diff --git a/crates/apollo_consensus_orchestrator/src/sequencer_consensus_context.rs b/crates/apollo_consensus_orchestrator/src/sequencer_consensus_context.rs
index 3cc00a06ce7..3d8fb6a8cbd 100644
--- a/crates/apollo_consensus_orchestrator/src/sequencer_consensus_context.rs
+++ b/crates/apollo_consensus_orchestrator/src/sequencer_consensus_context.rs
@@ -1144,10 +1144,11 @@ impl ConsensusContext for SequencerConsensusContext {
                     Some(block_data.compute_accessed_keys(&sync_block.state_diff.clone().into()))
                 }
                 Ok(None) => {
-                    panic!(
-                        "The accessed-keys data for synced block {block_number} is expected to be \
-                         ready."
+                    error!(
+                        "Recorder does not yet have accessed-keys data for synced block \
+                         {block_number}."
                     );
+                    return false;
                 }
                 Err(e) => {
                     error!(
diff --git a/crates/apollo_consensus_orchestrator/src/sequencer_consensus_context_test.rs b/crates/apollo_consensus_orchestrator/src/sequencer_consensus_context_test.rs
index f93c402267a..346d682b614 100644
--- a/crates/apollo_consensus_orchestrator/src/sequencer_consensus_context_test.rs
+++ b/crates/apollo_consensus_orchestrator/src/sequencer_consensus_context_test.rs
@@ -2111,11 +2111,12 @@ async fn try_sync_forwards_accessed_keys_from_centralized() {
     assert!(context.try_sync(SYNC_HEIGHT).await);
 }
 
-// When `fetch_accessed_keys_from_centralized` is enabled, the block's accessed keys are required;
-// the data is expected to be ready at sync time, so a missing entry in the recorder is a bug.
+// When `fetch_accessed_keys_from_centralized` is enabled, the recorder may not yet have the
+// synced block's accessed-keys data (e.g. it lags behind state sync, or is unavailable). This is
+// data from a remote, network-reachable service, not a programmer invariant, so `try_sync` must
+// fail the attempt gracefully (allowing the caller to retry) instead of panicking the node.
 #[tokio::test]
-#[should_panic(expected = "The accessed-keys data for synced block 7 is expected to be ready.")]
-async fn try_sync_panics_when_recorder_has_no_accessed_keys() {
+async fn try_sync_fails_gracefully_when_recorder_has_no_accessed_keys() {
     const SYNC_HEIGHT: BlockNumber = BlockNumber(7);
 
     let (mut deps, _network) = create_test_and_network_deps();
@@ -2140,7 +2141,7 @@ async fn try_sync_panics_when_recorder_has_no_accessed_keys() {
         ..Default::default()
     });
 
-    context.try_sync(SYNC_HEIGHT).await;
+    assert!(!context.try_sync(SYNC_HEIGHT).await);
 }
 
 // With the opt-in disabled (the default), `try_sync` must not query the recorder and passes `None`