diff --git a/worker/consumer/consumer.py b/worker/consumer/consumer.py
index a23eb30..71993cf 100644
--- a/worker/consumer/consumer.py
+++ b/worker/consumer/consumer.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 
 from worker.consumer.config import WorkerConfig
 from worker.consumer.db import PgPool
-from worker.processing.processor import process_asset_dispatch
+from worker.processing.processor import RetryableException, process_asset_dispatch
 from worker.storage.base import StorageX
 from worker.utils.logger import get_logger
 
@@ -236,7 +236,12 @@ def _handle_job(self, job_id: int, msg_id: str) -> None:
                 row = cur.fetchone()
                 attempts_now = row[0] if row else 0
 
-                if attempts_now >= self.cfg.redis.max_retries:
+                # Only RetryableException is worth retrying. Any other exception
+                # is permanent (bad asset type, corrupt file, decode failure) —
+                # fail it immediately instead of burning the whole retry budget.
+                retryable = isinstance(exc, RetryableException)
+
+                if not retryable or attempts_now >= self.cfg.redis.max_retries:
                     cur.execute(
                         "UPDATE jobs SET status = 'failed', last_error = %s, updated_at = now() WHERE job_id = %s",
                         (str(exc), str(job_id)),
diff --git a/worker/tests/test_consumer_retry.py b/worker/tests/test_consumer_retry.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fcc281c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/worker/tests/test_consumer_retry.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import unittest
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+from worker.consumer.consumer import Consumer
+from worker.processing.processor import RetryableException
+
+
+def _make_consumer(max_retries=3):
+    cfg = MagicMock()
+    cfg.stream_name = "media:jobs"
+    cfg.consumer_group = "media-workers"
+    cfg.redis.max_retries = max_retries
+    with patch("worker.consumer.consumer.redis.Redis.from_url") as from_url:
+        from_url.return_value = MagicMock()
+        consumer = Consumer(
+            pg_pool=MagicMock(), redis_url="redis://x", storage=MagicMock(), cfg=cfg
+        )
+    # SELECT job row (FOR UPDATE), then SELECT attempts in the except block.
+    cursor = MagicMock()
+    cursor.fetchone.side_effect = [
+        (42, "asset-1", "pending", 0),  # job row: jid, asset_id, status, attempts
+        (0,),                            # attempts_now (below cap)
+    ]
+    conn = MagicMock()
+    conn.cursor.return_value = cursor
+    consumer.pg.get_pg_conn.return_value.__enter__.return_value = conn
+    return consumer, cursor
+
+
+def _executed_sql(cursor):
+    return " | ".join(c.args[0] for c in cursor.execute.call_args_list if c.args)
+
+
+class TestRetryClassification(unittest.TestCase):
+    """DEV-52: only RetryableException retries; other errors fail fast."""
+
+    @patch("worker.consumer.consumer.process_asset_dispatch")
+    def test_retryable_exception_requeues_below_cap(self, mock_dispatch):
+        mock_dispatch.side_effect = RetryableException("not ready yet")
+        consumer, cursor = _make_consumer()
+
+        consumer._handle_job(42, "1-0")
+
+        sql = _executed_sql(cursor)
+        self.assertIn("UPDATE jobs SET status = 'pending'", sql)
+        self.assertNotIn("UPDATE assets SET status = 'failed'", sql)
+
+    @patch("worker.consumer.consumer.process_asset_dispatch")
+    def test_non_retryable_exception_fails_immediately(self, mock_dispatch):
+        mock_dispatch.side_effect = ValueError("Unknown asset type")
+        consumer, cursor = _make_consumer()
+
+        consumer._handle_job(42, "1-0")
+
+        sql = _executed_sql(cursor)
+        # Fails now despite attempts (0) being below the cap.
+        self.assertIn("UPDATE assets SET status = 'failed'", sql)
+        self.assertNotIn("UPDATE jobs SET status = 'pending'", sql)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()