diff --git a/packages/trailbase-db-collection/src/trailbase.ts b/packages/trailbase-db-collection/src/trailbase.ts
index b47728d86..8f05716c6 100644
--- a/packages/trailbase-db-collection/src/trailbase.ts
+++ b/packages/trailbase-db-collection/src/trailbase.ts
@@ -140,6 +140,12 @@ export function trailBaseCollectionOptions<
 
   const internalSyncMode = config.syncMode ?? `eager`
   let fullSyncCompleted = false
+  // Tracks whether subscribe("*") succeeded. Set to true inside start() when SSE
+  // connects. When false (e.g. 403 due to row-level access rules that can't be
+  // evaluated at wildcard subscription time), onInsert/onUpdate/onDelete skip
+  // awaitIds() — which relies on SSE events to populate seenIds — to avoid a
+  // 120 s timeout that would roll back every optimistic mutation.
+  let sseAvailable = false
 
   const awaitIds = (
     ids: Array<string>,
@@ -294,12 +300,25 @@ export function trailBaseCollectionOptions<
       }
 
       async function start() {
-        const eventStream = await config.recordApi.subscribe(`*`)
-        const reader = (eventReader = eventStream.getReader())
-
-        // Start listening for subscriptions first. Otherwise, we'd risk a gap
-        // between the initial fetch and starting to listen.
-        listen(reader)
+        // Attempt to subscribe to live updates. Some TrailBase configurations
+        // deny wildcard subscriptions (403) when table access rules use
+        // row-level predicates (_ROW_.*) that can't be evaluated without a
+        // concrete record. In that case we fall back to polling only.
+        let liveUpdatesAvailable = false
+        try {
+          const eventStream = await config.recordApi.subscribe(`*`)
+          const reader = (eventReader = eventStream.getReader())
+
+          // Start listening for subscriptions first. Otherwise, we'd risk a gap
+          // between the initial fetch and starting to listen.
+          listen(reader)
+          liveUpdatesAvailable = true
+          sseAvailable = true
+        } catch {
+          console.debug(
+            `[trailbase] subscribe/* unavailable — falling back to polling only`,
+          )
+        }
 
         try {
           // Eager mode: perform initial fetch to populate everything
@@ -309,7 +328,7 @@ export function trailBaseCollectionOptions<
             fullSyncCompleted = true
           }
         } catch (e) {
-          cancelEventReader()
+          if (liveUpdatesAvailable) cancelEventReader()
           throw e
         } finally {
           // Mark ready both if everything went well or if there's an error to
@@ -317,6 +336,8 @@ export function trailBaseCollectionOptions<
           markReady()
         }
 
+        if (!liveUpdatesAvailable) return
+
         // Lastly, start a periodic cleanup task that will be removed when the
         // reader closes.
         const periodicCleanupTask = setInterval(() => {
@@ -337,7 +358,7 @@ export function trailBaseCollectionOptions<
           })
         }, 120 * 1000)
 
-        reader.closed.finally(() => clearInterval(periodicCleanupTask))
+        eventReader!.closed.finally(() => clearInterval(periodicCleanupTask))
       }
 
       start()
@@ -380,10 +401,13 @@ export function trailBaseCollectionOptions<
         }),
       )
 
-      // The optimistic mutation overlay is removed on return, so at this point
-      // we have to ensure that the new record was properly added to the local
-      // DB by the subscription.
-      await awaitIds(ids.map((id) => String(id)))
+      // When SSE is available: wait for the subscription event confirming the
+      // server has persisted the record before removing the optimistic overlay.
+      // When SSE is unavailable (polling-only mode): skip awaitIds — seenIds is
+      // never populated without SSE events, so waiting would time out after 120 s
+      // and roll back the optimistic insert. The collection will reflect server
+      // state after the next polling cycle.
+      if (sseAvailable) await awaitIds(ids.map((id) => String(id)))
 
       return ids
     },
@@ -401,10 +425,7 @@ export function trailBaseCollectionOptions<
         }),
       )
 
-      // The optimistic mutation overlay is removed on return, so at this point
-      // we have to ensure that the new record was properly updated in the local
-      // DB by the subscription.
-      await awaitIds(ids)
+      if (sseAvailable) await awaitIds(ids)
     },
     onDelete: async (params: DeleteMutationFnParams<TItem, TKey>) => {
       const ids: Array<string> = await Promise.all(
@@ -419,10 +440,7 @@ export function trailBaseCollectionOptions<
         }),
       )
 
-      // The optimistic mutation overlay is removed on return, so at this point
-      // we have to ensure that the new record was properly updated in the local
-      // DB by the subscription.
-      await awaitIds(ids)
+      if (sseAvailable) await awaitIds(ids)
     },
     utils: {
       cancel: cancelEventReader,