diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index cf602914109..3e474dd7899 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/caddyserver/certmagic v0.21.6
 	github.com/coreos/go-semver v0.3.0
 	github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum v1.15.11
-	github.com/ethersphere/batch-archive v0.0.5
+	github.com/ethersphere/batch-archive v0.0.6
 	github.com/ethersphere/go-price-oracle-abi v0.6.9
 	github.com/ethersphere/go-storage-incentives-abi v0.9.4
 	github.com/ethersphere/go-sw3-abi v0.6.9
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index fab9e1c2f69..c3653e0463e 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -236,8 +236,8 @@ github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum v1.15.11 h1:JK73WKeu0WC0O1eyX+mdQAVHUV+UR1a9VB/d
 github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum v1.15.11/go.mod h1:mf8YiHIb0GR4x4TipcvBUPxJLw1mFdmxzoDi11sDRoI=
 github.com/ethereum/go-verkle v0.2.2 h1:I2W0WjnrFUIzzVPwm8ykY+7pL2d4VhlsePn4j7cnFk8=
 github.com/ethereum/go-verkle v0.2.2/go.mod h1:M3b90YRnzqKyyzBEWJGqj8Qff4IDeXnzFw0P9bFw3uk=
-github.com/ethersphere/batch-archive v0.0.5 h1:SM3g7Tuge4KhOn+NKgPcg2Uz2p8a/MLKZvZpmkKCyU4=
-github.com/ethersphere/batch-archive v0.0.5/go.mod h1:41BPb192NoK9CYjNB8BAE1J2MtiI/5aq0Wtas5O7A7Q=
+github.com/ethersphere/batch-archive v0.0.6 h1:Nt9mundj8CXT42qgGdq1sqKIVOk4KkKC438/FFZdONY=
+github.com/ethersphere/batch-archive v0.0.6/go.mod h1:41BPb192NoK9CYjNB8BAE1J2MtiI/5aq0Wtas5O7A7Q=
 github.com/ethersphere/go-price-oracle-abi v0.6.9 h1:bseen6he3PZv5GHOm+KD6s4awaFmVSD9LFx+HpB6rCU=
 github.com/ethersphere/go-price-oracle-abi v0.6.9/go.mod h1:sI/Qj4/zJ23/b1enzwMMv0/hLTpPNVNacEwCWjo6yBk=
 github.com/ethersphere/go-storage-incentives-abi v0.9.4 h1:mSIWXQXg5OQmH10QvXMV5w0vbSibFMaRlBL37gPLTM0=
diff --git a/pkg/puller/puller.go b/pkg/puller/puller.go
index 0bcdcfae9cb..bf0e88f1925 100644
--- a/pkg/puller/puller.go
+++ b/pkg/puller/puller.go
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ const (
 	maxChunksPerSecond = 1000 // roughly 4 MB/s
 
 	maxPODelta = 2 // the lowest level of proximity order (of peers) subtracted from the storage radius allowed for chunk syncing.
+
+	syncRetryBackoff = time.Second // minimum wait between retries after a non-fatal sync error
 )
 
 type Options struct {
@@ -189,12 +191,13 @@ func (p *Puller) manage(ctx context.Context) {
 }
 
 // disconnectPeer cancels all existing syncing and removes the peer entry from the syncing map.
+// Goroutines drain in the background; the caller is not blocked waiting for them.
 // Must be called under lock.
 func (p *Puller) disconnectPeer(addr swarm.Address) {
 	p.logger.Debug("disconnecting peer", "peer_address", addr)
 	if peer, ok := p.syncPeers[addr.ByteString()]; ok {
 		peer.mtx.Lock()
-		peer.stop()
+		peer.cancelBins()
 		peer.mtx.Unlock()
 	}
 	delete(p.syncPeers, addr.ByteString())
@@ -349,6 +352,11 @@ func (p *Puller) syncPeerBin(parentCtx context.Context, peer *syncPeer, bin uint
 					return
 				}
 				p.logger.Debug("syncWorker interval failed", "error", err, "peer_address", address, "bin", bin, "cursor", cursor, "start", start, "topmost", top)
+				select {
+				case <-time.After(syncRetryBackoff):
+				case <-ctx.Done():
+					return
+				}
 			}
 
 			_ = p.limiter.WaitN(ctx, count)
@@ -548,12 +556,19 @@ func newSyncPeer(addr swarm.Address, bins, po uint8) *syncPeer {
 	}
 }
 
-// called when peer disconnects or on shutdown, cleans up ongoing sync operations
-func (p *syncPeer) stop() {
+// cancelBins cancels all per-bin sync contexts and clears the cancel-func map.
+// Does not wait for goroutines to exit. Must be called under peer.mtx.
+func (p *syncPeer) cancelBins() {
 	for bin, c := range p.binCancelFuncs {
 		c()
 		delete(p.binCancelFuncs, bin)
 	}
+}
+
+// stop cancels all per-bin sync contexts and waits for goroutines to exit.
+// Used on shutdown. Must be called under peer.mtx.
+func (p *syncPeer) stop() {
+	p.cancelBins()
 	p.wg.Wait()
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/puller/puller_test.go b/pkg/puller/puller_test.go
index 29687138b9c..e12007d9a3f 100644
--- a/pkg/puller/puller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/puller/puller_test.go
@@ -507,6 +507,59 @@ func TestContinueSyncing(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestSyncErrorBackoff verifies that a non-fatal sync error is followed by a
+// backoff before the next retry, bounding the retry rate to roughly 1/s.
+func TestSyncErrorBackoff(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	addr := swarm.RandAddress(t)
+
+	// Use Topmost=0 so that top < start and the interval is never advanced,
+	// causing the loop to retry with the same start value each time.
+	// Provide two replies so we can observe two successive sync calls.
+	_, _, kad, ps := newPuller(t, opts{
+		kad: []kadMock.Option{
+			kadMock.WithEachPeerRevCalls(kadMock.AddrTuple{Addr: addr, PO: 0}),
+		},
+		pullSync: []mockps.Option{
+			mockps.WithCursors([]uint64{100}, 0),
+			mockps.WithSyncError(errors.New("stream error")),
+			mockps.WithReplies(
+				mockps.SyncReply{Bin: 0, Start: 1, Topmost: 0, Peer: addr},
+				mockps.SyncReply{Bin: 0, Start: 1, Topmost: 0, Peer: addr},
+			),
+		},
+		bins: 1,
+		rs:   resMock.NewReserve(resMock.WithRadius(0)),
+	})
+
+	time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+	kad.Trigger()
+
+	// wait for the first call
+	err := spinlock.Wait(2*time.Second, func() bool {
+		return len(ps.SyncCalls(addr)) >= 1
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("timed out waiting for first sync call")
+	}
+	t1 := time.Now()
+
+	// wait for the second call — must be separated by at least syncRetryBackoff
+	err = spinlock.Wait(3*time.Second, func() bool {
+		return len(ps.SyncCalls(addr)) >= 2
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("timed out waiting for second sync call")
+	}
+	elapsed := time.Since(t1)
+
+	const minBackoff = 800 * time.Millisecond // allow 200ms tolerance below syncRetryBackoff
+	if elapsed < minBackoff {
+		t.Fatalf("retry happened too fast: elapsed %v, want >= %v", elapsed, minBackoff)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestPeerGone(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()