diff --git a/pkg/vmcp/server/authz_integration_test.go b/pkg/vmcp/server/authz_integration_test.go
index 65025a52ef..5b3d9e28ba 100644
--- a/pkg/vmcp/server/authz_integration_test.go
+++ b/pkg/vmcp/server/authz_integration_test.go
@@ -173,6 +173,15 @@ func buildCedarAuthzServer(
 			Authz:          authzCfg,
 			AuditConfig:    auditCfg,
 			CodeModeConfig: codeModeCfg,
+			// Required for TestIntegration_CedarAuthzDenial_ModernPath_IsAudited to
+			// exercise what it claims: dispatchModern's re-homed call gate. Without
+			// it the kill switch refuses the Modern request in classifyingHandler and
+			// dispatchModern never runs. (Before the classifier learned to refuse an
+			// unserved revision, the request instead fell through to the SDK path, so
+			// that test passed on a denial from a different gate entirely.) Safe for
+			// the Legacy-shaped tests sharing this helper: classifyingHandler passes
+			// Legacy traffic through regardless of this flag.
+			ModernDispatchEnabled: true,
 		},
 		router.NewSessionRouter(&vmcp.RoutingTable{}),
 		backendClient,
diff --git a/pkg/vmcp/server/classification.go b/pkg/vmcp/server/classification.go
index 4e4a66a283..16e2386ad4 100644
--- a/pkg/vmcp/server/classification.go
+++ b/pkg/vmcp/server/classification.go
@@ -9,13 +9,21 @@ import (
 	mcpparser "github.com/stacklok/toolhive/pkg/mcp"
 )
 
+// methodServerDiscover is the Modern (2026-07-28) capability-probe method. It is
+// special-cased in two places — the kill-switch branch below and dispatchModern's
+// method switch — because it is how a client learns which revisions a server
+// supports, so it must never be refused on version grounds.
+const methodServerDiscover = "server/discover"
+
 // classifyingHandler classifies a parsed MCP request as Legacy (2025-11-25) or
 // Modern (2026-07-28) at the decode seam, rejects a malformed Modern request
 // with the correct JSON-RPC error before it reaches dispatch, and — when
 // Config.ModernDispatchEnabled — routes a well-formed Modern request to
 // dispatchModern instead of the SDK. Legacy traffic always falls through to
-// next unchanged, as does a well-formed Modern request while the switch is
-// off (default), matching pre-Modern-dispatch wire behavior byte for byte.
+// next unchanged. While the switch is off (default), a well-formed Modern
+// request is refused with a conformant -32022 rather than falling through —
+// see the kill-switch branch for why, and for why server/discover is exempt
+// and does still fall through.
 //
 // ValidateHeaderConsistency (Mcp-Method/Mcp-Name) only applies to Modern
 // requests: a Legacy request carrying a stray Mcp-Method/Mcp-Name header
@@ -67,10 +75,34 @@ func (s *Server) classifyingHandler(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		}
 
 		// TEMPORARY kill-switch (default off): until Modern dispatch is
-		// conformance-validated, a well-formed Modern request falls through to
-		// the SDK path unless explicitly enabled. See issue #5959.
+		// conformance-validated, vMCP does not serve the Modern revision unless
+		// explicitly enabled. See issue #5959.
+		//
+		// Answer that conformantly here rather than letting the request reach the
+		// SDK. The draft's Streamable HTTP "Protocol Version Header" section
+		// requires a server that does not implement a requested version -- "whether
+		// the version is unknown to the server, or is a known version the server has
+		// chosen not to support" -- to reply 400 with an UnsupportedProtocolVersionError
+		// listing the versions it does support. A disabled kill switch is exactly the
+		// second case. Falling through instead yields go-sdk's stateful-server
+		// rejection, which is a 400 with a PLAIN-TEXT body whose text is Go-API advice
+		// for the server author ("set StreamableHTTPOptions.Stateless = true") -- not
+		// parseable as a protocol error and carrying no version list.
+		//
+		// server/discover is deliberately exempt: it is how a client learns which
+		// revisions a server supports, so rejecting it on version grounds would leave
+		// the client no way to negotiate down. go-sdk exempts it for the same reason,
+		// and its stateful path answers discover correctly, so the fall-through is
+		// still right for that one method.
 		if !s.config.ModernDispatchEnabled {
-			next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+			if parsed.Method == methodServerDiscover {
+				next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+				return
+			}
+			mcpparser.WriteClassificationError(w, parsed.ID, &mcpparser.UnsupportedVersionError{
+				Requested: mcpparser.MCPVersionModern,
+				Supported: []string{mcpparser.MCPVersionLegacy},
+			})
 			return
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/vmcp/server/classification_test.go b/pkg/vmcp/server/classification_test.go
index 5e15a59bfa..f727e627dd 100644
--- a/pkg/vmcp/server/classification_test.go
+++ b/pkg/vmcp/server/classification_test.go
@@ -102,11 +102,23 @@ func TestClassifyingHandler(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			// Same well-formed Modern request, but with the kill-switch at its
-			// default (off): dispatch must not happen and the request falls
-			// through to the SDK path unchanged, byte-identical to pre-Modern-
-			// dispatch wire behavior.
-			name:            "well-formed modern request falls through to next when the kill-switch is off",
-			parsed:          wellFormedModernToolsList(),
+			// default (off): vMCP does not serve the Modern revision, which the
+			// draft says must be answered with 400 + UnsupportedProtocolVersion
+			// listing the supported versions. It must NOT reach next: falling
+			// through lands on go-sdk's stateful rejection, a plain-text 400 no
+			// client can parse as a protocol error.
+			name:           "well-formed modern request is refused with -32022 when the kill-switch is off",
+			parsed:         wellFormedModernToolsList(),
+			protocolHeader: mcpparser.MCPVersionModern,
+			wantCode:       mcpparser.CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion,
+		},
+		{
+			// server/discover is the one exemption: it is how a client learns
+			// which revisions the server supports, so refusing it on version
+			// grounds would leave the client unable to negotiate down. go-sdk's
+			// stateful path answers discover, so the fall-through is correct.
+			name:            "server/discover still falls through when the kill-switch is off",
+			parsed:          wellFormedModernDiscover(),
 			protocolHeader:  mcpparser.MCPVersionModern,
 			wantPassthrough: true,
 		},
@@ -299,3 +311,18 @@ func wellFormedModernToolsList() *mcpparser.ParsedMCPRequest {
 		MCPMethodHeader: "tools/list",
 	}
 }
+
+// wellFormedModernDiscover is wellFormedModernToolsList for the one method the
+// kill-switch branch exempts from the unsupported-version refusal.
+func wellFormedModernDiscover() *mcpparser.ParsedMCPRequest {
+	return &mcpparser.ParsedMCPRequest{
+		Method:    methodServerDiscover,
+		ID:        "1",
+		IsRequest: true,
+		Meta: map[string]any{
+			metaKeyProtocolVersion:    mcpparser.MCPVersionModern,
+			metaKeyClientCapabilities: map[string]any{},
+		},
+		MCPMethodHeader: methodServerDiscover,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/vmcp/server/modern_dispatch.go b/pkg/vmcp/server/modern_dispatch.go
index 2efa391bec..d705fb8f14 100644
--- a/pkg/vmcp/server/modern_dispatch.go
+++ b/pkg/vmcp/server/modern_dispatch.go
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func (s *Server) dispatchModern(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, parsed *
 		s.dispatchModernResourceTemplatesList(ctx, w, parsed, identity)
 	case "prompts/list":
 		s.dispatchModernPromptsList(ctx, w, parsed, identity)
-	case "server/discover":
+	case methodServerDiscover:
 		s.dispatchModernDiscover(ctx, w, parsed, identity)
 	case "tools/call":
 		s.dispatchModernToolCall(ctx, w, parsed, identity)