diff --git a/agent.py b/agent.py
index 265a702..6688bcf 100644
--- a/agent.py
+++ b/agent.py
@@ -372,6 +372,8 @@ async def run_autonomous_agent(
 
         elif status == "rate_limit":
             # Smart rate limit handling with exponential backoff
+            # Reset error counter so mixed events don't inflate delays
+            error_retries = 0
             if response != "unknown":
                 try:
                     delay_seconds = clamp_retry_delay(int(response))
@@ -390,6 +392,8 @@ async def run_autonomous_agent(
 
         elif status == "error":
             # Non-rate-limit errors: linear backoff capped at 5 minutes
+            # Reset rate limit counter so mixed events don't inflate delays
+            rate_limit_retries = 0
             error_retries += 1
             delay_seconds = calculate_error_backoff(error_retries)
             print("\nSession encountered an error")
diff --git a/rate_limit_utils.py b/rate_limit_utils.py
index de70b24..9bdbb22 100644
--- a/rate_limit_utils.py
+++ b/rate_limit_utils.py
@@ -45,9 +45,13 @@ def parse_retry_after(error_message: str) -> Optional[int]:
     Returns:
         Seconds to wait, or None if not parseable.
     """
+    # Patterns require explicit "seconds" or "s" unit, OR no unit at all (end of string/sentence)
+    # This prevents matching "30 minutes" or "1 hour" since those have non-seconds units
     patterns = [
-        r"retry.?after[:\s]+(\d+)\s*(?:seconds?)?",
-        r"try again in\s+(\d+)\s*(?:seconds?|s\b)",
+        r"retry.?after[:\s]+(\d+)\s*(?:seconds?|s\b)",  # Requires seconds unit
+        r"retry.?after[:\s]+(\d+)(?:\s*$|\s*[,.])",     # Or end of string/sentence
+        r"try again in\s+(\d+)\s*(?:seconds?|s\b)",     # Requires seconds unit
+        r"try again in\s+(\d+)(?:\s*$|\s*[,.])",        # Or end of string/sentence
         r"(\d+)\s*seconds?\s*(?:remaining|left|until)",
     ]
 
diff --git a/test_rate_limit_utils.py b/test_rate_limit_utils.py
index eb1f01c..55ecaa7 100644
--- a/test_rate_limit_utils.py
+++ b/test_rate_limit_utils.py
@@ -53,8 +53,12 @@ class TestParseRetryAfter(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_minutes_not_supported(self):
         """Test that minutes are not parsed (by design)."""
         # We only support seconds to avoid complexity
+        # These patterns should NOT match when followed by minute/hour units
         assert parse_retry_after("wait 5 minutes") is None
         assert parse_retry_after("try again in 2 minutes") is None
+        assert parse_retry_after("retry after 5 minutes") is None
+        assert parse_retry_after("retry after 1 hour") is None
+        assert parse_retry_after("try again in 30 min") is None
 
 
 class TestIsRateLimitError(unittest.TestCase):