diff --git a/src/app/api/openrouter/[...path]/route.ts b/src/app/api/openrouter/[...path]/route.ts
index 1994fbb1d..7f17008e2 100644
--- a/src/app/api/openrouter/[...path]/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/openrouter/[...path]/route.ts
@@ -592,6 +592,8 @@ export async function POST(request: NextRequest): Promise<NextResponseType<unkno
       request: requestBodyParsed,
       response,
       isUserByok: !!userByok,
+      feature,
+      balance: (await balanceAndSettingsPromise).balance,
     });
     if (errorResponse) {
       return errorResponse;
diff --git a/src/lib/llm-proxy-helpers.ts b/src/lib/llm-proxy-helpers.ts
index b984553eb..407cc041b 100644
--- a/src/lib/llm-proxy-helpers.ts
+++ b/src/lib/llm-proxy-helpers.ts
@@ -142,11 +142,15 @@ export async function makeErrorReadable({
   request,
   response,
   isUserByok,
+  feature,
+  balance,
 }: {
   requestedModel: string;
   request: GatewayRequest;
   response: Response;
   isUserByok: boolean;
+  feature: FeatureValue | null;
+  balance: number;
 }) {
   if (response.status < 400) {
     return undefined;
@@ -163,6 +167,16 @@ export async function makeErrorReadable({
     }
   }
 
+  if (response.status === 404) {
+    const recommendedModel = balance <= 0 ? KILO_AUTO_FREE_MODEL : KILO_AUTO_BALANCED_MODEL;
+    const recommendation =
+      feature === 'kiloclaw' || feature === 'openclaw'
+        ? `The model "${requestedModel}" does not exist or is no longer available. We recommend switching to ${recommendedModel.name}: /model kilocode/${recommendedModel.id}`
+        : `The model "${requestedModel}" does not exist or is no longer available. We recommend switching to ${recommendedModel.id}.`;
+    warnExceptInTest(`Responding with 404 ${recommendation}`);
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: recommendation, message: recommendation }, { status: 404 });
+  }
+
   // Sometimes we get generic or nonsensical errors when the context length is exceeded
   // (such as "Internal Server Error" or "No allowed providers are available for the selected model")
   const model = kiloFreeModels.find(m => m.public_id === requestedModel);