diff --git a/backend/app/tasks/maintenance.py b/backend/app/tasks/maintenance.py
index 1d9c5ec..2faaa63 100644
--- a/backend/app/tasks/maintenance.py
+++ b/backend/app/tasks/maintenance.py
@@ -173,9 +173,10 @@ async def _reset_orphaned_running_jobs_async(threshold_minutes: int = None) -> d
 
             reset_count = 0
             for job in orphaned_jobs:
+                original_started_at = job.started_at
                 job.status = DownloadStatus.QUEUED
                 job.started_at = None
-                job.error_message = f"Reset from orphaned running state (was running since {job.started_at})"
+                job.error_message = f"Reset from orphaned running state (was running since {original_started_at})"
                 reset_count += 1
                 logger.info(f"Reset orphaned job {job.id} (URL: {job.url[:50]}...) to QUEUED")