diff --git a/docs/faq.md b/docs/faq.md
index 98c3bc1..2108b02 100644
--- a/docs/faq.md
+++ b/docs/faq.md
@@ -75,6 +75,38 @@ for attempt in range(5):
             raise
 ```
 
+## Retrying on response content
+
+Sometimes a server returns a valid response but the body or custom headers signals a failure - for example, a block page, a CAPTCHA redirect, or an authorization wall. This commonly occurs if access may be blocked at the content level rather than the HTTP status level.
+
+Use `validate_response` to inspect the response and raise an exception to trigger a retry:
+
+```python
+import httpx
+from httpx_retries import Retry, RetryTransport
+
+class ContentBlocked(ValueError):
+    pass
+
+def validate_response(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+    # safely inspect status and headers if needed
+    response.raise_for_status()
+
+    # NOTE: Do not call `.read()` here with `Client.stream`,
+    # it will buffer the entire body, which defeats the purpose of streaming.
+    response.read()
+    if "content blocked" in response.text:
+        raise ContentBlocked(response.text)
+
+retry = Retry(validate_response=validate_response, retry_on_exceptions=[httpx.HTTPStatusError, ContentBlocked])
+
+with httpx.Client(transport=RetryTransport(retry=retry)) as client:
+    response = client.get("https://example.com")
+```
+
+!!! warning "Do not call `response.read()` inside `validate_response` with `Client.stream`"
+    `validate_response` is called before the response is returned to the caller. Calling `response.read()` or `await response.aread()` inside it will buffer the entire body, which defeats the purpose of streaming. If you use streaming, validate only the status code and headers.
+
 ## Limits / Cert / SSL / http2 parameters passed to the client are not being applied
 
 This is a limitation of the way transports are applied to clients in HTTPX. If you provide a custom transport, several parameters
diff --git a/httpx_retries/retry.py b/httpx_retries/retry.py
index 5415cae..8d5a75d 100644
--- a/httpx_retries/retry.py
+++ b/httpx_retries/retry.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import random
 import sys
 import time
-from collections.abc import Iterable, Mapping
+from collections.abc import Awaitable, Callable, Iterable, Mapping
 from email.utils import parsedate_to_datetime
 from enum import Enum
 from http import HTTPStatus
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ class Retry:
             repeatedly. Defaults to None (no cumulative cap).
         elapsed_sleep (float, optional): Cumulative sleep time already spent on this request. Preserved across
             `increment()` calls; users typically do not set this directly.
+        validate_response (callable, optional): An optional callback called with each response that would
+            otherwise be returned as a "good" (non-retryable-status) response. If the callback raises, the
+            request is retried. May be sync or async; an async callback cannot be used with a sync transport.
+            Signature: ``(response: httpx.Response) -> None``.
     """
 
     RETRYABLE_METHODS: Final[frozenset[HTTPMethod]] = frozenset(
@@ -101,6 +105,7 @@ def __init__(
         attempts_made: int = 0,
         total_timeout: float | None = None,
         elapsed_sleep: float = 0.0,
+        validate_response: Callable[[httpx.Response], None | Awaitable[None]] | None = None,
     ) -> None:
         """Initialize a new Retry instance."""
         if total < 0:
@@ -126,6 +131,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.attempts_made = attempts_made
         self.total_timeout = total_timeout
         self.elapsed_sleep = elapsed_sleep
+        self.validate_response = validate_response
 
         self.allowed_methods: frozenset[str] = frozenset(
             method.upper() for method in (allowed_methods or self.RETRYABLE_METHODS)
@@ -292,6 +298,7 @@ def increment(self) -> "Retry":
             attempts_made=self.attempts_made + 1,
             total_timeout=self.total_timeout,
             elapsed_sleep=self.elapsed_sleep,
+            validate_response=self.validate_response,
         )
 
     def __repr__(self) -> str:
diff --git a/httpx_retries/transport.py b/httpx_retries/transport.py
index 46e762e..d622750 100644
--- a/httpx_retries/transport.py
+++ b/httpx_retries/transport.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import inspect
 import logging
 from collections.abc import Callable, Coroutine
 from functools import partial
@@ -126,6 +127,9 @@ def _retry_operation(
         request: httpx.Request,
         send_method: Callable[..., httpx.Response],
     ) -> httpx.Response:
+        if self.retry.validate_response is not None and inspect.iscoroutinefunction(self.retry.validate_response):
+            raise TypeError("validate_response must be a sync function when using a sync transport")
+
         retry = self.retry
         response: httpx.Response | Exception | None = None
 
@@ -146,7 +150,19 @@ def _retry_operation(
                 response = e
                 continue
 
-            if retry.is_exhausted() or not retry.is_retryable_status_code(response.status_code):
+            if retry.is_exhausted():
+                return response
+
+            if not retry.is_retryable_status_code(response.status_code):
+                if self.retry.validate_response is not None:
+                    # normally set by httpx _after_ calling this function, but we want the request in the validator
+                    response.request = request
+                    try:
+                        self.retry.validate_response(response)
+                    except Exception as e:
+                        if retry.is_exhausted() or not retry.is_retryable_exception(e):
+                            raise
+                        continue
                 return response
 
     async def _retry_operation_async(
@@ -176,5 +192,20 @@ async def _retry_operation_async(
                 response = e
                 continue
 
-            if retry.is_exhausted() or not retry.is_retryable_status_code(response.status_code):
+            if retry.is_exhausted():
+                return response
+
+            if not retry.is_retryable_status_code(response.status_code):
+                if self.retry.validate_response is not None:
+                    # normally set by httpx _after_ calling this function, but we want the request in the validator
+                    response.request = request
+                    try:
+                        if inspect.iscoroutinefunction(self.retry.validate_response):
+                            await self.retry.validate_response(response)
+                        else:
+                            self.retry.validate_response(response)
+                    except Exception as e:
+                        if retry.is_exhausted() or not retry.is_retryable_exception(e):
+                            raise
+                        continue
                 return response
diff --git a/tests/test_transport.py b/tests/test_transport.py
index 5b354f8..a385335 100644
--- a/tests/test_transport.py
+++ b/tests/test_transport.py
@@ -706,3 +706,166 @@ async def handle_request(request: Request) -> Response:
         # must not mutate it, or retry budgets leak across requests.
         assert transport.retry.attempts_made == 0
         assert transport.retry.elapsed_sleep == 0.0
+
+
+def test_validate_response_retries_on_failure(mock_responses: MockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_sleep, status_code_sequences = mock_responses
+    call_count = 0
+
+    def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+        nonlocal call_count
+        call_count += 1
+        if call_count < 3:
+            raise httpx.TimeoutException("not ready yet")
+
+    retry = Retry(total=5, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    with httpx.Client(transport=transport) as client:
+        response = client.get("https://example.com")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert call_count == 3
+    assert mock_sleep.call_count == 2
+
+
+def test_validate_response_non_retryable_exception_raises(mock_responses: MockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_sleep, _ = mock_responses
+
+    def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+        raise ValueError("bad response")
+
+    retry = Retry(total=5, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="bad response"):
+        with httpx.Client(transport=transport) as client:
+            client.get("https://example.com")
+
+    assert mock_sleep.call_count == 0
+
+
+def test_validate_response_exhausted_returns_response(mock_responses: MockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_sleep, _ = mock_responses
+
+    def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+        raise httpx.TimeoutException("always bad")
+
+    retry = Retry(total=3, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    with httpx.Client(transport=transport) as client:
+        response = client.get("https://example.com")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert mock_sleep.call_count == 3
+
+
+def test_validate_response_async_callback_raises_for_sync_transport(mock_responses: MockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_sleep, _ = mock_responses
+
+    async def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:  # pragma: no cover
+        pass
+
+    retry = Retry(total=3, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="validate_response must be a sync function"):
+        with httpx.Client(transport=transport) as client:
+            client.get("https://example.com")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_validate_response_retries_on_failure(mock_async_responses: AsyncMockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_asleep, _ = mock_async_responses
+    call_count = 0
+
+    async def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+        nonlocal call_count
+        call_count += 1
+        if call_count < 3:
+            raise httpx.TimeoutException("not ready yet")
+
+    retry = Retry(total=5, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    async with httpx.AsyncClient(transport=transport) as client:
+        response = await client.get("https://example.com")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert call_count == 3
+    assert mock_asleep.call_count == 2
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_validate_response_non_retryable_exception_raises(mock_async_responses: AsyncMockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_asleep, _ = mock_async_responses
+
+    async def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+        raise ValueError("bad response")
+
+    retry = Retry(total=5, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="bad response"):
+        async with httpx.AsyncClient(transport=transport) as client:
+            await client.get("https://example.com")
+
+    assert mock_asleep.call_count == 0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_validate_response_sync_callback(mock_async_responses: AsyncMockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_asleep, _ = mock_async_responses
+    call_count = 0
+
+    def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+        nonlocal call_count
+        call_count += 1
+        if call_count < 2:
+            raise httpx.TimeoutException("not ready yet")
+
+    retry = Retry(total=5, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    async with httpx.AsyncClient(transport=transport) as client:
+        response = await client.get("https://example.com")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert call_count == 2
+    assert mock_asleep.call_count == 1
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_validate_response_exhausted_returns_response(mock_async_responses: AsyncMockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_asleep, _ = mock_async_responses
+
+    async def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+        raise httpx.TimeoutException("always bad")
+
+    retry = Retry(total=3, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    async with httpx.AsyncClient(transport=transport) as client:
+        response = await client.get("https://example.com")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert mock_asleep.call_count == 3
+
+
+def test_validate_response_not_called_for_retryable_status(mock_responses: MockResponse) -> None:
+    mock_sleep, status_code_sequences = mock_responses
+    status_code_sequences["https://example.com/fail"] = status_codes([(503, None), (200, None)])
+    validated = []
+
+    def validate(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
+        validated.append(response.status_code)
+
+    retry = Retry(total=5, validate_response=validate)
+    transport = RetryTransport(retry=retry)
+
+    with httpx.Client(transport=transport) as client:
+        response = client.get("https://example.com/fail")
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert validated == [200]