diff --git a/.changeset/handle-picker-flags-reserved-handles.md b/.changeset/handle-picker-flags-reserved-handles.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a4f15da4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/handle-picker-flags-reserved-handles.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+'ePDS': patch
+---
+
+Reserved handles are now shown as unavailable before account creation.
+
+**Affects:** End users
+
+**End users:** the live handle check no longer labels names reserved by the service, such as `admin`, `support`, or `www`, as available only to reject them after submission. The picker reports them as unavailable immediately so you can choose another name without losing progress.
diff --git a/packages/pds-core/src/__tests__/reserved-handle.test.ts b/packages/pds-core/src/__tests__/reserved-handle.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9074ad7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pds-core/src/__tests__/reserved-handle.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { isReservedServiceHandle } from '../lib/reserved-handle.js'
+
+const SERVICE_DOMAINS = ['.pds.example.com']
+
+describe('isReservedServiceHandle', () => {
+  it.each(['admin', 'www', 'support', 'help', 'api', 'bsky'])(
+    'flags upstream-reserved local part %s',
+    (local) => {
+      expect(
+        isReservedServiceHandle(`${local}.pds.example.com`, SERVICE_DOMAINS),
+      ).toBe(true)
+    },
+  )
+
+  it('accepts a normal unclaimed local part', () => {
+    expect(
+      isReservedServiceHandle('alice.pds.example.com', SERVICE_DOMAINS),
+    ).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('uses upstream normalization before checking the reserved list', () => {
+    expect(
+      isReservedServiceHandle('ADMIN.pds.example.com', SERVICE_DOMAINS),
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('rethrows unrelated upstream validation failures', () => {
+    expect(() =>
+      isReservedServiceHandle('ab.pds.example.com', SERVICE_DOMAINS),
+    ).toThrow('Handle too short')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/pds-core/src/index.ts b/packages/pds-core/src/index.ts
index bdbe8c71..1ac7b645 100644
--- a/packages/pds-core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/pds-core/src/index.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ import {
   validateClientMetadataForPreview,
 } from '@certified-app/shared'
 import { shouldRewriteSecFetchSite } from './lib/sec-fetch-site-rewrite.js'
+import { isReservedServiceHandle } from './lib/reserved-handle.js'
 import {
   findInsertionIndex,
   installCssInjectionMiddleware,
@@ -1022,7 +1023,14 @@ async function main() {
     }
     try {
       const account = await pds.ctx.accountManager.getAccount(handle)
-      res.json({ exists: !!account })
+      const reserved = isReservedServiceHandle(
+        handle,
+        pds.ctx.cfg.identity.serviceHandleDomains,
+      )
+      // `exists` is the endpoint's historical name for "unavailable".
+      // Include upstream-reserved handles so the picker cannot promise a
+      // handle which account creation will reject moments later.
+      res.json({ exists: !!account || reserved })
     } catch (err) {
       logger.error({ err, handle }, 'Failed to check handle availability')
       res.status(503).json({ error: 'handle_check_failed' })
diff --git a/packages/pds-core/src/lib/reserved-handle.ts b/packages/pds-core/src/lib/reserved-handle.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..80414201
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pds-core/src/lib/reserved-handle.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import {
+  baseNormalizeAndValidate,
+  ensureHandleServiceConstraints,
+} from '@atproto/pds/dist/handle/index.js'
+
+type HandleConstraintError = {
+  customErrorName?: unknown
+}
+
+/**
+ * Return whether upstream rejects a service handle specifically because its
+ * local part is reserved. Other validation failures and unexpected errors are
+ * rethrown so callers do not silently misclassify them as an availability hit.
+ */
+export function isReservedServiceHandle(
+  fullHandle: string,
+  serviceHandleDomains: string[],
+): boolean {
+  try {
+    const normalized = baseNormalizeAndValidate(fullHandle)
+    ensureHandleServiceConstraints(normalized, serviceHandleDomains)
+    return false
+  } catch (err: unknown) {
+    if (
+      typeof err === 'object' &&
+      err !== null &&
+      (err as HandleConstraintError).customErrorName === 'HandleNotAvailable'
+    ) {
+      return true
+    }
+    throw err
+  }
+}