diff --git a/app/validator.py b/app/validator.py
index edcf76a..38660ab 100644
--- a/app/validator.py
+++ b/app/validator.py
@@ -86,13 +86,17 @@ async def _check_domain(domain: str) -> dict:
     }
     t0 = time.monotonic()
 
-    # Try http first (follows http→https redirects automatically).
-    # Fall back to https directly if port 80 is closed/refused — many modern
-    # servers only listen on 443 and would be wrongly marked dead otherwise.
+    # Try http first with a short timeout so we don't waste time on servers
+    # that accept TCP but never respond on port 80.  If http fails for ANY
+    # reason (refused, timeout, protocol error, redirect loop…) we fall back
+    # to https directly, which is what most modern sites actually serve.
+    timeouts = {"http": httpx.Timeout(connect=4, read=8, write=5, pool=10),
+                "https": httpx.Timeout(connect=7, read=12, write=5, pool=15)}
+
     for scheme in ("http", "https"):
         try:
             async with httpx.AsyncClient(
-                timeout=httpx.Timeout(connect=7, read=12, write=5, pool=15),
+                timeout=timeouts[scheme],
                 follow_redirects=True,
                 headers=_HEADERS,
                 verify=False,
@@ -128,13 +132,13 @@ async def _check_domain(domain: str) -> dict:
             result["prescreen_status"] = "live"
             return result
 
-        except httpx.ConnectError:
-            # Port closed / connection refused — try the other scheme
-            logger.debug("Validator %s: ConnectError on %s, trying next scheme", domain, scheme)
-            continue
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.debug("Validator %s (%s): %s", domain, scheme, e)
-            break  # timeout or other error — don't retry
+            # Any failure on http → always try https next
+            # Any failure on https → give up, leave as dead
+            logger.debug("Validator %s (%s): %s — %s", domain, scheme, type(e).__name__, e)
+            if scheme == "https":
+                break
+            # fall through to https
 
     result["load_time_ms"] = int((time.monotonic() - t0) * 1000)
     return result