diff --git a/app/sitemap.xml/route.tsx b/app/sitemap.xml/route.tsx
index 2294402..84f1b39 100644
--- a/app/sitemap.xml/route.tsx
+++ b/app/sitemap.xml/route.tsx
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ export async function GET() {
     });
   } catch (error) {
     console.error("Error generating sitemap.xml:", error);
+    // Always return a valid sitemap with 200 so crawlers don't treat it as broken.
     return new NextResponse(generateSitemapXml([]), {
-      status: 500,
       headers: { "Content-Type": "application/xml" },
     });
   }
diff --git a/lib/sitemap.ts b/lib/sitemap.ts
index 8202db4..ef81db9 100644
--- a/lib/sitemap.ts
+++ b/lib/sitemap.ts
@@ -58,11 +58,15 @@ export async function getSitemapEntries(): Promise<SitemapEntry[]> {
       orderBy: { updatedAt: "desc" },
     });
   } catch (error) {
-    // If DB isn't ready/migrated yet, still serve a valid sitemap for static pages.
+    // If DB isn't ready/migrated/reachable yet, still serve a valid sitemap for static pages.
+    if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "development") {
+      console.warn("Sitemap: failed to load projects; serving static entries only.", error);
+    }
     if (error instanceof PrismaClientKnownRequestError && (error.code === "P2021" || error.code === "P2022")) {
       return staticEntries;
     }
-    throw error;
+    // Also fail soft on connection/init errors in dev/staging (keeps sitemap valid for crawlers)
+    return staticEntries;
   }
 
   const projectEntries: SitemapEntry[] = projects.flatMap((p) => {