diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1c3ce00..7b68136 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "paperclip-adapter-claude-k8s",
-  "version": "0.1.42",
+  "version": "0.1.43",
   "description": "Paperclip adapter plugin that runs Claude Code agents as Kubernetes Jobs",
   "license": "MIT",
   "repository": {
diff --git a/src/server/execute.ts b/src/server/execute.ts
index fa3db62..a7445c7 100644
--- a/src/server/execute.ts
+++ b/src/server/execute.ts
@@ -649,7 +649,9 @@ export async function execute(ctx: AdapterExecutionContext): Promise<AdapterExec
       labelSelector: `paperclip.io/agent-id=${sanitizedAgentId},paperclip.io/adapter-type=claude_k8s`,
     });
     const running = existing.items.filter(
-      (j) => !j.status?.conditions?.some((c) => (c.type === "Complete" || c.type === "Failed") && c.status === "True"),
+      (j) =>
+        !j.metadata?.deletionTimestamp &&
+        !j.status?.conditions?.some((c) => (c.type === "Complete" || c.type === "Failed") && c.status === "True"),
     );
     if (running.length > 0) {
       // Separate orphaned jobs (from a previous server-side run) from truly