diff --git a/pkg/vmcp/client/getreject_realbackend_test.go b/pkg/vmcp/client/getreject_realbackend_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4be2ddeb3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/vmcp/client/getreject_realbackend_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright 2026 Stacklok, Inc.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package client
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	mcpmcp "github.com/stacklok/toolhive-core/mcpcompat/mcp"
+	mcpserver "github.com/stacklok/toolhive-core/mcpcompat/server"
+	"github.com/stacklok/toolhive/pkg/vmcp"
+)
+
+// newGETRejectingEchoServer stands up the same real go-sdk streamable-HTTP
+// backend as newRealEchoServer, stateful (Legacy), behind a handler that
+// answers every HTTP GET with 400 and records the method of every request it
+// receives.
+//
+// That is the Tableau MCP shape from issue #6497: a healthy backend that
+// requires a session id issued by initialize, so a bare GET — which carries no
+// session context — is rejected rather than upgraded to a standalone SSE
+// stream.
+func newGETRejectingEchoServer(t *testing.T, record func(method string)) *httptest.Server {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	mcpSrv := mcpserver.NewMCPServer("get-rejecting-backend", "1.0.0")
+	mcpSrv.AddTool(
+		mcpmcp.NewTool("echo",
+			mcpmcp.WithDescription("Echoes the input back"),
+			mcpmcp.WithString("input", mcpmcp.Required()),
+		),
+		func(_ context.Context, req mcpmcp.CallToolRequest) (*mcpmcp.CallToolResult, error) {
+			args, _ := req.Params.Arguments.(map[string]any)
+			input, _ := args["input"].(string)
+			return &mcpmcp.CallToolResult{Content: []mcpmcp.Content{mcpmcp.NewTextContent(input)}}, nil
+		},
+	)
+
+	inner := mcpserver.NewStreamableHTTPServer(mcpSrv)
+	mux := http.NewServeMux()
+	mux.Handle("/mcp", http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		record(r.Method)
+		if r.Method == http.MethodGet {
+			// Tableau MCP's response to a session-less GET.
+			http.Error(w, "Invalid or missing session ID", http.StatusBadRequest)
+			return
+		}
+		inner.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	}))
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(mux)
+	t.Cleanup(ts.Close)
+	return ts
+}
+
+// TestListCapabilities_GETRejectingBackendIsHealthy pins the health signal
+// reported in issue #6497: a backend that rejects a bare HTTP GET must not be
+// treated as unavailable.
+//
+// vMCP's health check is BackendClient.ListCapabilities (see
+// health.NewHealthChecker), which reaches the backend over POST. GET is only
+// ever the standalone server->client SSE stream, and in Streamable HTTP that
+// stream is optional — a server without one answers 405 per spec, and one that
+// requires a session id (Tableau MCP) answers 400. Neither says anything about
+// whether the backend can serve MCP.
+//
+// The assertion is therefore two-sided: ListCapabilities must succeed against
+// such a backend, AND it must not issue a GET at all. Only the tools/call
+// forwarding path enables transport.WithContinuousListening (see
+// newStreamableHTTPClient); a change that opened the standalone stream on the
+// non-forwarding path would put every session-requiring backend back to
+// "unavailable" and drop its tools from tools/list.
+func TestListCapabilities_GETRejectingBackendIsHealthy(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	var methods []string
+	srv := newGETRejectingEchoServer(t, func(method string) {
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		methods = append(methods, method)
+	})
+
+	h := newProbeClient(t)
+	target := &vmcp.BackendTarget{
+		WorkloadID:    "get-rejecting-backend",
+		WorkloadName:  "GET Rejecting Backend",
+		BaseURL:       srv.URL + "/mcp",
+		TransportType: "streamable-http",
+	}
+
+	caps, err := h.ListCapabilities(context.Background(), target)
+	require.NoError(t, err,
+		"a backend that rejects a bare GET is still a healthy MCP backend: the health check speaks MCP over POST")
+	require.NotNil(t, caps)
+	assert.Len(t, caps.Tools, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, "echo", caps.Tools[0].Name)
+
+	mu.Lock()
+	defer mu.Unlock()
+	require.NotEmpty(t, methods, "the backend must have been reached")
+	assert.NotContains(t, methods, http.MethodGet,
+		"the health path must not open a standalone SSE GET stream; only the tools/call forwarding path may")
+}