diff --git a/app/Controllers/Abha.php b/app/Controllers/Abha.php
index 5335cfc..dab3aa2 100644
--- a/app/Controllers/Abha.php
+++ b/app/Controllers/Abha.php
@@ -1713,7 +1713,9 @@ class Abha extends BaseController
         foreach ($candidates as $candidate) {
             if (is_string($candidate) && trim($candidate) !== '') {
                 $trimmed = trim($candidate);
-                if (stripos($trimmed, 'preferredAbhaAddress') !== false || (stripos($trimmed, 'Unknown column') !== false && stripos($trimmed, 'where clause') !== false)) {
+                if (stripos($trimmed, 'preferredAbhaAddress') !== false ||
+                    (stripos($trimmed, 'Unknown column') !== false && stripos($trimmed, 'where clause') !== false) ||
+                    stripos($trimmed, 'Please make a valid request') !== false) {
                     $isNumberLookup = (($result['type'] ?? '') === 'abha-number')
                         || (isset($result['abha_id']) && !isset($result['abha_address']))
                         || (isset($result['value']) && !str_contains((string) $result['value'], '@') && ctype_digit(str_replace(['-', ' '], '', (string) $result['value'])));
@@ -2858,19 +2860,24 @@ class Abha extends BaseController
                 }
             }
 
-            if ($errorText === '') {
-                $errorText = 'ABHA validation failed';
-            }
-            if ($requestId !== '' && stripos($errorText, $requestId) === false) {
-                $errorText .= ' (Ref: ' . $requestId . ')';
-            }
-
             $entityName = $isAddress ? 'ABHA Address' : 'ABHA Number';
-            if (stripos($errorText, 'Unknown column') !== false || stripos($errorText, 'preferredAbhaAddress') !== false || stripos($errorText, 'not found') !== false || stripos($errorText, 'does not exist') !== false) {
+            if (stripos($errorText, 'Unknown column') !== false ||
+                stripos($errorText, 'preferredAbhaAddress') !== false ||
+                stripos($errorText, 'not found') !== false ||
+                stripos($errorText, 'does not exist') !== false ||
+                stripos($errorText, 'ABDM gateway returned an error') !== false ||
+                stripos($errorText, 'Please make a valid request') !== false ||
+                stripos($errorText, 'Invalid Login Hint') !== false ||
+                stripos($errorText, 'rejected login hint') !== false ||
+                stripos($errorText, 'abdm_upstream_error') !== false) {
                 $errorText = $entityName . ' does not exist or was not found in the ABDM registry.';
-            } elseif (stripos($errorText, 'Please make a valid request.') !== false) {
-                $errorText = 'Bridge validation rejected this request. Please contact bridge support with the reference shown. '
-                    . $errorText;
+            } else {
+                if ($errorText === '') {
+                    $errorText = 'ABHA validation failed';
+                }
+                if ($requestId !== '' && stripos($errorText, $requestId) === false) {
+                    $errorText .= ' (Ref: ' . $requestId . ')';
+                }
             }
 
             return $this->response->setJSON([
diff --git a/app/Libraries/Abdm/EAtriaBridgeConnector.php b/app/Libraries/Abdm/EAtriaBridgeConnector.php
index 71005ab..cad78b1 100644
--- a/app/Libraries/Abdm/EAtriaBridgeConnector.php
+++ b/app/Libraries/Abdm/EAtriaBridgeConnector.php
@@ -505,13 +505,29 @@ class EAtriaBridgeConnector implements AbdmConnectorInterface
                 || (!str_contains($targetVal, '@') && $targetVal !== '' && ctype_digit(str_replace(['-', ' '], '', $targetVal)));
             $entityLabel = $isNumberLookup ? 'ABHA Number' : 'ABHA Address';
 
-            // Normalise technical MySQL database errors from the bridge when an ABHA is not found
-            if (stripos($extractedErr, 'preferredAbhaAddress') !== false ||
-                (stripos($extractedErr, 'Unknown column') !== false && stripos($extractedErr, 'where clause') !== false)) {
-                $decoded['raw_bridge_error'] = $extractedErr;
-                $extractedErr = $entityLabel . ' does not exist or was not found in ABDM registry' . ($targetVal !== '' ? ' (' . $targetVal . ')' : '');
-            } elseif (stripos($extractedErr, 'Invalid Login Hint') !== false || stripos($extractedErr, 'rejected login hint') !== false) {
-                $extractedErr = $entityLabel . ' does not exist or was not found in ABDM registry' . ($targetVal !== '' ? ' (' . $targetVal . ')' : '');
+            // Normalise technical errors when an ABHA search/validate is performed
+            $isSearchPath = str_contains($path, '/abha/login/search') || str_contains($path, '/abha/validate');
+            if ($isSearchPath) {
+                if (stripos($extractedErr, 'preferredAbhaAddress') !== false ||
+                    (stripos($extractedErr, 'Unknown column') !== false && stripos($extractedErr, 'where clause') !== false) ||
+                    stripos($extractedErr, 'Invalid Login Hint') !== false ||
+                    stripos($extractedErr, 'rejected login hint') !== false ||
+                    stripos($extractedErr, 'Please make a valid request') !== false ||
+                    stripos($extractedErr, 'ABDM gateway returned an error') !== false ||
+                    stripos($extractedErr, 'ABDM_UPSTREAM_ERROR') !== false ||
+                    stripos($extractedErr, 'not found') !== false ||
+                    stripos($extractedErr, 'does not exist') !== false) {
+                    $decoded['raw_bridge_error'] = $extractedErr;
+                    $extractedErr = $entityLabel . ' does not exist or was not found in ABDM registry' . ($targetVal !== '' ? ' (' . $targetVal . ')' : '');
+                }
+            } else {
+                if (stripos($extractedErr, 'preferredAbhaAddress') !== false ||
+                    (stripos($extractedErr, 'Unknown column') !== false && stripos($extractedErr, 'where clause') !== false)) {
+                    $decoded['raw_bridge_error'] = $extractedErr;
+                    $extractedErr = $entityLabel . ' does not exist or was not found in ABDM registry' . ($targetVal !== '' ? ' (' . $targetVal . ')' : '');
+                } elseif (stripos($extractedErr, 'Invalid Login Hint') !== false || stripos($extractedErr, 'rejected login hint') !== false) {
+                    $extractedErr = $entityLabel . ' does not exist or was not found in ABDM registry' . ($targetVal !== '' ? ' (' . $targetVal . ')' : '');
+                }
             }
 
             if ($extractedErr !== '') {
diff --git a/app/Views/partials/abha_verify_modal.php b/app/Views/partials/abha_verify_modal.php
index 1612012..ab9d72a 100644
--- a/app/Views/partials/abha_verify_modal.php
+++ b/app/Views/partials/abha_verify_modal.php
@@ -122,6 +122,8 @@ window.AbhaVerifyModal = (function () {
             : fallback;
         if (/loginHint/i.test(raw) || /Invalid Login Hint/i.test(raw)) {
             raw = 'ABDM gateway rejected login hint: OTP verification by ABHA Address is not supported directly by ABDM. Please verify using the 14-digit ABHA Number or Find ABHA via Mobile.';
+        } else if (/does not exist or was not found/i.test(raw) || /Please make a valid request/i.test(raw) || /ABDM gateway returned an error/i.test(raw) || /abdm_upstream_error/i.test(raw)) {
+            raw = (lookupType === 'address' ? 'ABHA Address' : 'ABHA Number') + ' does not exist or was not found in the ABDM registry.';
         } else if (/UIDAI Error code/i.test(raw) || /ABDM-1204/i.test(raw) || /attempts.*exceeded/i.test(raw) || /invalid.*otp/i.test(raw) || /incorrect.*otp/i.test(raw) || /otp.*match/i.test(raw) || /otp.*expired/i.test(raw)) {
             if (/attempts.*exceeded/i.test(raw) || /403/.test(raw)) {
                 raw = 'Incorrect OTP. Maximum number of attempts exceeded. Please generate a fresh OTP and try again.';
diff --git a/tests/unit/Abdm/AbhaOtpErrorHandlingTest.php b/tests/unit/Abdm/AbhaOtpErrorHandlingTest.php
index 44d992d..2244b66 100644
--- a/tests/unit/Abdm/AbhaOtpErrorHandlingTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/Abdm/AbhaOtpErrorHandlingTest.php
@@ -111,6 +111,20 @@ final class AbhaOtpErrorHandlingTest extends CIUnitTestCase
         $this->assertStringContainsString('ABHA Number does not exist or was not found in the ABDM registry', $result);
     }
 
+    public function testExtractBridgeErrorTextNormalizesPleaseMakeAValidRequestForAbhaNumber(): void
+    {
+        $payload = [
+            'ok' => 0,
+            'type' => 'abha-number',
+            'value' => '91256312547458',
+            'error' => 'Please make a valid request.',
+            'request_id' => 'REQ-20261001184121-434cb891',
+        ];
+
+        $result = $this->extractMethod->invoke($this->controller, $payload, 'ABHA validation failed');
+        $this->assertStringContainsString('ABHA Number does not exist or was not found in the ABDM registry', $result);
+    }
+
     public function testExtractBridgeErrorTextPreservesGenericWhenNoFieldErrors(): void
     {
         $payload = [