diff --git a/src/khoj/processor/conversation/google/utils.py b/src/khoj/processor/conversation/google/utils.py
index cd893ec3..f78c420b 100644
--- a/src/khoj/processor/conversation/google/utils.py
+++ b/src/khoj/processor/conversation/google/utils.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import json
 import logging
 import os
 import random
+import re
 from copy import deepcopy
 from time import perf_counter
 from typing import Any, AsyncGenerator, AsyncIterator, Dict, List
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ from google.genai import types as gtypes
 from langchain_core.messages.chat import ChatMessage
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 from tenacity import (
+    RetryCallState,
     before_sleep_log,
     retry,
     retry_if_exception,
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@ SAFETY_SETTINGS = [
 def _is_retryable_error(exception: BaseException) -> bool:
     """Check if the exception is a retryable error"""
     # server errors
-    if isinstance(exception, gerrors.APIError):
+    if isinstance(exception, (gerrors.APIError, gerrors.ClientError)):
         return exception.code in [429, 502, 503, 504]
     # client errors
     if (
@@ -88,9 +90,48 @@ def _is_retryable_error(exception: BaseException) -> bool:
     return False
 
 
+def _extract_retry_delay(exception: BaseException) -> float:
+    """Extract retry delay from Gemini error response, return in seconds"""
+    if (
+        isinstance(exception, (gerrors.ClientError, gerrors.APIError))
+        and hasattr(exception, "details")
+        and isinstance(exception.details, dict)
+    ):
+        # Look for retryDelay key, value pair. E.g "retryDelay": "54s"
+        if delay_str := exception.details.get("retryDelay"):
+            delay_seconds_match = re.search(r"(\d+)s", delay_str)
+            if delay_seconds_match:
+                delay_seconds = float(delay_seconds_match.group(1))
+                return delay_seconds
+    return None
+
+
+def _wait_with_gemini_delay(min_wait=4, max_wait=120, multiplier=1, fallback_wait=None):
+    """Custom wait strategy that respects Gemini's retryDelay if present"""
+
+    def wait_func(retry_state: RetryCallState) -> float:
+        # Use backoff time if last exception suggests a retry delay
+        if retry_state.outcome and retry_state.outcome.failed:
+            exception = retry_state.outcome.exception()
+            gemini_delay = _extract_retry_delay(exception)
+            if gemini_delay:
+                # Use the Gemini-suggested delay, but cap it at max_wait
+                suggested_delay = min(gemini_delay, max_wait)
+                logger.info(f"Using Gemini suggested retry delay: {suggested_delay} seconds")
+                return suggested_delay
+        # Else use fallback backoff if provided
+        if fallback_wait:
+            return fallback_wait(retry_state)
+        # Else use exponential backoff with provided parameters
+        else:
+            return wait_exponential(multiplier=multiplier, min=min_wait, max=max_wait)(retry_state)
+
+    return wait_func
+
+
 @retry(
     retry=retry_if_exception(_is_retryable_error),
-    wait=wait_random_exponential(min=1, max=10),
+    wait=_wait_with_gemini_delay(min_wait=1, max_wait=10, fallback_wait=wait_random_exponential(min=1, max=10)),
     stop=stop_after_attempt(2),
     before_sleep=before_sleep_log(logger, logging.DEBUG),
     reraise=True,
@@ -169,7 +210,14 @@ def gemini_completion_with_backoff(
         )
     except gerrors.ClientError as e:
         response = None
-        response_text, _ = handle_gemini_response(e.args)
+        # Handle 429 rate limit errors directly
+        if e.code == 429:
+            response_text = f"My brain is exhausted. Can you please try again in a bit?"
+            # Log the full error details for debugging
+            logger.error(f"Gemini ClientError: {e.code} {e.status}. Details: {e.details}")
+        # Handle other errors
+        else:
+            response_text, _ = handle_gemini_response(e.args)
         # Respond with reason for stopping
         logger.warning(
             f"LLM Response Prevented for {model_name}: {response_text}.\n"
@@ -206,7 +254,7 @@ def gemini_completion_with_backoff(
 
 @retry(
     retry=retry_if_exception(_is_retryable_error),
-    wait=wait_exponential(multiplier=1, min=4, max=10),
+    wait=_wait_with_gemini_delay(multiplier=1, min_wait=4, max_wait=10),
     stop=stop_after_attempt(3),
     before_sleep=before_sleep_log(logger, logging.WARNING),
     reraise=False,
@@ -310,6 +358,13 @@ def handle_gemini_response(
     candidates: list[gtypes.Candidate], prompt_feedback: gtypes.GenerateContentResponsePromptFeedback = None
 ):
     """Check if Gemini response was blocked and return an explanatory error message."""
+
+    # Ensure we have a proper list of candidates
+    if not isinstance(candidates, list):
+        message = f"\nUnexpected response format. Try again."
+        stopped = True
+        return message, stopped
+
     # Check if the response was blocked due to safety concerns with the prompt
     if len(candidates) == 0 and prompt_feedback:
         message = f"\nI'd prefer to not respond to that due to **{prompt_feedback.block_reason.name}** issues with your query."
@@ -428,7 +483,18 @@ def format_messages_for_gemini(
     if len(messages) == 1:
         messages[0].role = "user"
 
-    formatted_messages = [gtypes.Content(role=message.role, parts=message.content) for message in messages]
+    # Ensure messages are properly formatted for Content creation
+    valid_messages = []
+    for message in messages:
+        try:
+            # Try create Content object to validate the structure before adding to valid messages
+            gtypes.Content(role=message.role, parts=message.content)
+            valid_messages.append(message)
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.warning(f"Dropping message with invalid content structure: {e}. Message: {message}")
+            continue
+
+    formatted_messages = [gtypes.Content(role=message.role, parts=message.content) for message in valid_messages]
     return formatted_messages, system_prompt