diff --git a/api/src/routes/fcc-lookup.ts b/api/src/routes/fcc-lookup.ts
index f9da0c0..b429aed 100644
--- a/api/src/routes/fcc-lookup.ts
+++ b/api/src/routes/fcc-lookup.ts
@@ -1280,12 +1280,18 @@ router.get("/api/v1/fcc/cores-search", async (req, res) => {
     });
 
     if (!resp.ok) {
-      res.status(502).json({ error: `FCC search returned ${resp.status}` });
+      res.status(502).json({ error: `The FCC search system is temporarily unavailable (HTTP ${resp.status}). Try searching by FRN instead, or try again in a few minutes.` });
       return;
     }
 
     const html = await resp.text();
 
+    // FCC sometimes returns 200 but with a maintenance/error page
+    if (html.includes("Service Unavailable") || (html.includes("503") && !html.includes("499results"))) {
+      res.status(502).json({ error: "The FCC search system is temporarily unavailable. Try searching by FRN instead, or try again in a few minutes." });
+      return;
+    }
+
     // Parse the results table rows: <tr><th scope="row">834314</th> ... <td><A HREF="499detail.cfm?FilerNum=834314">Carrier One Inc.</a></td><td>DBA</td></tr>
     const rowRegex = /<tr><th scope="row">(\d+)<\/th>\s*\n?\s*<td><A HREF="499detail\.cfm\?FilerNum=\d+">([^<]+)<\/a><\/td><td>([^<]*)<\/td><\/tr>/gi;
     const results: { filer_id: string; legal_name: string; dba: string }[] = [];