diff --git a/pyrefly/lib/solver/solver.rs b/pyrefly/lib/solver/solver.rs
index 9b8f548700..34e8af51ac 100644
--- a/pyrefly/lib/solver/solver.rs
+++ b/pyrefly/lib/solver/solver.rs
@@ -2985,6 +2985,8 @@ pub enum SubsetError {
     PosParamName(Name, Name),
     /// `got` does not accept positional parameters that `want` allows callers to pass.
     CallableMissingPositionalParameters(Vec<Type>),
+    /// Explicit positional callable parameters are incompatible.
+    CallablePositionalParameterMismatch,
     /// Instantiations for quantified vars are incompatible with bounds
     TypeVarSpecialization(Vec1<TypeVarSpecializationError>),
     /// `got` is missing an attribute that the Protocol `want` requires
@@ -3039,6 +3041,7 @@ impl SubsetError {
                     )
                 })
             }
+            SubsetError::CallablePositionalParameterMismatch => None,
             SubsetError::TypeVarSpecialization(_) => {
                 // TODO
                 None
diff --git a/pyrefly/lib/solver/subset.rs b/pyrefly/lib/solver/subset.rs
index a013d9c6fc..c47ae3b33e 100644
--- a/pyrefly/lib/solver/subset.rs
+++ b/pyrefly/lib/solver/subset.rs
@@ -250,7 +250,13 @@ impl<'solver, 'subset, Ans: LookupAnswer> Subset<'solver, 'subset, Ans> {
         // Don't short-circuit because we may want to pin/solve variables
         let result = self.is_subset_param_list_impl(l_args, u_args);
         match result {
-            Err(_) if !self.solver.config.strict_callable_subtyping && (l_gradual || u_gradual) => {
+            // A gradual want/base (`*args: Any, **kwargs: Any`) accepts any got/override.
+            Err(_) if !self.solver.config.strict_callable_subtyping && u_gradual => Ok(()),
+            // A gradual got still softens unstructured mismatches, but not explicit
+            // positional prefix failures (see CallablePositionalParameterMismatch).
+            Err(SubsetError::Other)
+                if !self.solver.config.strict_callable_subtyping && l_gradual =>
+            {
                 Ok(())
             }
             _ => result,
@@ -286,7 +292,8 @@ impl<'solver, 'subset, Ans: LookupAnswer> Subset<'solver, 'subset, Ans> {
                     Some(Param::PosOnly(_, l, l_req) | Param::Pos(_, l, l_req)),
                     Some(Param::PosOnly(_, u, u_req)),
                 ) if (*u_req == Required::Required || matches!(l_req, Required::Optional(_))) => {
-                    self.is_subset_eq(u, l)?;
+                    self.is_subset_eq(u, l)
+                        .map_err(|_| SubsetError::CallablePositionalParameterMismatch)?;
                     l_arg = l_args.next();
                     u_arg = u_args.next();
                 }
@@ -296,10 +303,15 @@ impl<'solver, 'subset, Ans: LookupAnswer> Subset<'solver, 'subset, Ans> {
                     if l_name != u_name {
                         return Err(SubsetError::PosParamName(l_name.clone(), u_name.clone()));
                     }
-                    self.is_subset_eq(u, l)?;
+                    self.is_subset_eq(u, l)
+                        .map_err(|_| SubsetError::CallablePositionalParameterMismatch)?;
                     l_arg = l_args.next();
                     u_arg = u_args.next();
                 }
+                (
+                    Some(Param::PosOnly(..) | Param::Pos(..)),
+                    Some(Param::PosOnly(..) | Param::Pos(..)),
+                ) => return Err(SubsetError::CallablePositionalParameterMismatch),
                 (Some(Param::Varargs(_, Type::Unpack(l))), None) => {
                     self.is_subset_eq(&self.solver.heap.mk_concrete_tuple(Vec::new()), l)?;
                     l_arg = l_args.next();
@@ -686,7 +698,13 @@ impl<'solver, 'subset, Ans: LookupAnswer> Subset<'solver, 'subset, Ans> {
             }
         };
         match result {
-            Err(_) if !self.solver.config.strict_callable_subtyping && (l_gradual || u_gradual) => {
+            // A gradual want/base (`*args: Any, **kwargs: Any`) accepts any got/override.
+            Err(_) if !self.solver.config.strict_callable_subtyping && u_gradual => Ok(()),
+            // A gradual got still softens unstructured mismatches, but not explicit
+            // positional prefix failures (see CallablePositionalParameterMismatch).
+            Err(SubsetError::Other)
+                if !self.solver.config.strict_callable_subtyping && l_gradual =>
+            {
                 Ok(())
             }
             _ => result,
diff --git a/pyrefly/lib/test/callable.rs b/pyrefly/lib/test/callable.rs
index 17b60f3c4d..31b60d308f 100644
--- a/pyrefly/lib/test/callable.rs
+++ b/pyrefly/lib/test/callable.rs
@@ -2363,6 +2363,27 @@ def f(n: NoArgs) -> None:
     "#,
 );
 
+// https://github.com/facebook/pyrefly/issues/5194
+testcase!(
+    test_gradual_variadic_params_keep_explicit_prefix,
+    r#"
+from typing import Any, Callable, Protocol
+
+class Gradual(Protocol):
+    def __call__(self, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> None: ...
+
+class Prefixed(Protocol):
+    def __call__(self, value: str, /, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> None: ...
+
+def prefixed_function(value: str, /, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> None: ...
+
+def f(gradual: Gradual, prefixed: Prefixed) -> None:
+    accepted: Callable[[int], None] = gradual
+    protocol_error: Callable[[int], None] = prefixed  # E: `Prefixed` is not assignable to `(int) -> None`
+    function_error: Callable[[int], None] = prefixed_function  # E: `(value: str, /, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> None` is not assignable to `(int) -> None`
+"#,
+);
+
 testcase!(
     test_defaultdict_frozenset,
     r#"