diff --git a/weed/wdclient/filer_client.go b/weed/wdclient/filer_client.go
index c6c2f8326..8065c4dfd 100644
--- a/weed/wdclient/filer_client.go
+++ b/weed/wdclient/filer_client.go
@@ -24,13 +24,21 @@ const (
 	PreferPublicUrl UrlPreference = "publicUrl" // Use public URL
 )
 
+// filerHealth tracks the health status of a filer
+type filerHealth struct {
+	failureCount    int32     // atomic: consecutive failures
+	lastFailureTime time.Time // last time this filer failed
+}
+
 // FilerClient provides volume location services by querying a filer
 // It uses the shared vidMap cache for efficient lookups
 // Supports multiple filer addresses with automatic failover for high availability
+// Tracks filer health to avoid repeatedly trying known-unhealthy filers
 type FilerClient struct {
 	*vidMapClient
 	filerAddresses []pb.ServerAddress
 	filerIndex     int32 // atomic: current filer index for round-robin
+	filerHealth    []*filerHealth // health status per filer (same order as filerAddresses)
 	grpcDialOption grpc.DialOption
 	urlPreference  UrlPreference
 	grpcTimeout    time.Duration
@@ -77,9 +85,16 @@ func NewFilerClient(filerAddresses []pb.ServerAddress, grpcDialOption grpc.DialO
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Initialize health tracking for each filer
+	health := make([]*filerHealth, len(filerAddresses))
+	for i := range health {
+		health[i] = &filerHealth{}
+	}
+
 	fc := &FilerClient{
 		filerAddresses: filerAddresses,
 		filerIndex:     0,
+		filerHealth:    health,
 		grpcDialOption: grpcDialOption,
 		urlPreference:  urlPref,
 		grpcTimeout:    grpcTimeout,
@@ -166,6 +181,38 @@ func isRetryableGrpcError(err error) bool {
 		strings.Contains(errStr, "unavailable")
 }
 
+// shouldSkipUnhealthyFiler checks if we should skip a filer based on recent failures
+// Circuit breaker pattern: skip filers with multiple recent consecutive failures
+func (fc *FilerClient) shouldSkipUnhealthyFiler(index int32) bool {
+	health := fc.filerHealth[index]
+	failureCount := atomic.LoadInt32(&health.failureCount)
+	
+	// Allow up to 2 failures before skipping
+	if failureCount < 3 {
+		return false
+	}
+	
+	// Re-check unhealthy filers every 30 seconds
+	if time.Since(health.lastFailureTime) > 30*time.Second {
+		return false // Time to re-check
+	}
+	
+	return true // Skip this unhealthy filer
+}
+
+// recordFilerSuccess resets failure tracking for a successful filer
+func (fc *FilerClient) recordFilerSuccess(index int32) {
+	health := fc.filerHealth[index]
+	atomic.StoreInt32(&health.failureCount, 0)
+}
+
+// recordFilerFailure increments failure count for an unhealthy filer
+func (fc *FilerClient) recordFilerFailure(index int32) {
+	health := fc.filerHealth[index]
+	atomic.AddInt32(&health.failureCount, 1)
+	health.lastFailureTime = time.Now()
+}
+
 // LookupVolumeIds queries the filer for volume locations with automatic failover
 // Tries all configured filer addresses until one succeeds (high availability)
 // Retries transient gRPC errors (Unavailable, DeadlineExceeded, etc.) with exponential backoff
@@ -190,10 +237,22 @@ func (p *filerVolumeProvider) LookupVolumeIds(ctx context.Context, volumeIds []s
 
 	for retry := 0; retry < maxRetries; retry++ {
 		// Try all filer addresses with round-robin starting from current index
+		// Skip known-unhealthy filers (circuit breaker pattern)
 		i := atomic.LoadInt32(&fc.filerIndex)
 		n := int32(len(fc.filerAddresses))
 
 		for x := int32(0); x < n; x++ {
+			// Circuit breaker: skip unhealthy filers
+			if fc.shouldSkipUnhealthyFiler(i) {
+				glog.V(2).Infof("FilerClient: skipping unhealthy filer %s (consecutive failures: %d)", 
+					fc.filerAddresses[i], atomic.LoadInt32(&fc.filerHealth[i].failureCount))
+				i++
+				if i >= n {
+					i = 0
+				}
+				continue
+			}
+
 			filerAddress := fc.filerAddresses[i]
 
 			err := pb.WithGrpcFilerClient(false, timeoutMs, filerAddress, fc.grpcDialOption, func(client filer_pb.SeaweedFilerClient) error {
@@ -240,6 +299,7 @@ func (p *filerVolumeProvider) LookupVolumeIds(ctx context.Context, volumeIds []s
 
 			if err != nil {
 				glog.V(1).Infof("FilerClient: filer %s lookup failed (attempt %d/%d, retry %d/%d): %v", filerAddress, x+1, n, retry+1, maxRetries, err)
+				fc.recordFilerFailure(i)
 				lastErr = err
 				i++
 				if i >= n {
@@ -248,8 +308,9 @@ func (p *filerVolumeProvider) LookupVolumeIds(ctx context.Context, volumeIds []s
 				continue
 			}
 
-			// Success - update the preferred filer index for next time
+			// Success - update the preferred filer index and reset health tracking
 			atomic.StoreInt32(&fc.filerIndex, i)
+			fc.recordFilerSuccess(i)
 			glog.V(3).Infof("FilerClient: looked up %d volumes on %s, found %d", len(volumeIds), filerAddress, len(result))
 			return result, nil
 		}