diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6e1c4fa..cbc94e7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,17 @@ adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **A backoff the coordinated lane cannot honour is now refused instead of
+  ignored.** Reopening a breaker with a shared `Storage` is the backend's
+  decision, taken from `wait_duration_in_open` and its own clock; no
+  failed-round count crosses the wire, because `SharedState` carries mechanism
+  rather than policy and has no field for one. A
+  `wait_duration_backoff_multiplier` above `1.0` alongside a storage was
+  therefore read, validated and then silently dropped — the option looked
+  enabled while every round waited exactly as long as the last. It now raises
+  `ValueError` at construction, on `CircuitBreaker`, `Registry` and the
+  per-breaker `Registry.get(config=...)` override alike.
+
 - **A probe that never reached the dependency no longer decides the round.** A
   `HALF_OPEN` probe asks one question — has the dependency recovered? — and
   every failure was taken as its answer, including failures that never left the
diff --git a/docs/guides/configuration.md b/docs/guides/configuration.md
index 0458bae..034d1d8 100644
--- a/docs/guides/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/guides/configuration.md
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ config = Config(
 | `permitted_calls_in_half_open` | `10` | Probe calls allowed while `HALF_OPEN`. |
 | `max_concurrent_probes` | `1` | Cap on **simultaneous** probes in `HALF_OPEN`. Must be in `[1, permitted_calls_in_half_open]`. |
 | `wait_duration_in_open` | `60.0` | Seconds to stay `OPEN` before the first probe is allowed. |
-| `wait_duration_backoff_multiplier` | `1.0` | Multiplies the open wait after each consecutive failed probe round. `1.0` keeps it constant. Must be `>= 1`. |
+| `wait_duration_backoff_multiplier` | `1.0` | Multiplies the open wait after each consecutive failed probe round. `1.0` keeps it constant. Must be `>= 1`, and must stay `1.0` on a breaker with a shared storage. |
 | `wait_duration_in_open_max` | `None` | Ceiling for the backed-off wait, in seconds. `None` leaves it uncapped; when set, must be `>= wait_duration_in_open`. |
 | `auto_transition` | `False` | When `True`, a timer moves the breaker `OPEN → HALF_OPEN` once the wait elapses, instead of waiting for the next call. See [States](states.md#proactive-transition-auto_transition). |
 | `window_type` | `COUNT_BASED` | `COUNT_BASED` or `TIME_BASED`. |
diff --git a/docs/guides/states.md b/docs/guides/states.md
index 2a2ff85..e869fe8 100644
--- a/docs/guides/states.md
+++ b/docs/guides/states.md
@@ -84,10 +84,13 @@ breaker = CircuitBreaker(
 The growing interval is also a signal in its own right: a breaker waiting out a
 blip looks nothing like one that has failed ten rounds in a row.
 
-The backoff is local. Under a shared [storage](../integrations/redis.md) the
-coordinated lane reopens on `wait_duration_in_open` and keeps no failed-round
-count, so a coordinated breaker retries on the base wait no matter how many
-rounds have failed.
+The backoff is local, and deliberately refuses to pretend otherwise. Reopening
+a coordinated breaker is decided by the backend from `wait_duration_in_open` and
+its own clock, and no failed-round count crosses the wire, so a multiplier above
+`1.0` alongside a shared [storage](../integrations/redis.md) raises `ValueError`
+at construction rather than being accepted and ignored. Coordinated backoff is
+[under discussion](https://github.com/bagowix/interlock/issues); until then a
+coordinated breaker waits a constant interval.
 
 Growth stops after 64 consecutive failed rounds. Any sane multiplier has long
 since passed `wait_duration_in_open_max` by then, and an unbounded exponent
diff --git a/docs/llms-full.txt b/docs/llms-full.txt
index def849e..16b9549 100644
--- a/docs/llms-full.txt
+++ b/docs/llms-full.txt
@@ -1516,7 +1516,7 @@ config = Config(
 | `permitted_calls_in_half_open` | `10` | Probe calls allowed while `HALF_OPEN`. |
 | `max_concurrent_probes` | `1` | Cap on **simultaneous** probes in `HALF_OPEN`. Must be in `[1, permitted_calls_in_half_open]`. |
 | `wait_duration_in_open` | `60.0` | Seconds to stay `OPEN` before the first probe is allowed. |
-| `wait_duration_backoff_multiplier` | `1.0` | Multiplies the open wait after each consecutive failed probe round. `1.0` keeps it constant. Must be `>= 1`. |
+| `wait_duration_backoff_multiplier` | `1.0` | Multiplies the open wait after each consecutive failed probe round. `1.0` keeps it constant. Must be `>= 1`, and must stay `1.0` on a breaker with a shared storage. |
 | `wait_duration_in_open_max` | `None` | Ceiling for the backed-off wait, in seconds. `None` leaves it uncapped; when set, must be `>= wait_duration_in_open`. |
 | `auto_transition` | `False` | When `True`, a timer moves the breaker `OPEN → HALF_OPEN` once the wait elapses, instead of waiting for the next call. See [States](states.md#proactive-transition-auto_transition). |
 | `window_type` | `COUNT_BASED` | `COUNT_BASED` or `TIME_BASED`. |
@@ -1658,10 +1658,13 @@ breaker = CircuitBreaker(
 The growing interval is also a signal in its own right: a breaker waiting out a
 blip looks nothing like one that has failed ten rounds in a row.
 
-The backoff is local. Under a shared [storage](../integrations/redis.md) the
-coordinated lane reopens on `wait_duration_in_open` and keeps no failed-round
-count, so a coordinated breaker retries on the base wait no matter how many
-rounds have failed.
+The backoff is local, and deliberately refuses to pretend otherwise. Reopening
+a coordinated breaker is decided by the backend from `wait_duration_in_open` and
+its own clock, and no failed-round count crosses the wire, so a multiplier above
+`1.0` alongside a shared [storage](../integrations/redis.md) raises `ValueError`
+at construction rather than being accepted and ignored. Coordinated backoff is
+[under discussion](https://github.com/bagowix/interlock/issues); until then a
+coordinated breaker waits a constant interval.
 
 Growth stops after 64 consecutive failed rounds. Any sane multiplier has long
 since passed `wait_duration_in_open_max` by then, and an unbounded exponent
diff --git a/interlock/_engine.py b/interlock/_engine.py
index e519ee9..e8510b3 100644
--- a/interlock/_engine.py
+++ b/interlock/_engine.py
@@ -84,6 +84,32 @@ def validate_unreachable_exceptions(
     return types
 
 
+def validate_backoff_support(*, config: Config, storage: Storage | AsyncStorage | None) -> None:
+    """Refuse a backoff the coordinated lane cannot honour.
+
+    Reopening a coordinated breaker is the backend's decision, taken from
+    ``wait_duration_in_open`` and its own clock, and no failed-round count
+    crosses the wire — ``SharedState`` carries mechanism, not policy, and has no
+    field for one. A multiplier set alongside a storage would therefore be read,
+    validated, and then quietly ignored: the option would look enabled while
+    every round waited exactly as long as the last.
+
+    Silence is the worst of the three possible answers here, so this is an
+    error. Coordinated backoff is tracked as a separate change; until then the
+    honest options are a constant wait or a local breaker.
+
+    Raises:
+        ValueError: If a backoff multiplier is set on a coordinated breaker.
+    """
+    if storage is not None and config.wait_duration_backoff_multiplier != 1.0:
+        raise ValueError(
+            'wait_duration_backoff_multiplier has no effect on a breaker with shared '
+            'storage: reopening is decided by the backend from wait_duration_in_open, '
+            'and no failed-round count is shared. Leave it at 1.0, or drop the storage '
+            f'to run this breaker locally. Got {config.wait_duration_backoff_multiplier!r}.'
+        )
+
+
 @dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
 class Admission:
     """What ``_admit`` granted: the era it happened in, and probe provenance."""
@@ -128,6 +154,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._clock = clock
         self._classifier = classifier if classifier is not None else DefaultFailureClassifier()
         self._unreachable_exceptions = validate_unreachable_exceptions(unreachable_exceptions)
+        validate_backoff_support(config=config, storage=storage)
         self._listener = listener
         self._machine = StateMachine(
             config=config,
diff --git a/interlock/breaker.py b/interlock/breaker.py
index ac0c6c6..278f565 100644
--- a/interlock/breaker.py
+++ b/interlock/breaker.py
@@ -72,7 +72,11 @@ class CircuitBreaker:
     Raises:
         TypeError: If ``unreachable_exceptions`` is not a tuple of ``Exception``
             subclasses.
-        ValueError: If ``initial_state`` is not a supported stable state.
+        ValueError: If ``initial_state`` is not a supported stable state, or if
+            ``config`` asks for a backoff (``wait_duration_backoff_multiplier``
+            above ``1.0``) alongside a ``storage``: reopening is then the
+            backend's decision and no failed-round count is shared, so the
+            backoff could not be honoured.
     """
 
     def __init__(
diff --git a/interlock/config.py b/interlock/config.py
index 1440f55..b785e9c 100644
--- a/interlock/config.py
+++ b/interlock/config.py
@@ -35,10 +35,11 @@ class Config:
     constant wait then retries forever at full rate, and the growing interval is
     itself the signal that the dependency is not merely slow to recover.
 
-    The backoff is a local decision: with a shared ``Storage`` the coordinated
-    lane asks the backend to reopen after ``wait_duration_in_open``, and the
-    failed-round count lives in no shared state, so a coordinated breaker retries
-    on the base wait however many rounds have failed.
+    The backoff is a local decision. Reopening a coordinated breaker is the
+    backend's, taken from ``wait_duration_in_open`` and its own clock, and no
+    failed-round count crosses the wire — so a multiplier above ``1.0`` is
+    **refused** on a breaker with a shared ``Storage`` rather than accepted and
+    ignored.
 
     ``auto_transition`` opts into a timer that proactively moves a breaker from
     ``OPEN`` to ``HALF_OPEN`` once ``wait_duration_in_open`` elapses, emitting the
diff --git a/interlock/registry.py b/interlock/registry.py
index fcef294..a624d66 100644
--- a/interlock/registry.py
+++ b/interlock/registry.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from contextlib import AsyncExitStack, ExitStack
 
 from interlock._clock import SystemClock
-from interlock._engine import validate_unreachable_exceptions
+from interlock._engine import validate_backoff_support, validate_unreachable_exceptions
 from interlock._initial_state import validate_initial_state
 from interlock.breaker import CircuitBreaker
 from interlock.config import Config
@@ -53,7 +53,11 @@ class Registry:
     Raises:
         TypeError: If ``unreachable_exceptions`` is not a tuple of ``Exception``
             subclasses.
-        ValueError: If ``initial_state`` is not a supported stable state.
+        ValueError: If ``initial_state`` is not a supported stable state, or if
+            ``config`` asks for a backoff (``wait_duration_backoff_multiplier``
+            above ``1.0``) alongside a ``storage``: reopening is then the
+            backend's decision and no failed-round count is shared, so the
+            backoff could not be honoured.
     """
 
     def __init__(
@@ -75,6 +79,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._listener = listener
         self._storage = storage
         self._unreachable_exceptions = validate_unreachable_exceptions(unreachable_exceptions)
+        validate_backoff_support(config=self._config, storage=storage)
         self._breakers: dict[str, CircuitBreaker] = {}
         self._lock = threading.Lock()
 
@@ -88,6 +93,11 @@ def get(self, name: str, *, config: Config | None = None) -> CircuitBreaker:
 
         Returns:
             The cached or newly created breaker.
+
+        Raises:
+            ValueError: If ``config`` asks for a backoff on a registry that holds a
+                storage. The override route reaches the same constraint as the
+                registry's own config.
         """
         # A hit reads the dict without the lock: this is the per-request path of
         # every transport integration, and a breaker is never replaced or
diff --git a/tests/test_coordination.py b/tests/test_coordination.py
index 7ff3d93..fbc7d4e 100644
--- a/tests/test_coordination.py
+++ b/tests/test_coordination.py
@@ -1487,3 +1487,49 @@ def test__shared_view__closed_at_the_same_version__does_not_reset_the_local_mach
 
     # Same version: a duplicate or out-of-order delivery, not a recovery.
     assert breaker.state is State.OPEN
+
+
+def test__breaker__backoff_with_shared_storage__rejected(fake_clock: FakeClock) -> None:
+    """The combination has to fail loudly: the coordinated lane cannot honour a backoff.
+
+    Reopening is decided by the backend from ``wait_duration_in_open``, and no
+    failed-round count crosses the wire, so a multiplier set here would be read,
+    validated and then quietly ignored — the exact trap the option exists to
+    remove.
+    """
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match='wait_duration_backoff_multiplier'):
+        CircuitBreaker(
+            name='payments',
+            config=Config(wait_duration_backoff_multiplier=2.0),
+            clock=fake_clock,
+            storage=InMemoryStorage(clock=fake_clock),
+        )
+
+
+def test__registry__backoff_with_shared_storage__rejected(fake_clock: FakeClock) -> None:
+    """Fail at registry construction, not at the first ``get`` that happens to run."""
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match='wait_duration_backoff_multiplier'):
+        Registry(
+            config=Config(wait_duration_backoff_multiplier=2.0),
+            clock=fake_clock,
+            storage=InMemoryStorage(clock=fake_clock),
+        )
+
+
+def test__registry__backoff_in_a_per_breaker_config__rejected(fake_clock: FakeClock) -> None:
+    """``get`` takes a config override, and that route must not slip past the guard."""
+    registry = Registry(clock=fake_clock, storage=InMemoryStorage(clock=fake_clock))
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match='wait_duration_backoff_multiplier'):
+        registry.get('payments', config=Config(wait_duration_backoff_multiplier=2.0))
+
+
+def test__breaker__backoff_without_storage__accepted(fake_clock: FakeClock) -> None:
+    """Only the combination is refused; a local breaker keeps its backoff."""
+    breaker = CircuitBreaker(
+        name='payments',
+        config=Config(wait_duration_backoff_multiplier=2.0),
+        clock=fake_clock,
+    )
+
+    assert breaker.state is State.CLOSED