diff --git a/lib/private/BackgroundJob/JobList.php b/lib/private/BackgroundJob/JobList.php
index 2b42e2ff1ee10..ab7392522b2fd 100644
--- a/lib/private/BackgroundJob/JobList.php
+++ b/lib/private/BackgroundJob/JobList.php
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ public function hasReservedJob(?string $className = null): bool {
 		$query = $this->connection->getQueryBuilder();
 		$query->select('*')
 			->from('jobs')
-			->where($query->expr()->neq('reserved_at', $query->createNamedParameter(0, IQueryBuilder::PARAM_INT)))
+			->where($query->expr()->gt('reserved_at', $query->createNamedParameter($this->timeFactory->getTime() - 6 * 3600, IQueryBuilder::PARAM_INT)))
 			->setMaxResults(1);
 
 		if ($className !== null) {
diff --git a/lib/public/BackgroundJob/IJobList.php b/lib/public/BackgroundJob/IJobList.php
index eeca986423bac..0b00326ca1a37 100644
--- a/lib/public/BackgroundJob/IJobList.php
+++ b/lib/public/BackgroundJob/IJobList.php
@@ -160,7 +160,8 @@ public function setExecutionTime(IJob $job, int $timeTaken): void;
 	public function resetBackgroundJob(IJob $job): void;
 
 	/**
-	 * Checks whether a job of the passed class is reserved to run
+	 * Checks whether a job of the passed class was reserved to run
+	 * in the last 6h
 	 *
 	 * @param string|null $className
 	 * @return bool