diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core/IndexerProxies/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core/IndexerProxies/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr.cs
index 2fcb1b7bb..cc92c4cc9 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core/IndexerProxies/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core/IndexerProxies/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr.cs
@@ -71,16 +71,22 @@ public override HttpResponse PostResponse(HttpResponse response)
 
             InjectCookies(newRequest, result);
 
-            // Use FlareSolverr's response body directly when available.
-            // When CF selectively challenges by IP/UA, FlareSolverr may not
-            // receive a challenge and thus returns no cf_clearance cookie.
-            // A second request without that cookie gets 403'd.
+            // Try cookie-based retry first so subsequent requests can
+            // reuse the cookies without going through FlareSolverr.
+            var finalResponse = _httpClient.Execute(newRequest);
+
+            if (!CloudFlareDetectionService.IsCloudflareProtected(finalResponse))
+            {
+                return finalResponse;
+            }
+
+            // Cookie retry was blocked — fall back to FlareSolverr's response body.
+            // This happens when CF selectively challenges by IP/UA and FlareSolverr
+            // doesn't receive a challenge, so no cf_clearance cookie is returned.
             if (result.Solution.Response.IsNotNullOrWhiteSpace())
             {
                 var headers = new HttpHeader();
 
-                // Preserve the Content-Type from FlareSolverr's solution so downstream
-                // parsers (e.g. JSON indexers) interpret the body correctly.
                 if (result.Solution.Headers?.ContentType.IsNotNullOrWhiteSpace() == true)
                 {
                     headers.ContentType = result.Solution.Headers.ContentType;
@@ -95,9 +101,6 @@ public override HttpResponse PostResponse(HttpResponse response)
                     HttpStatusCode.OK);
             }
 
-            // Fallback: if FlareSolverr returned no body, retry with cookies (original behavior)
-            var finalResponse = _httpClient.Execute(newRequest);
-
             return finalResponse;
         }