diff --git a/crates/metadata-store/src/grpc/handler.rs b/crates/metadata-store/src/grpc/handler.rs
index 938e09d8e0..54a40224fb 100644
--- a/crates/metadata-store/src/grpc/handler.rs
+++ b/crates/metadata-store/src/grpc/handler.rs
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ impl MetadataStoreSvc for MetadataStoreHandler {
 impl From<RequestError> for Status {
     fn from(err: RequestError) -> Self {
         match err {
-            RequestError::FailedPrecondition(msg) => Status::failed_precondition(msg.to_string()),
+            RequestError::FailedPrecondition(err) => Status::failed_precondition(err.to_string()),
+            RequestError::Unavailable(err) => Status::unavailable(err.to_string()),
             err => Status::internal(err.to_string()),
         }
     }
diff --git a/crates/metadata-store/src/lib.rs b/crates/metadata-store/src/lib.rs
index 3ab0838837..be7c139681 100644
--- a/crates/metadata-store/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/metadata-store/src/lib.rs
@@ -32,7 +32,9 @@ pub type RequestReceiver = mpsc::Receiver<MetadataStoreRequest>;
 #[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
 pub enum RequestError {
     #[error("internal error: {0}")]
-    Internal(#[from] GenericError),
+    Internal(GenericError),
+    #[error("service currently unavailable: {0}")]
+    Unavailable(GenericError),
     #[error("failed precondition: {0}")]
     FailedPrecondition(#[from] PreconditionViolation),
     #[error("invalid argument: {0}")]
diff --git a/crates/metadata-store/src/raft/store.rs b/crates/metadata-store/src/raft/store.rs
index b03c734648..f6db971824 100644
--- a/crates/metadata-store/src/raft/store.rs
+++ b/crates/metadata-store/src/raft/store.rs
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ impl RaftMetadataStore {
                         .map_err(Into::into)
                         .and_then(|request| self.raw_node
                             .propose(vec![], request)
-                            .map_err(|err| RequestError::Internal(err.into()))) {
+                            .map_err(|err| RequestError::from(err))) {
                         info!("Failed processing request: {err}");
                         callback.fail(err);
                         continue;
@@ -527,3 +527,12 @@ enum RequestKind {
         precondition: Precondition,
     },
 }
+
+impl From<raft::Error> for RequestError {
+    fn from(value: raft::Error) -> Self {
+        match value {
+            err @ raft::Error::ProposalDropped => RequestError::Unavailable(err.into()),
+            err => RequestError::Internal(err.into()),
+        }
+    }
+}