diff --git a/apps/api/internal/runner/admission.go b/apps/api/internal/runner/admission.go
index 662348f..c1cec15 100644
--- a/apps/api/internal/runner/admission.go
+++ b/apps/api/internal/runner/admission.go
@@ -596,7 +596,7 @@ func (s *Service) dispatchWaitingAsyncAdmissions(ctx context.Context) {
 				}
 				continue
 			}
-			if task.Status != "queued" || task.RiverJobID > 0 {
+			if task.Status != "queued" {
 				continue
 			}
 			if err := s.dispatchWaitingAsyncTask(ctx, task); err != nil {
diff --git a/apps/api/internal/runner/queue_worker.go b/apps/api/internal/runner/queue_worker.go
index aeea9a5..f3449a1 100644
--- a/apps/api/internal/runner/queue_worker.go
+++ b/apps/api/internal/runner/queue_worker.go
@@ -502,7 +502,11 @@ func (s *Service) enqueueAsyncTaskWithOptions(ctx context.Context, taskID string
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	defer tx.Rollback(ctx)
+	defer func() {
+		rollbackCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
+		defer cancel()
+		_ = tx.Rollback(rollbackCtx)
+	}()
 	if err := s.enqueueAsyncTaskTx(ctx, tx, taskID, opts); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -548,18 +552,15 @@ func (s *Service) recoverAsyncRiverJobs(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	recovered := 0
 	for _, item := range items {
-		if admission, admissionErr := s.store.GetTaskAdmission(ctx, item.ID); admissionErr == nil && admission.Status == "waiting" {
-			continue
-		} else if admissionErr != nil && !errors.Is(admissionErr, pgx.ErrNoRows) {
-			return admissionErr
-		}
 		if err := s.enqueueAsyncTaskWithOptions(ctx, item.ID, asyncTaskRecoveryInsertOpts(item, time.Now())); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		recovered++
 	}
-	if len(items) > 0 {
-		s.logger.Info("river async queue recovered persisted tasks", "count", len(items))
+	if recovered > 0 {
+		s.logger.Info("river async queue recovered persisted tasks", "count", recovered)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue.go b/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue.go
index 307c8df..5473471 100644
--- a/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue.go
+++ b/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue.go
@@ -684,11 +684,19 @@ func (s *Store) ListWaitingAsyncAdmissionTaskIDs(ctx context.Context, limit int)
 		limit = 100
 	}
 	rows, err := s.pool.Query(ctx, `
-SELECT task_id::text
-FROM gateway_task_admissions
-WHERE status = 'waiting'
-  AND mode = 'async'
-ORDER BY priority ASC, enqueued_at ASC, task_id ASC
+SELECT admission.task_id::text
+FROM gateway_task_admissions admission
+JOIN gateway_tasks task ON task.id = admission.task_id
+LEFT JOIN river_job job ON job.id = task.river_job_id
+WHERE admission.status = 'waiting'
+  AND admission.mode = 'async'
+  AND task.status = 'queued'
+  AND (
+    task.river_job_id IS NULL
+    OR job.id IS NULL
+    OR job.state NOT IN ('available', 'pending', 'retryable', 'running', 'scheduled')
+  )
+ORDER BY admission.priority ASC, admission.enqueued_at ASC, admission.task_id ASC
 LIMIT $1`, limit)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue_integration_test.go b/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue_integration_test.go
index 1275255..648b8dc 100644
--- a/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue_integration_test.go
+++ b/apps/api/internal/store/admission_queue_integration_test.go
@@ -447,6 +447,29 @@ WHERE id = $1::uuid`, queuedAtomicTask.ID).Scan(&riverJobID, &queuedLeases); err
 	if riverJobID != queuedSyntheticRiverJobID || queuedLeases != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("queued River marker=%d leases=%d, want %d/0", riverJobID, queuedLeases, queuedSyntheticRiverJobID)
 	}
+	waitingAsyncTaskIDs, err := first.ListWaitingAsyncAdmissionTaskIDs(ctx, 1000)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list waiting async tasks with missing River job: %v", err)
+	}
+	waitingAsyncFound := false
+	for _, taskID := range waitingAsyncTaskIDs {
+		if taskID == queuedAtomicTask.ID {
+			waitingAsyncFound = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if !waitingAsyncFound {
+		t.Fatal("waiting async task with missing River job was not dispatchable")
+	}
+	recoverableTasks, err := first.ListRecoverableAsyncTasks(ctx, 1000)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list recoverable tasks while admission is waiting: %v", err)
+	}
+	for _, item := range recoverableTasks {
+		if item.ID == queuedAtomicTask.ID {
+			t.Fatal("generic River recovery claimed a task owned by the async admission dispatcher")
+		}
+	}
 	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 5894357..77d52aa 100644
--- a/apps/api/internal/store/tasks_runtime.go
+++ b/apps/api/internal/store/tasks_runtime.go
@@ -947,6 +947,12 @@ WHERE task.async_mode = true
     OR job.id IS NULL
     OR job.state NOT IN ('available', 'pending', 'retryable', 'running', 'scheduled')
   )
+  AND NOT EXISTS (
+    SELECT 1
+    FROM gateway_task_admissions admission
+    WHERE admission.task_id = task.id
+      AND admission.status = 'waiting'
+  )
 ORDER BY task.priority ASC, task.created_at ASC
 LIMIT $1`, limit)
 	if err != nil {