diff --git a/.changeset/25329-rate-limit-cache-warning-remedy.md b/.changeset/25329-rate-limit-cache-warning-remedy.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..55c2615c8ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/25329-rate-limit-cache-warning-remedy.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/plugin-auth': patch
+---
+
+fix: the degraded rate-limit warning names the remedy that boots: a shared `ICacheService` registered as `cache`
+
+Clause-②: no
+Metadata-protocol: none
+
+With no `cache` service registered, the lazy counter store falls back to a per-process store and logs one warning. That warning told a multi-node deployment to use "Redis via @objectstack/service-cache". But `CacheServicePlugin` throws at `init` when `adapter: 'redis'` is set, so an operator who followed it got a boot failure.
+
+The warning now names the working path: an `ICacheService` backed by a store every node reaches, registered as the `cache` service (`ctx.registerService('cache', impl)`). It no longer names a bundled adapter, so the text cannot go stale when one ships. The ADR-0069 D2 reference and the per-caller impact suffix are unchanged. The same applies to every counter built on `createLazyCounterStore`: better-auth's rate limit, the per-number OTP send budget, the SMS quotas and the runtime's inbound and endpoint limiters.
diff --git a/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/otp-send-guard.ts b/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/otp-send-guard.ts
index 8f7f9ee53e7..67d3c74f818 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/otp-send-guard.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/otp-send-guard.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
  * send is checked:
  *
  *  - the kernel `cache` service when one is registered — shared across nodes
- *    iff the cache is (Redis via `@objectstack/service-cache`);
+ *    iff the registered `cache` service is backed by a store every node reaches;
  *  - a host-supplied better-auth `secondaryStorage`, when the host wired one
  *    deliberately (adapted by {@link counterStoreFromKv});
  *  - otherwise a bounded per-process store — still enforced, per node, and
diff --git a/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/rate-limit-storage.test.ts b/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/rate-limit-storage.test.ts
index deffe3e2189..6bf0a06b450 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/rate-limit-storage.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/rate-limit-storage.test.ts
@@ -176,6 +176,13 @@ describe('createLazyCacheRateLimitStorage — no cache service at all (#4772 acc
     const msg = logger.warn.mock.calls[0][0] as string;
     expect(msg).toContain('no `cache` service registered at all');
     expect(msg).toContain('per-process store');
+    // The remedy is the path that boots today: a shared ICacheService
+    // registered as `cache`. It never names @objectstack/service-cache as the
+    // Redis remedy — that package's Redis adapter refuses to start.
+    expect(msg).toContain("registered as the `cache` service (ctx.registerService('cache', impl))");
+    expect(msg).not.toContain('@objectstack/service-cache');
+    expect(msg).not.toMatch(/redis/i);
+    expect(msg).toContain('(ADR-0069 D2)');
     expect(logger.info).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/rate-limit-storage.ts b/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/rate-limit-storage.ts
index 488b56e551e..109b2dec52d 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/rate-limit-storage.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/rate-limit-storage.ts
@@ -217,8 +217,9 @@ export function createLazyCounterStore(opts: LazyCounterStoreOptions): () => Pro
       degradedWarned = true;
       opts.logger?.warn?.(
         `${prefix} ${opts.subject}: no cache service to count in — falling back to a per-process store. ` +
-          'This deployment has no `cache` service registered at all; a multi-node deployment needs a shared cache ' +
-          '(Redis via @objectstack/service-cache) or each node enforces the limit independently (ADR-0069 D2)' +
+          'This deployment has no `cache` service registered at all; a multi-node deployment needs a shared cache — ' +
+          'an ICacheService backed by a store every node reaches, registered as the `cache` service ' +
+          "(ctx.registerService('cache', impl)) — or each node enforces the limit independently (ADR-0069 D2)" +
           (opts.degradedImpact ? `. ${opts.degradedImpact}` : ''),
       );
     }
diff --git a/packages/runtime/src/security/inbound-rate-limit.test.ts b/packages/runtime/src/security/inbound-rate-limit.test.ts
index 2dc5d7904e1..bf1712e13ae 100644
--- a/packages/runtime/src/security/inbound-rate-limit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime/src/security/inbound-rate-limit.test.ts
@@ -311,7 +311,10 @@ describe('degradation is announced once, with consequence and remedy (ADR-0069 D
         expect(message).toMatch(/^\[dispatcher\]/);
         expect(message).toMatch(/inbound rate-limit buckets/);
         expect(message).toMatch(/MULTIPLIED BY the number of nodes/);
-        expect(message).toMatch(/Redis via @objectstack\/service-cache/);
+        // The remedy names the path that works today (a shared ICacheService
+        // registered as `cache`), never a bundled adapter that refuses to boot.
+        expect(message).toMatch(/registerService\('cache', impl\)/);
+        expect(message).not.toMatch(/@objectstack\/service-cache/);
     });
 
     it('announces the healthy bind once instead of staying silent about it', async () => {