 def test_update_usage(model_list):
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_litellm_pre_call_utils.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_litellm_pre_call_utils.py
index 3d4ca40c800..099afa57eec 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_litellm_pre_call_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/test_litellm_pre_call_utils.py
@@ -7352,13 +7352,14 @@ def _reserved_stamp_key(key_metadata: dict | None = None) -> UserAPIKeyAuth:
 _PLANTED_STAMPS = {
     "attempted_fallbacks": 99,
     "original_model_group": "spoofed-group",
+    "request_retry_count": -100,
     "_client_output_ceiling": {"api_base": "https://attacker.example"},
     "client_key": "client_value",
 }
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
-async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_from_both_buckets():
+async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_from_both_buckets() -> None:
     """attempted_fallbacks and original_model_group are router-written facts the spend row
     reads back; a client planting them in either bucket is dropped at the boundary so the
     router never sees a reserved key it did not write."""
@@ -7384,11 +7385,12 @@ async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_from_bo
     assert "attempted_fallbacks" not in updated["metadata"]
     assert "original_model_group" not in updated["metadata"]
     assert "_client_output_ceiling" not in updated["metadata"]
+    assert "request_retry_count" not in updated["metadata"]
     assert updated["metadata"]["client_key"] == "client_value"
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
-async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_from_json_string_litellm_metadata():
+async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_from_json_string_litellm_metadata() -> None:
     from litellm.proxy.litellm_pre_call_utils import add_litellm_data_to_request
 
     data = {
@@ -7409,11 +7411,12 @@ async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_from_js
     assert "litellm_metadata" not in updated
     assert "attempted_fallbacks" not in updated["metadata"]
     assert "original_model_group" not in updated["metadata"]
+    assert "request_retry_count" not in updated["metadata"]
     assert updated["metadata"]["client_key"] == "client_value"
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
-async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_despite_pricing_override_opt_in():
+async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_despite_pricing_override_opt_in() -> None:
     """The pricing strip is gated on allow_client_pricing_override; the reserved-stamp strip
     is not, because no key or team setting makes a client-written fallback count valid."""
     from litellm.proxy.litellm_pre_call_utils import add_litellm_data_to_request
@@ -7437,6 +7440,7 @@ async def test_add_litellm_data_to_request_strips_router_reserved_stamps_despite
     assert updated["metadata"]["model_info"] == {"input_cost_per_token": 0.0}
     assert "attempted_fallbacks" not in updated["metadata"]
     assert "original_model_group" not in updated["metadata"]
+    assert "request_retry_count" not in updated["metadata"]
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/rust_bridge/test_lifecycle.py b/tests/test_litellm/rust_bridge/test_lifecycle.py
index 1f0b5591c2b..d73385621d5 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/rust_bridge/test_lifecycle.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/rust_bridge/test_lifecycle.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from litellm.rust_bridge.lifecycle import check_limits
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("metadata_key", ["metadata", "litellm_metadata"])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "cap, attempted_retries, refused",
+    "cap, request_retry_count, refused",
     [(5, 5, True), (5, 4, False), (0, 0, False), (0, 1, True)],
     ids=[
         "cap-above-four-reached",
@@ -17,12 +17,15 @@ from litellm.rust_bridge.lifecycle import check_limits
         "cap-of-zero-refuses-first-retry",
     ],
 )
-def test_check_limits_reads_attempted_retries(
-    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, metadata_key: str, cap: int, attempted_retries: int, refused: bool
+def test_check_limits_reads_request_retry_count(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, metadata_key: str, cap: int, request_retry_count: int, refused: bool
 ) -> None:
     monkeypatch.setattr(litellm, "num_retries_per_request", cap)
     monkeypatch.setattr(litellm, "max_budget", None)
-    kwargs: Final = {"model": "mistral/mistral-ocr-latest", metadata_key: {"attempted_retries": attempted_retries}}
+    kwargs: Final = {
+        "model": "mistral/mistral-ocr-latest",
+        metadata_key: {"request_retry_count": request_retry_count},
+    }
     if refused:
         with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="Max retries per request hit!"):
             check_limits(kwargs)
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/test_router.py b/tests/test_litellm/test_router.py
index 3cabcd71627..0485da3eba9 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/test_router.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/test_router.py
@@ -11066,6 +11066,66 @@ async def test_num_retries_per_request_stops_retries_at_caps_above_four(monkeypa
     ]
 
 
+def _failing_group_with_healthy_fallback_router(num_retries: int) -> litellm.Router:
+    return litellm.Router(
+        model_list=[
+            {
+                "model_name": "broken-group",
+                "litellm_params": {
+                    "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
+                    "api_key": "sk-fake",
+                    "mock_response": "litellm.InternalServerError",
+                },
+            },
+            {
+                "model_name": "healthy-group",
+                "litellm_params": {"model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini", "api_key": "sk-fake", "mock_response": "ok"},
+            },
+        ],
+        fallbacks=[{"broken-group": ["healthy-group"]}],
+        num_retries=num_retries,
+    )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "cap, planted_count, hop_refused",
+    [(2, None, True), (4, None, False), (2, -100, True)],
+    ids=["cap-spent-before-the-hop", "cap-not-reached-by-the-hop", "planted-negative-count-does-not-lift-the-cap"],
+)
+async def test_num_retries_per_request_counts_retries_across_fallback_hops(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, cap: int, planted_count: int | None, hop_refused: bool
+) -> None:
+    """num_retries_per_request caps the retries of one request, fallback hops included. Each hop starts a
+    fresh per-hop attempted_retries at zero, so a cap read from that counter let every hop retry from zero
+    and a request could spend far more retries than the cap allows. A caller who plants a negative count
+    in the request metadata must not push the cap further away either."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(litellm, "num_retries_per_request", cap)
+    router = _failing_group_with_healthy_fallback_router(num_retries=1)
+    recorder = _FallbackAttemptRecorder()
+    litellm.callbacks.append(recorder)
+    try:
+        metadata = {} if planted_count is None else {"request_retry_count": planted_count}
+        request = router.acompletion(
+            model="broken-group", messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}], metadata=metadata
+        )
+        if not hop_refused:
+            assert (await request).choices[0].message.content == "ok"
+            return
+        with pytest.raises(litellm.InternalServerError):
+            await request
+    finally:
+        litellm.callbacks.remove(recorder)
+
+    assert recorder.failed_targets == ["healthy-group"]
+    hop_refusals = [
+        record["attempted_retries"]
+        for record in recorder.breadcrumbs_per_target[0]
+        if record["model_group"] == "healthy-group" and "Max retries per request hit!" in record["exception_string"]
+    ]
+    assert hop_refusals == [0, 1]
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_fallback_traceback_stays_available_at_debug_level():
     """Dropping the stack from the ERROR line is only safe because the fallback path still
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/test_utils.py b/tests/test_litellm/test_utils.py
index ae0e08ebfb1..8bf8489fc52 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/test_utils.py
@@ -4077,10 +4077,11 @@ class TestMetadataNoneHandling:
 
 
 _RETRY_CAP_CASES: Final = (
-    pytest.param(5, {"attempted_retries": 5}, True, id="cap-above-four-reached"),
-    pytest.param(5, {"attempted_retries": 4}, False, id="cap-above-four-not-reached"),
-    pytest.param(0, {"attempted_retries": 0}, False, id="first-attempt-passes-cap-of-zero"),
-    pytest.param(0, {"attempted_retries": 1}, True, id="cap-of-zero-refuses-first-retry"),
+    pytest.param(5, {"request_retry_count": 5}, True, id="cap-above-four-reached"),
+    pytest.param(5, {"request_retry_count": 4}, False, id="cap-above-four-not-reached"),
+    pytest.param(0, {"request_retry_count": 0}, False, id="first-attempt-passes-cap-of-zero"),
+    pytest.param(0, {"request_retry_count": 1}, True, id="cap-of-zero-refuses-first-retry"),
+    pytest.param(0, {"attempted_retries": 1}, False, id="per-hop-attempted-retries-is-not-the-cap"),
     pytest.param(5, {"previous_models": ("a", "b", "c", "d", "e")}, False, id="breadcrumb-count-is-not-the-cap"),
     pytest.param(5, None, False, id="metadata-none"),
 )
@@ -4098,7 +4099,9 @@ def _capped_completion_kwargs(metadata_key: str, metadata: object) -> dict[str,
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("metadata_key", ["metadata", "litellm_metadata"])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("cap, metadata, refused", _RETRY_CAP_CASES)
-def test_num_retries_per_request_reads_attempted_retries_sync(monkeypatch, metadata_key, cap, metadata, refused):
+def test_num_retries_per_request_reads_request_retry_count_sync(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, metadata_key: str, cap: int, metadata: object, refused: bool
+) -> None:
     monkeypatch.setattr(litellm, "num_retries_per_request", cap)
     kwargs: Final = _capped_completion_kwargs(metadata_key, metadata)
     if refused:
@@ -4111,7 +4114,9 @@ def test_num_retries_per_request_reads_attempted_retries_sync(monkeypatch, metad
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("metadata_key", ["metadata", "litellm_metadata"])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("cap, metadata, refused", _RETRY_CAP_CASES)
-async def test_num_retries_per_request_reads_attempted_retries_async(monkeypatch, metadata_key, cap, metadata, refused):
+async def test_num_retries_per_request_reads_request_retry_count_async(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, metadata_key: str, cap: int, metadata: object, refused: bool
+) -> None:
     monkeypatch.setattr(litellm, "num_retries_per_request", cap)
     kwargs: Final = _capped_completion_kwargs(metadata_key, metadata)
     if refused:
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm_rust/ocr/test_lifecycle.py b/tests/test_litellm_rust/ocr/test_lifecycle.py
index 77d9ef167d0..dfcd63d3019 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm_rust/ocr/test_lifecycle.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm_rust/ocr/test_lifecycle.py
@@ -806,7 +806,7 @@ async def test_shared_call_limits_still_reject_before_reading_ocr_file(
     monkeypatch.setattr(litellm, "_current_cost", 2)
     monkeypatch.setattr(litellm, "num_retries_per_request", 1 if limit == "retries" else None)
     expected: Final = litellm.BudgetExceededError if limit == "budget" else RuntimeError
-    arguments: Final = {"document": {"type": "file", "file": File()}, "metadata": {"attempted_retries": 1}}
+    arguments: Final = {"document": {"type": "file", "file": File()}, "metadata": {"request_retry_count": 1}}
     with pytest.raises(expected, match=r"Budget has been exceeded|Max retries per request hit"):
         await call_aocr(ocr_server, **arguments) if asynchronous else call_ocr(ocr_server, **arguments)
     assert reads == []