diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/exception/CallbackFailedException.java b/sdk/src/main/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/exception/CallbackFailedException.java
index 1febf78c54..7ede3a8a2a 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/exception/CallbackFailedException.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/exception/CallbackFailedException.java
@@ -20,8 +20,14 @@ private static String buildMessage(ErrorObject error) {
         var errorMessage = error.errorMessage();
 
         if (errorType != null && !errorType.isEmpty()) {
+            if (errorMessage == null || errorMessage.isEmpty()) {
+                return errorType;
+            }
             return errorType + ": " + errorMessage;
         }
+        if (errorMessage == null || errorMessage.isEmpty()) {
+            return "Callback failed";
+        }
         return errorMessage;
     }
 }
diff --git a/sdk/src/test/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/exception/CallbackExceptionTest.java b/sdk/src/test/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/exception/CallbackExceptionTest.java
index f9f03005d2..6d8f100988 100644
--- a/sdk/src/test/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/exception/CallbackExceptionTest.java
+++ b/sdk/src/test/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/exception/CallbackExceptionTest.java
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull;
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.CsvSource;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.lambda.model.CallbackDetails;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.lambda.model.ErrorObject;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.lambda.model.Operation;
@@ -54,6 +56,36 @@ void testCallbackFailedExceptionWithoutError() {
         assertEquals("Callback failed", exception.getMessage());
     }
 
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @CsvSource(
+            value = {
+                "RejectedError,NULL,RejectedError",
+                "RejectedError,'',RejectedError",
+                "RejectedError,denied,RejectedError: denied",
+                "NULL,denied,denied",
+                "'',denied,denied",
+                "NULL,NULL,Callback failed",
+                "NULL,'',Callback failed",
+                "'',NULL,Callback failed",
+                "'','',Callback failed"
+            },
+            nullValues = "NULL")
+    void testCallbackFailureMessagePreservesPresentFields(String type, String message, String expected) {
+        var error = ErrorObject.builder().errorType(type).errorMessage(message).build();
+        var operation = Operation.builder()
+                .callbackDetails(CallbackDetails.builder()
+                        .callbackId(CALLBACK_ID)
+                        .error(error)
+                        .build())
+                .build();
+
+        var exception = new CallbackFailedException(operation);
+        assertEquals(expected, exception.getMessage());
+        assertEquals(error, exception.getErrorObject());
+        assertEquals(type, exception.getErrorObject().errorType());
+        assertEquals(message, exception.getErrorObject().errorMessage());
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testCallbackException() {
         var exception = new CallbackException(OPERATION, "myErrorMessage");
diff --git a/telemetry-exporter/src/test/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/telemetry/CallbackFailureMessageTest.java b/telemetry-exporter/src/test/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/telemetry/CallbackFailureMessageTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..be885681f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/telemetry-exporter/src/test/java/software/amazon/lambda/durable/telemetry/CallbackFailureMessageTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+// Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+package software.amazon.lambda.durable.telemetry;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.services.lambda.model.ErrorObject;
+import software.amazon.lambda.durable.DurableConfig;
+import software.amazon.lambda.durable.exception.CallbackFailedException;
+import software.amazon.lambda.durable.model.ExecutionStatus;
+import software.amazon.lambda.durable.testing.LocalDurableTestRunner;
+
+class CallbackFailureMessageTest {
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @ValueSource(booleans = {false, true})
+    void typeOnlyFailureSurvivesTelemetryAndReplay(boolean caught) {
+        List<DurableExecutionTelemetryRecord> records = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
+        var plugin = DurableExecutionTelemetry.durableExecutionTelemetry(DurableExecutionTelemetryConfig.builder()
+                .samplingRate(1)
+                .addExporter(records::add)
+                .build());
+        var effects = new AtomicInteger();
+        var runner = LocalDurableTestRunner.create(
+                String.class,
+                (input, context) -> {
+                    context.step("once", String.class, step -> {
+                        effects.incrementAndGet();
+                        return "done";
+                    });
+                    try {
+                        return context.createCallback("approval", String.class).get();
+                    } catch (CallbackFailedException failure) {
+                        if (!caught) {
+                            throw failure;
+                        }
+                        assertEquals("RejectedError", failure.getMessage());
+                        assertNull(failure.getErrorObject().errorMessage());
+                        context.wait("after-failure", Duration.ofSeconds(1));
+                        return failure.getMessage();
+                    }
+                },
+                DurableConfig.builder().withPlugins(plugin).build());
+
+        assertEquals(ExecutionStatus.PENDING, runner.run("input").getStatus());
+        var callbackId = runner.getCallbackId("approval");
+        var error = ErrorObject.builder().errorType("RejectedError").build();
+        runner.failCallback(callbackId, error);
+        var result = runner.runUntilComplete("input");
+
+        assertEquals(caught ? ExecutionStatus.SUCCEEDED : ExecutionStatus.FAILED, result.getStatus());
+        assertEquals(1, effects.get(), "the completed step must not run again");
+        assertEquals(callbackId, runner.getCallbackId("approval"));
+        assertEquals(error, result.getOperation("approval").getCallbackDetails().error());
+        var record = records.get(records.size() - 1);
+        assertEquals(caught ? "SUCCEEDED" : "FAILED", record.status());
+        for (var operation : record.operations()) {
+            if (operation.error() != null && operation.error().message() != null) {
+                assertFalse(operation.error().message().contains(": null"));
+            }
+        }
+        if (caught) {
+            assertEquals("RejectedError", result.getResult(String.class));
+            assertNull(record.error);
+        } else {
+            assertEquals("RejectedError", record.error.name());
+            assertEquals("RejectedError", record.error.message());
+            assertEquals(record.error.toWireMap(), record.toByNameWireMap().get("error"));
+        }
+    }
+}