diff --git a/docsgpt/api/user/idempotency.py b/docsgpt/api/user/idempotency.py
index e38e8a73..1cfc1b80 100644
--- a/docsgpt/api/user/idempotency.py
+++ b/docsgpt/api/user/idempotency.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import threading
 import uuid
 from typing import Any, Callable, Optional
 
-from celery.exceptions import MaxRetriesExceededError
+from celery.exceptions import Ignore, MaxRetriesExceededError
 
 from docsgpt.storage.db.repositories.idempotency import IdempotencyRepository
 from docsgpt.storage.db.session import db_readonly, db_session
@@ -90,21 +90,23 @@ def with_idempotency(
                     )
                 except MaxRetriesExceededError:
                     # The holder is simply slower than LEASE_RETRY_MAX
-                    # deferrals — a task that outruns the broker's visibility
+                    # deferrals: a task that outruns the broker's visibility
                     # timeout is redelivered while its first run is still
-                    # going. Standing down is the correct end state for the
-                    # duplicate; raising here would report a failure for a
-                    # task that is running normally somewhere else.
+                    # going. Letting the exhaustion propagate would report a
+                    # failure for a task that is running normally — but so
+                    # would returning a value, only less visibly. A redelivery
+                    # reuses the original task id (``Context`` carries
+                    # ``task_id`` into the retry), so a return marks the very
+                    # id the client polls SUCCESS, and ``/api/task_status``
+                    # hands that to the UI as a finished build. ``Ignore``
+                    # records no state at all, leaving the outcome to the run
+                    # that actually holds the lease.
                     logger.info(
                         "idempotency: lease still held after %s deferrals; "
                         "leaving task=%s key=%s to its holder",
                         LEASE_RETRY_MAX, task_name, key,
                     )
-                    return {
-                        "status": "deferred",
-                        "reason": "another worker holds the lease",
-                        "idempotency_key": key,
-                    }
+                    raise Ignore() from None
 
             if attempt > MAX_TASK_ATTEMPTS:
                 logger.error(
diff --git a/tests/api/user/test_idempotency_decorator.py b/tests/api/user/test_idempotency_decorator.py
index b1d26f93..cbed5f19 100644
--- a/tests/api/user/test_idempotency_decorator.py
+++ b/tests/api/user/test_idempotency_decorator.py
@@ -357,8 +357,8 @@ class TestLeaseDeferralGivesUpQuietly:
             task_id="t-worker-1", owner_id="worker-1",
         )
 
-    def test_exhausted_retries_return_deferred_instead_of_raising(self, pg_conn):
-        from celery.exceptions import MaxRetriesExceededError
+    def test_exhausted_retries_stand_down_without_recording_a_result(self, pg_conn):
+        from celery.exceptions import Ignore, MaxRetriesExceededError
 
         from docsgpt.api.user.idempotency import with_idempotency
 
@@ -374,10 +374,14 @@ class TestLeaseDeferralGivesUpQuietly:
         worker2 = _fake_celery_self("t-worker-2")
         worker2.retry.side_effect = MaxRetriesExceededError("out of retries")
 
-        with _patch_decorator_db(pg_conn):
-            result = task(worker2, idempotency_key="k-long-run")
+        # Ignore rather than a return value: a redelivery reuses the original
+        # task id, so returning would mark the id the client is polling
+        # SUCCESS — /api/task_status hands that straight to the UI, which
+        # would announce a finished (empty) build while the holder is still
+        # working. Ignore leaves the id's state to the holder.
+        with _patch_decorator_db(pg_conn), pytest.raises(Ignore):
+            task(worker2, idempotency_key="k-long-run")
 
-        assert result["status"] == "deferred"
         # The lease holder is still running it; the duplicate did not.
         assert invocations["count"] == 0
         # The holder's row is untouched — not failed, not completed.