diff --git a/docs/reference/api.md b/docs/reference/api.md
index e6086574301..5cd8f294611 100644
--- a/docs/reference/api.md
+++ b/docs/reference/api.md
@@ -780,6 +780,7 @@ _Appears in:_
 | Field | Description | Default | Validation |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
 | `workersToDelete` _string array_ | WorkersToDelete workers to be deleted |  |  |
+| `scaleGate` _string array_ | ScaleGate contains a list of scaling gates blocking this worker group from<br />scaling up. When Kueue encounters a quota-exceeded error for this worker<br />group, it appends "kueue.k8s.io/quota-exceeded" to ScaleGate. The Autoscaler<br />initiates fallback behavior whenever ScaleGate is non-empty. KubeRay defines<br />this field but does not read or write it, and preserves its value across<br />reconciles. |  |  |
 
 
 #### SubmitterConfig
diff --git a/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayclusters.yaml b/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayclusters.yaml
index 7fbd0e19d6e..f736f617fc0 100644
--- a/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayclusters.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayclusters.yaml
@@ -5363,6 +5363,10 @@ spec:
                       type: object
                     scaleStrategy:
                       properties:
+                        scaleGate:
+                          items:
+                            type: string
+                          type: array
                         workersToDelete:
                           items:
                             type: string
diff --git a/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_raycronjobs.yaml b/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_raycronjobs.yaml
index bc8375d655b..63430f3cc33 100644
--- a/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_raycronjobs.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_raycronjobs.yaml
@@ -5457,6 +5457,10 @@ spec:
                               type: object
                             scaleStrategy:
                               properties:
+                                scaleGate:
+                                  items:
+                                    type: string
+                                  type: array
                                 workersToDelete:
                                   items:
                                     type: string
diff --git a/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayjobs.yaml b/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayjobs.yaml
index 27a7e1894de..6d7ddee853a 100644
--- a/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayjobs.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayjobs.yaml
@@ -5458,6 +5458,10 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                         scaleStrategy:
                           properties:
+                            scaleGate:
+                              items:
+                                type: string
+                              type: array
                             workersToDelete:
                               items:
                                 type: string
diff --git a/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayservices.yaml b/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayservices.yaml
index f20ce4d6e03..67c827abcb4 100644
--- a/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayservices.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/kuberay-operator/crds/ray.io_rayservices.yaml
@@ -5351,6 +5351,10 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                         scaleStrategy:
                           properties:
+                            scaleGate:
+                              items:
+                                type: string
+                              type: array
                             workersToDelete:
                               items:
                                 type: string
diff --git a/ray-operator/apis/ray/v1/raycluster_types.go b/ray-operator/apis/ray/v1/raycluster_types.go
index d71ae42a1aa..67b490893a3 100644
--- a/ray-operator/apis/ray/v1/raycluster_types.go
+++ b/ray-operator/apis/ray/v1/raycluster_types.go
@@ -489,6 +489,14 @@ type WorkerGroupSpec struct {
 type ScaleStrategy struct {
 	// WorkersToDelete workers to be deleted
 	WorkersToDelete []string `json:"workersToDelete,omitempty"`
+	// ScaleGate contains a list of scaling gates blocking this worker group from
+	// scaling up. When Kueue encounters a quota-exceeded error for this worker
+	// group, it appends "kueue.k8s.io/quota-exceeded" to ScaleGate. The Autoscaler
+	// initiates fallback behavior whenever ScaleGate is non-empty. KubeRay defines
+	// this field but does not read or write it, and preserves its value across
+	// reconciles.
+	// +optional
+	ScaleGate []string `json:"scaleGate,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // AutoscalerOptions specifies optional configuration for the Ray autoscaler.
diff --git a/ray-operator/apis/ray/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/ray-operator/apis/ray/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index ec1d842f6ba..54d98083f60 100644
--- a/ray-operator/apis/ray/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/ray-operator/apis/ray/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -1275,6 +1275,11 @@ func (in *ScaleStrategy) DeepCopyInto(out *ScaleStrategy) {
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
+	if in.ScaleGate != nil {
+		in, out := &in.ScaleGate, &out.ScaleGate
+		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
+		copy(*out, *in)
+	}
 }
 
 // DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new ScaleStrategy.
diff --git a/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayclusters.yaml b/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayclusters.yaml
index 7fbd0e19d6e..f736f617fc0 100644
--- a/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayclusters.yaml
+++ b/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayclusters.yaml
@@ -5363,6 +5363,10 @@ spec:
                       type: object
                     scaleStrategy:
                       properties:
+                        scaleGate:
+                          items:
+                            type: string
+                          type: array
                         workersToDelete:
                           items:
                             type: string
diff --git a/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_raycronjobs.yaml b/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_raycronjobs.yaml
index bc8375d655b..63430f3cc33 100644
--- a/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_raycronjobs.yaml
+++ b/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_raycronjobs.yaml
@@ -5457,6 +5457,10 @@ spec:
                               type: object
                             scaleStrategy:
                               properties:
+                                scaleGate:
+                                  items:
+                                    type: string
+                                  type: array
                                 workersToDelete:
                                   items:
                                     type: string
diff --git a/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayjobs.yaml b/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayjobs.yaml
index 27a7e1894de..6d7ddee853a 100644
--- a/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayjobs.yaml
+++ b/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayjobs.yaml
@@ -5458,6 +5458,10 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                         scaleStrategy:
                           properties:
+                            scaleGate:
+                              items:
+                                type: string
+                              type: array
                             workersToDelete:
                               items:
                                 type: string
diff --git a/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayservices.yaml b/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayservices.yaml
index f20ce4d6e03..67c827abcb4 100644
--- a/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayservices.yaml
+++ b/ray-operator/config/crd/bases/ray.io_rayservices.yaml
@@ -5351,6 +5351,10 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                         scaleStrategy:
                           properties:
+                            scaleGate:
+                              items:
+                                type: string
+                              type: array
                             workersToDelete:
                               items:
                                 type: string
diff --git a/ray-operator/controllers/ray/utils/util.go b/ray-operator/controllers/ray/utils/util.go
index b0faac855a6..4acea0df92e 100644
--- a/ray-operator/controllers/ray/utils/util.go
+++ b/ray-operator/controllers/ray/utils/util.go
@@ -658,6 +658,9 @@ func GenerateHashWithoutReplicasAndWorkersToDelete(rayClusterSpec rayv1.RayClust
 		updatedRayClusterSpec.WorkerGroupSpecs[i].MaxReplicas = nil
 		updatedRayClusterSpec.WorkerGroupSpecs[i].MinReplicas = nil
 		updatedRayClusterSpec.WorkerGroupSpecs[i].ScaleStrategy.WorkersToDelete = nil
+		// External controllers like Kueue may set ScaleGate to signal quota exhaustion,
+		// which should not trigger a new RayCluster preparation.
+		updatedRayClusterSpec.WorkerGroupSpecs[i].ScaleStrategy.ScaleGate = nil
 		updatedRayClusterSpec.WorkerGroupSpecs[i].Template.Spec.Tolerations = nil
 		updatedRayClusterSpec.WorkerGroupSpecs[i].Template.Spec.SchedulingGates = nil
 	}
diff --git a/ray-operator/pkg/client/applyconfiguration/ray/v1/scalestrategy.go b/ray-operator/pkg/client/applyconfiguration/ray/v1/scalestrategy.go
index 7ce8ee06ad6..ca8c5721109 100644
--- a/ray-operator/pkg/client/applyconfiguration/ray/v1/scalestrategy.go
+++ b/ray-operator/pkg/client/applyconfiguration/ray/v1/scalestrategy.go
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@ package v1
 type ScaleStrategyApplyConfiguration struct {
 	// WorkersToDelete workers to be deleted
 	WorkersToDelete []string `json:"workersToDelete,omitempty"`
+	// ScaleGate contains a list of scaling gates blocking this worker group from
+	// scaling up. When Kueue encounters a quota-exceeded error for this worker
+	// group, it appends "kueue.k8s.io/quota-exceeded" to ScaleGate. The Autoscaler
+	// initiates fallback behavior whenever ScaleGate is non-empty. KubeRay defines
+	// this field but does not read or write it, and preserves its value across
+	// reconciles.
+	ScaleGate []string `json:"scaleGate,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // ScaleStrategyApplyConfiguration constructs a declarative configuration of the ScaleStrategy type for use with
@@ -26,3 +33,13 @@ func (b *ScaleStrategyApplyConfiguration) WithWorkersToDelete(values ...string)
 	}
 	return b
 }
+
+// WithScaleGate adds the given value to the ScaleGate field in the declarative configuration
+// and returns the receiver, so that objects can be build by chaining "With" function invocations.
+// If called multiple times, values provided by each call will be appended to the ScaleGate field.
+func (b *ScaleStrategyApplyConfiguration) WithScaleGate(values ...string) *ScaleStrategyApplyConfiguration {
+	for i := range values {
+		b.ScaleGate = append(b.ScaleGate, values[i])
+	}
+	return b
+}