diff --git a/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue_integration_test.go b/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue_integration_test.go
index a852b47..b1c90ac 100644
--- a/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue_integration_test.go
+++ b/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue_integration_test.go
@@ -471,6 +471,36 @@ WHERE id = $1::uuid`, queuedAtomicTask.ID).Scan(&riverJobID, &queuedLeases); err
 			t.Fatal("generic River recovery claimed a task owned by the async admission dispatcher")
 		}
 	}
+	recoveryGraceTask := createTask(true)
+	recoverableTasks, err = first.ListRecoverableAsyncTasks(ctx, 1000)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list fresh recoverable tasks: %v", err)
+	}
+	for _, item := range recoverableTasks {
+		if item.ID == recoveryGraceTask.ID {
+			t.Fatal("generic River recovery claimed a task still preparing admission")
+		}
+	}
+	if _, err := first.pool.Exec(ctx, `
+UPDATE gateway_tasks
+SET created_at = now() - interval '6 minutes'
+WHERE id = $1::uuid`, recoveryGraceTask.ID); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("age task beyond River recovery grace period: %v", err)
+	}
+	recoverableTasks, err = first.ListRecoverableAsyncTasks(ctx, 1000)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list aged recoverable tasks: %v", err)
+	}
+	recoveryGraceFound := false
+	for _, item := range recoverableTasks {
+		if item.ID == recoveryGraceTask.ID {
+			recoveryGraceFound = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if !recoveryGraceFound {
+		t.Fatal("generic River recovery did not claim a task beyond the recovery grace period")
+	}
 	result, err = second.TryTaskAdmission(ctx, inputFor(queuedAtomicTask, 100, ""))
 	if err != nil || !result.Admitted || len(result.Leases) != 1 {
 		t.Fatalf("worker-time queued admission result=%+v err=%v", result, err)
diff --git a/apps/api/internal/store/tasks_runtime.go b/apps/api/internal/store/tasks_runtime.go
index ae2940c..fd594c0 100644
--- a/apps/api/internal/store/tasks_runtime.go
+++ b/apps/api/internal/store/tasks_runtime.go
@@ -1043,11 +1043,17 @@ func (s *Store) ListRecoverableAsyncTasks(ctx context.Context, limit int) ([]Asy
 	if limit <= 0 {
 		limit = 500
 	}
+	// API handlers create the durable task before they finish media restoration
+	// and register distributed admission. Give that normal submission path
+	// ownership of fresh tasks so the generic crash recovery scan cannot create
+	// a River job inside the create-to-admission window.
+	const minimumRecoveryAge = 5 * time.Minute
 	rows, err := s.pool.Query(ctx, `
 SELECT task.id::text, task.priority, task.next_run_at
 FROM gateway_tasks task
 LEFT JOIN river_job job ON job.id = task.river_job_id
 WHERE task.async_mode = true
+  AND task.created_at <= now() - $2::interval
   AND (
     task.status = 'queued'
     OR (
@@ -1067,7 +1073,7 @@ WHERE task.async_mode = true
       AND admission.status = 'waiting'
   )
 ORDER BY task.priority ASC, task.created_at ASC
-LIMIT $1`, limit)
+LIMIT $1`, limit, minimumRecoveryAge.String())
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}