diff --git a/src/fromager/bootstrap_requirement_resolver.py b/src/fromager/bootstrap_requirement_resolver.py
index 1c54c9ce..62db3b7d 100644
--- a/src/fromager/bootstrap_requirement_resolver.py
+++ b/src/fromager/bootstrap_requirement_resolver.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 from packaging.requirements import Requirement
 from packaging.version import Version
 
-from . import resolver, sources, wheels
+from . import finders, resolver, sources, wheels
 from .dependency_graph import DependencyGraph
 from .requirements_file import RequirementType
 
@@ -40,15 +40,24 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         ctx: context.WorkContext,
         prev_graph: DependencyGraph | None = None,
+        multiple_versions: bool = False,
+        cache_wheel_server_url: str = "",
     ) -> None:
         """Initialize requirement resolver.
 
         Args:
             ctx: Work context with constraints and settings
             prev_graph: Optional previous dependency graph for caching
+            multiple_versions: If ``True``, age filtering returns an empty
+                list instead of falling back to all candidates, letting the
+                caller decide how to handle the case.
+            cache_wheel_server_url: URL of the remote wheel cache server.
+                Used as a fallback when age filtering produces no candidates.
         """
         self.ctx = ctx
         self.prev_graph = prev_graph
+        self.multiple_versions = multiple_versions
+        self.cache_wheel_server_url = cache_wheel_server_url
         # Session-level resolution cache to avoid re-resolving same requirements
         # Key: (requirement_string, pre_built) to distinguish source vs prebuilt
         # Value: tuple of (url, version) tuples sorted by version (highest first)
@@ -72,6 +81,8 @@ def resolve(
         1. Session cache (if previously resolved)
         2. Previous dependency graph
         3. PyPI resolution (source or prebuilt based on package build info)
+        4. Remote wheel cache server (multi-version mode only, when age
+           filtering produced no candidates)
 
         Args:
             req: Package requirement
@@ -113,8 +124,12 @@ def resolve(
         # Resolve using strategies
         results = self._resolve(req, req_type, parent_req, pre_built)
 
-        # Cache the result
-        self.cache_resolution(req, pre_built, results)
+        # Only cache non-empty results.
+        if results:
+            self.cache_resolution(req, pre_built, results)
+
+        if not results:
+            return []
         return results if return_all_versions else [results[0]]
 
     def _resolve(
@@ -129,6 +144,8 @@ def _resolve(
         Tries resolution strategies in order:
         1. Previous dependency graph
         2. PyPI resolution (source or prebuilt)
+        3. Remote wheel cache server (multi-version mode only, when age
+           filtering produced no source candidates)
 
         Args:
             req: Package requirement
@@ -167,18 +184,70 @@ def _resolve(
                 wheel_server_urls=wheel_server_urls,
                 req_type=req_type,
             )
-        else:
-            # Resolve source (sdist)
-            provider = sources.get_source_provider(
-                ctx=self.ctx,
-                req=req,
-                sdist_server_url=resolver.PYPI_SERVER_URL,
-                req_type=req_type,
+
+        # Resolve source (sdist)
+        provider = sources.get_source_provider(
+            ctx=self.ctx,
+            req=req,
+            sdist_server_url=resolver.PYPI_SERVER_URL,
+            req_type=req_type,
+        )
+        max_age_cutoff = resolver._compute_max_age_cutoff(self.ctx)
+        results = resolver.find_all_matching_from_provider(
+            provider,
+            req,
+            max_age_cutoff=max_age_cutoff,
+            fallback_on_empty_age_filter=not self.multiple_versions,
+        )
+
+        if not results and self.multiple_versions and self.cache_wheel_server_url:
+            results = self._resolve_from_cache_server(req)
+
+        if not results:
+            logger.warning(
+                "%s: could not find any versions (all filtered by "
+                "max-release-age and no cached wheel on server)",
+                req.name,
+            )
+
+        return results
+
+    def _resolve_from_cache_server(self, req: Requirement) -> list[tuple[str, Version]]:
+        """Fall back to the remote wheel cache server for a cached version.
+
+        When age filtering removes all candidates in multi-version mode,
+        queries the remote cache server for the newest available wheel.
+        Returns at most one version so that transitive dependencies are
+        re-processed without rebuilding every old version.
+        """
+        logger.info(
+            "%s: all versions filtered by max-release-age, "
+            "checking cache server %s for existing wheel",
+            req.name,
+            self.cache_wheel_server_url,
+        )
+        try:
+            provider = finders.PyPICacheProvider(
+                cache_server_url=self.cache_wheel_server_url,
+                constraints=self.ctx.constraints,
             )
-            max_age_cutoff = resolver._compute_max_age_cutoff(self.ctx)
-            return resolver.find_all_matching_from_provider(
-                provider, req, max_age_cutoff=max_age_cutoff
+            results = resolver.find_all_matching_from_provider(provider, req)
+            if results:
+                url, version = results[0]
+                logger.info(
+                    "%s: found version %s on cache server",
+                    req.name,
+                    version,
+                )
+                return [(url, version)]
+        except Exception as err:
+            logger.warning(
+                "%s: error checking cache server %s: %s",
+                req.name,
+                self.cache_wheel_server_url,
+                err,
             )
+        return []
 
     def get_cached_resolution(
         self,
diff --git a/src/fromager/bootstrapper.py b/src/fromager/bootstrapper.py
index f635497c..10514cd0 100644
--- a/src/fromager/bootstrapper.py
+++ b/src/fromager/bootstrapper.py
@@ -173,6 +173,8 @@ def __init__(
         self._resolver = bootstrap_requirement_resolver.BootstrapRequirementResolver(
             ctx=ctx,
             prev_graph=prev_graph,
+            multiple_versions=multiple_versions,
+            cache_wheel_server_url=self.cache_wheel_server_url,
         )
         # Push items onto the stack as we start to resolve their
         # dependencies so at the end we have a list of items that need to
diff --git a/src/fromager/resolver.py b/src/fromager/resolver.py
index 0ac959f8..bc670841 100644
--- a/src/fromager/resolver.py
+++ b/src/fromager/resolver.py
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ def find_all_matching_from_provider(
     provider: BaseProvider,
     req: Requirement,
     max_age_cutoff: datetime.datetime | None = None,
+    fallback_on_empty_age_filter: bool = True,
 ) -> list[tuple[str, Version]]:
     """Find all matching candidates from provider without full dependency resolution.
 
@@ -255,6 +256,10 @@ def find_all_matching_from_provider(
         max_age_cutoff: If set, reject candidates published before this time.
             If all candidates are older than the cutoff, all are kept and
             a warning is emitted to avoid empty resolution.
+        fallback_on_empty_age_filter: If ``True`` (default), keep all
+            candidates when age filtering would produce an empty result.
+            If ``False``, return an empty list instead, allowing the
+            caller to implement its own fallback strategy.
 
     Returns list of (url, version) tuples sorted by version (highest first).
 
@@ -315,7 +320,7 @@ def find_all_matching_from_provider(
             )
         if filtered:
             candidates_list = filtered
-        else:
+        elif fallback_on_empty_age_filter:
             logger.warning(
                 "%s: all %d candidate(s) of %s are older than %d days, "
                 "keeping all to avoid empty resolution",
@@ -324,6 +329,15 @@ def find_all_matching_from_provider(
                 req,
                 max_age_days,
             )
+        else:
+            logger.info(
+                "%s: all %d candidate(s) of %s are older than %d days",
+                req.name,
+                len(candidates_list),
+                req,
+                max_age_days,
+            )
+            candidates_list = []
 
     # Convert candidates to list of (url, version) tuples
     # Candidates are sorted by version (highest first) by BaseProvider.find_matches()
diff --git a/tests/test_bootstrap_requirement_resolver.py b/tests/test_bootstrap_requirement_resolver.py
index 710dca71..cd85d7fd 100644
--- a/tests/test_bootstrap_requirement_resolver.py
+++ b/tests/test_bootstrap_requirement_resolver.py
@@ -694,3 +694,170 @@ def test_resolve_prebuilt_after_source_uses_separate_cache(
     url2, version2 = results2[0]
     assert url2 == "https://files.pythonhosted.org/testpkg-1.5-py3-none-any.whl"
     assert version2 == Version("1.5")
+
+
+class TestResolveFromCacheServer:
+    """Tests for the cache server fallback in _resolve_from_cache_server."""
+
+    def test_returns_newest_version_from_cache(self, tmp_context: WorkContext) -> None:
+        """Falls back to cache server and returns only the newest version."""
+        brr = BootstrapRequirementResolver(
+            tmp_context,
+            multiple_versions=True,
+            cache_wheel_server_url="http://cache.test/simple",
+        )
+        req = Requirement("testpkg")
+
+        with patch(
+            "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.resolver"
+            ".find_all_matching_from_provider",
+            return_value=[
+                ("http://cache.test/testpkg-3.0.whl", Version("3.0")),
+                ("http://cache.test/testpkg-2.0.whl", Version("2.0")),
+            ],
+        ):
+            result = brr._resolve_from_cache_server(req)
+
+        assert len(result) == 1
+        assert result[0][1] == Version("3.0")
+
+    def test_returns_empty_when_cache_has_no_match(
+        self, tmp_context: WorkContext
+    ) -> None:
+        """Returns empty list when cache server has nothing."""
+        brr = BootstrapRequirementResolver(
+            tmp_context,
+            multiple_versions=True,
+            cache_wheel_server_url="http://cache.test/simple",
+        )
+        req = Requirement("testpkg")
+
+        with patch(
+            "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.resolver"
+            ".find_all_matching_from_provider",
+            return_value=[],
+        ):
+            result = brr._resolve_from_cache_server(req)
+
+        assert result == []
+
+    def test_returns_empty_on_exception(self, tmp_context: WorkContext) -> None:
+        """Returns empty list when cache server query fails."""
+        brr = BootstrapRequirementResolver(
+            tmp_context,
+            multiple_versions=True,
+            cache_wheel_server_url="http://cache.test/simple",
+        )
+        req = Requirement("testpkg")
+
+        with patch(
+            "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.resolver"
+            ".find_all_matching_from_provider",
+            side_effect=RuntimeError("connection refused"),
+        ):
+            result = brr._resolve_from_cache_server(req)
+
+        assert result == []
+
+    def test_resolve_uses_cache_fallback_when_age_filter_empties(
+        self, tmp_context: WorkContext
+    ) -> None:
+        """_resolve falls back to cache server when age filter produces empty result."""
+        brr = BootstrapRequirementResolver(
+            tmp_context,
+            multiple_versions=True,
+            cache_wheel_server_url="http://cache.test/simple",
+        )
+        req = Requirement("testpkg")
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(brr, "_resolve_from_graph", return_value=None),
+            patch(
+                "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.sources.get_source_provider",
+            ),
+            patch(
+                "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.resolver"
+                ".find_all_matching_from_provider",
+                return_value=[],
+            ) as mock_pypi,
+            patch.object(
+                brr,
+                "_resolve_from_cache_server",
+                return_value=[("http://cache.test/testpkg-1.0.whl", Version("1.0"))],
+            ) as mock_cache,
+        ):
+            result = brr._resolve(
+                req,
+                RequirementType.INSTALL,
+                parent_req=None,
+                pre_built=False,
+            )
+
+        mock_pypi.assert_called_once()
+        mock_cache.assert_called_once_with(req)
+        assert len(result) == 1
+        assert result[0][1] == Version("1.0")
+
+    def test_resolve_skips_cache_fallback_in_single_version_mode(
+        self, tmp_context: WorkContext
+    ) -> None:
+        """_resolve does not fall back to cache server in single-version mode."""
+        brr = BootstrapRequirementResolver(
+            tmp_context,
+            multiple_versions=False,
+            cache_wheel_server_url="http://cache.test/simple",
+        )
+        req = Requirement("testpkg")
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(brr, "_resolve_from_graph", return_value=None),
+            patch(
+                "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.sources.get_source_provider",
+            ),
+            patch(
+                "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.resolver"
+                ".find_all_matching_from_provider",
+                return_value=[("url", Version("1.0"))],
+            ),
+            patch.object(brr, "_resolve_from_cache_server") as mock_cache,
+        ):
+            brr._resolve(
+                req,
+                RequirementType.INSTALL,
+                parent_req=None,
+                pre_built=False,
+            )
+
+        mock_cache.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_resolve_skips_cache_fallback_when_no_server_url(
+        self, tmp_context: WorkContext
+    ) -> None:
+        """_resolve does not fall back when no cache_wheel_server_url is set."""
+        brr = BootstrapRequirementResolver(
+            tmp_context,
+            multiple_versions=True,
+            cache_wheel_server_url="",
+        )
+        req = Requirement("testpkg")
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(brr, "_resolve_from_graph", return_value=None),
+            patch(
+                "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.sources.get_source_provider",
+            ),
+            patch(
+                "fromager.bootstrap_requirement_resolver.resolver"
+                ".find_all_matching_from_provider",
+                return_value=[],
+            ),
+            patch.object(brr, "_resolve_from_cache_server") as mock_cache,
+        ):
+            brr._resolve(
+                req,
+                RequirementType.INSTALL,
+                parent_req=None,
+                pre_built=False,
+            )
+
+        mock_cache.assert_not_called()
diff --git a/tests/test_bootstrapper_iterative.py b/tests/test_bootstrapper_iterative.py
index 1bf16de9..dbbbbf08 100644
--- a/tests/test_bootstrapper_iterative.py
+++ b/tests/test_bootstrapper_iterative.py
@@ -353,6 +353,20 @@ def test_no_filtering_in_single_version_mode(
         assert len(result) == 1
         mock_cache.assert_not_called()
 
+    def test_empty_resolution_raises_runtime_error(
+        self, tmp_context: WorkContext
+    ) -> None:
+        """Empty resolution raises RuntimeError regardless of mode."""
+        for multi in (False, True):
+            bt = bootstrapper.Bootstrapper(tmp_context, multiple_versions=multi)
+            item = _make_resolve_item()
+
+            with (
+                patch.object(bt, "resolve_versions", return_value=[]),
+                pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="Could not resolve"),
+            ):
+                bt._phase_resolve(item)
+
 
 class TestPhaseStart:
     def test_new_item_advances_to_prepare_source(
diff --git a/tests/test_cooldown.py b/tests/test_cooldown.py
index 098081a3..0d47cc5f 100644
--- a/tests/test_cooldown.py
+++ b/tests/test_cooldown.py
@@ -796,6 +796,30 @@ def test_max_release_age_all_too_old_keeps_all(
     assert "keeping all to avoid empty resolution" in caplog.text
 
 
+def test_max_release_age_all_too_old_returns_empty_when_fallback_disabled(
+    caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture,
+) -> None:
+    """When fallback is disabled and all versions are too old, return empty list."""
+    max_age_cutoff = _BOOTSTRAP_TIME + datetime.timedelta(days=1)
+    with requests_mock.Mocker() as r:
+        r.get(
+            "https://pypi.org/simple/test-pkg/",
+            json=_cooldown_json_response,
+            headers={"Content-Type": _PYPI_SIMPLE_JSON_CONTENT_TYPE},
+        )
+        provider = resolver.PyPIProvider(include_sdists=True)
+        with caplog.at_level(logging.INFO, logger="fromager.resolver"):
+            results = resolver.find_all_matching_from_provider(
+                provider,
+                Requirement("test-pkg"),
+                max_age_cutoff=max_age_cutoff,
+                fallback_on_empty_age_filter=False,
+            )
+    assert results == []
+    assert "all 3 candidate(s)" in caplog.text
+    assert "keeping all to avoid empty resolution" not in caplog.text
+
+
 def test_max_release_age_candidates_without_upload_time_pass_through() -> None:
     """Candidates without upload_time are not filtered out by max-release-age."""
     no_timestamp_response = {