diff --git a/surfsense_backend/.env.example b/surfsense_backend/.env.example
index d6c0a634e..7e5c9b6f0 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/.env.example
+++ b/surfsense_backend/.env.example
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ DATABASE_URL=postgresql+asyncpg://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/surfsense
 # idle_in_transaction_session_timeout (ms) so an abandoned "idle in transaction"
 # session can't wedge the DB indefinitely. 0 disables. (asyncpg only)
 # DB_IDLE_IN_TX_TIMEOUT_MS=900000
+# Same, for the Celery worker engine (long ingestion/podcast/video tasks). If a
+# task hasn't touched the DB in this window it's treated as orphaned and dropped.
+# 0 disables. (asyncpg only)
+# DB_CELERY_IDLE_IN_TX_TIMEOUT_MS=3600000
 
 # Deployment environment: dev or production
 SURFSENSE_ENV=dev
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/config/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/app/config/__init__.py
index 6b090491f..69fb023fe 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/config/__init__.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/config/__init__.py
@@ -555,6 +555,13 @@ class Config:
     # connection so an abandoned "idle in transaction" session can't wedge the
     # database indefinitely. 0 disables. Only applied to asyncpg connections.
     DB_IDLE_IN_TX_TIMEOUT_MS = int(os.getenv("DB_IDLE_IN_TX_TIMEOUT_MS", "900000"))
+    # Same protection for the separate Celery worker engine, where long-running
+    # ingestion/podcast/video tasks live. Kept higher than the web default so a
+    # legitimate per-document embed window is never reaped: if a task hasn't
+    # touched the DB in 60 min it's treated as orphaned and dropped. 0 disables.
+    DB_CELERY_IDLE_IN_TX_TIMEOUT_MS = int(
+        os.getenv("DB_CELERY_IDLE_IN_TX_TIMEOUT_MS", "3600000")
+    )
 
     # Celery / Redis
     # Redis (single endpoint for Celery broker, result backend, and app cache).
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/tasks/celery_tasks/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/app/tasks/celery_tasks/__init__.py
index 6ea7a2e68..ad439c7b4 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/tasks/celery_tasks/__init__.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/tasks/celery_tasks/__init__.py
@@ -32,10 +32,22 @@ def get_celery_session_maker() -> async_sessionmaker:
     """
     global _celery_engine, _celery_session_maker
     if _celery_session_maker is None:
+        # Reap connections orphaned mid-transaction (e.g. a worker that hung or
+        # crashed mid-index) so they can't hold locks on documents/chunks and
+        # wedge writes — the failure mode that previously left an "idle in
+        # transaction" session holding locks for 11+ hours. Kept generous so a
+        # legitimate long per-document embed window is never killed.
+        connect_args: dict = {}
+        idle_ms = config.DB_CELERY_IDLE_IN_TX_TIMEOUT_MS
+        if idle_ms and idle_ms > 0 and config.DATABASE_URL and "asyncpg" in config.DATABASE_URL:
+            connect_args["server_settings"] = {
+                "idle_in_transaction_session_timeout": str(idle_ms)
+            }
         _celery_engine = create_async_engine(
             config.DATABASE_URL,
             poolclass=NullPool,
             echo=False,
+            connect_args=connect_args,
         )
         with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
             from app.observability.bootstrap import instrument_sqlalchemy_engine