diff --git a/bootstrap/app.php b/bootstrap/app.php
index 912fa3f..52413c5 100644
--- a/bootstrap/app.php
+++ b/bootstrap/app.php
@@ -49,7 +49,15 @@ return Application::configure(basePath: dirname(__DIR__))
         // it too (R16); returning null falls through to the normal renderer (the
         // resources/views/errors/* views).
         $exceptions->render(function (Throwable $e, Request $request) {
-            SetLocale::apply($request);
+            // Best-effort: locale resolution touches the session/user, which can be the
+            // very thing that failed (e.g. a DB outage). Swallow any error so this hook
+            // can never throw a second exception and break the custom error page — the
+            // page just renders in the default locale instead.
+            try {
+                SetLocale::apply($request);
+            } catch (Throwable) {
+                // keep the default locale
+            }
 
             return null;
         });