Help with "Go away, you don't exist" error message

I am receiving this error message from openssh when making an ssh connection. Googling indicates that this message is usually received in response to a configuration problem, but I don't think that this is my situation. Any other ideas? Here's the deal.

I am running a program that calls for periodic connections, using openssh, between two Mac minis. The client machine is running MacOSX 10.5, and the server is running MacOSX 10.4. Both are running
OpenSSH_4.7p1, OpenSSL 0.9.7l 28 Sep 2006
as installed by Apple (not sure of the corresponding sshd version.)

A connection is attempted every five minutes. Sometimes a connection is reliably established for several hours, E.g. twelve times an hour for six hours = 72 successful connections, say, and then the ssh connection will fail with this error message: Go away, you don't exist. Once it fails in this way, all subsequent connection attempts also fail.

The server is not subject to heavy load, even sporadically. The error message appears within seconds (according to the log) suggesting that it is not a timeout.

The server does not use PAM to authenticate connections (instead using a check against /etc/passwdck.)
The server appears to be correctly configured, as evidenced by the many successful attempts, and the fact that we've never seen an interactive connection attempt between these machines fail. Connections are made using server "authorized_keys" and "id_dsa" keys to avoid requiring interactive authentication.

Does anyone have suggestions as to how to track down this problem? Does it sound familiar to anyone? I don't see anything in the docs, on the mailing list or by google that appears to match this issue, but perhaps I have missed something. Pointers in the right direction much appreciated.

-- Dave

In case it matters, the periodic connections are initiated by cruise control (http://cruisecontrol.sourceforge.net/) and are to access a subversion (http://subversion.tigris.org) source code repository, using the svn protocol through an ssh tunnel (svn+ssh protocol.) The reported error, however, comes from OpenSSH.

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