diff --git a/modules/system/system.queue.inc b/modules/system/system.queue.inc
index c384f581de9..3e2979be1e3 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.queue.inc
+++ b/modules/system/system.queue.inc
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ class SystemQueue implements DrupalQueueInterface {
     // until an item is successfully claimed or we are reasonably sure there
     // are no unclaimed items left.
     while (TRUE) {
-      $item = db_query_range('SELECT data, item_id FROM {queue} q WHERE name = :name ORDER BY created ASC', 0, 1, array(':name' => $this->name))->fetchObject();
+      $item = db_query_range('SELECT data, item_id FROM {queue} q WHERE expire = 0 AND name = :name ORDER BY created ASC', 0, 1, array(':name' => $this->name))->fetchObject();
       if ($item) {
         // Try to update the item. Only one thread can succeed in UPDATEing the
         // same row. We cannot rely on REQUEST_TIME because items might be