diff --git a/config/dbstructure.config.php b/config/dbstructure.config.php
index fdc54b0bde..6ce9d69474 100644
--- a/config/dbstructure.config.php
+++ b/config/dbstructure.config.php
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 use Friendica\Database\DBA;
 
 if (!defined('DB_UPDATE_VERSION')) {
-	define('DB_UPDATE_VERSION', 1301);
+	define('DB_UPDATE_VERSION', 1302);
 }
 
 return [
@@ -1377,12 +1377,12 @@ return [
 		"indexes" => [
 			"PRIMARY" => ["id"],
 			"done_parameter" => ["done", "parameter(64)"],
+			"done_executed" => ["done", "executed"],
+			"done_priority" => ["done", "priority"],
+			"done_priority_created" => ["done", "priority", "created"],
 			"done_pid" => ["done", "pid"],
-			"done_priority_created_next_try" => ["done", "priority", "created", "next_try"],
-			"done_priority_executed_next_try" => ["done", "priority", "executed", "next_try"],
-			"done_priority_next_try" => ["done", "priority", "next_try"],
-			"done_executed_next_try" => ["done", "executed", "next_try"],
-			"done_next_try" => ["done", "next_try"]
+			"done_pid_next_try" => ["done", "pid", "next_try"],
+			"done_pid_priority_created" => ["done", "pid", "priority", "created"]
 		]
 	],
 	"storage" => [
diff --git a/src/Core/Worker.php b/src/Core/Worker.php
index cd16272443..affcf8442d 100644
--- a/src/Core/Worker.php
+++ b/src/Core/Worker.php
@@ -103,11 +103,15 @@ class Worker
 				}
 
 				// If possible we will fetch new jobs for this worker
-				if (!$refetched && Lock::acquire('worker_process', 0)) {
-					$stamp = (float)microtime(true);
-					$refetched = self::findWorkerProcesses($passing_slow);
-					self::$db_duration += (microtime(true) - $stamp);
-					Lock::release('worker_process');
+				if (!$refetched) {
+					$entries = self::totalEntries();
+					$deferred = self::deferredEntries();
+					if (Lock::acquire('worker_process', 0)) {
+						$stamp = (float)microtime(true);
+						$refetched = self::findWorkerProcesses($passing_slow, $entries, $deferred);
+						self::$db_duration += (microtime(true) - $stamp);
+						Lock::release('worker_process');
+					}
 				}
 			}
 
@@ -153,8 +157,7 @@ class Worker
 	 */
 	private static function deferredEntries()
 	{
-		return DBA::count('workerqueue', ["`executed` <= ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` > ?",
-			DBA::NULL_DATETIME, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()]);
+		return DBA::count('workerqueue', ["NOT `done` AND `pid` = 0 AND `next_try` > ?", DateTimeFormat::utcNow()]);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -165,8 +168,7 @@ class Worker
 	 */
 	private static function totalEntries()
 	{
-		return DBA::count('workerqueue', ["`executed` <= ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?",
-			DBA::NULL_DATETIME, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()]);
+		return DBA::count('workerqueue', ['done' => false, 'pid' => 0]);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -177,7 +179,7 @@ class Worker
 	 */
 	private static function highestPriority()
 	{
-		$condition = ["`executed` <= ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?", DBA::NULL_DATETIME, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()];
+		$condition = ["`pid` = 0 AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?", DateTimeFormat::utcNow()];
 		$workerqueue = DBA::selectFirst('workerqueue', ['priority'], $condition, ['order' => ['priority']]);
 		if (DBA::isResult($workerqueue)) {
 			return $workerqueue["priority"];
@@ -196,8 +198,7 @@ class Worker
 	 */
 	private static function processWithPriorityActive($priority)
 	{
-		$condition = ["`priority` <= ? AND `executed` > ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?",
-			$priority, DBA::NULL_DATETIME, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()];
+		$condition = ["`priority` <= ? AND `pid` != 0 AND NOT `done`", $priority];
 		return DBA::exists('workerqueue', $condition);
 	}
 
@@ -573,7 +574,7 @@ class Worker
 		$entries = DBA::select(
 			'workerqueue',
 			['id', 'pid', 'executed', 'priority', 'parameter'],
-			['`executed` > ? AND NOT `done` AND `pid` != 0', DBA::NULL_DATETIME],
+			['NOT `done` AND `pid` != 0'],
 			['order' => ['priority', 'created']]
 		);
 
@@ -661,7 +662,7 @@ class Worker
 				$intervals = [1, 10, 60];
 				$jobs_per_minute = [];
 				foreach ($intervals as $interval) {
-					$jobs = DBA::p("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `jobs` FROM `workerqueue` WHERE `done` AND `executed` > UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL ".intval($interval)." MINUTE");
+					$jobs = DBA::p("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `jobs` FROM `workerqueue` WHERE `done` AND `executed` > UTC_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL ? MINUTE", $interval);
 					if ($job = DBA::fetch($jobs)) {
 						$jobs_per_minute[$interval] = number_format($job['jobs'] / $interval, 0);
 					}
@@ -672,38 +673,29 @@ class Worker
 
 			if (Config::get('system', 'worker_debug')) {
 				// Create a list of queue entries grouped by their priority
-				$listitem = [];
+				$listitem = [0 => ''];
 
-				// Adding all processes with no workerqueue entry
-				$processes = DBA::p(
-					"SELECT COUNT(*) AS `running` FROM `process` WHERE NOT EXISTS
-							(SELECT id FROM `workerqueue`
-							WHERE `workerqueue`.`pid` = `process`.`pid` AND NOT `done` AND `pid` != ?)",
-					getmypid()
-				);
-
-				if ($process = DBA::fetch($processes)) {
-					$listitem[0] = "0:".$process["running"];
-				}
-				DBA::close($processes);
+				$idle_workers = $active;
 
 				// Now adding all processes with workerqueue entries
-				$entries = DBA::p("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `entries`, `priority` FROM `workerqueue` WHERE NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ? GROUP BY `priority`", DateTimeFormat::utcNow());
+				$entries = DBA::p("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `entries`, `priority` FROM `workerqueue` WHERE NOT `done` GROUP BY `priority`");
 				while ($entry = DBA::fetch($entries)) {
-					$processes = DBA::p("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `running` FROM `process` INNER JOIN `workerqueue` ON `workerqueue`.`pid` = `process`.`pid` WHERE NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ? AND `priority` = ?",
-						DateTimeFormat::utcNow(), $entry["priority"]);
+					$processes = DBA::p("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `running` FROM `process` INNER JOIN `workerqueue` ON `workerqueue`.`pid` = `process`.`pid` WHERE NOT `done` AND `priority` = ?", $entry["priority"]);
 					if ($process = DBA::fetch($processes)) {
+						$idle_workers -= $process["running"];
 						$listitem[$entry["priority"]] = $entry["priority"].":".$process["running"]."/".$entry["entries"];
 					}
 					DBA::close($processes);
 				}
 				DBA::close($entries);
 
+				$listitem[0] = "0:" . max(0, $idle_workers);
+
 				$processlist .= ' ('.implode(', ', $listitem).')';
 			}
 
-			$entries = self::totalEntries();
 			$deferred = self::deferredEntries();
+			$entries = max(self::totalEntries() - $deferred, 0);
 
 			if (Config::get("system", "worker_fastlane", false) && ($queues > 0) && ($entries > 0) && ($active >= $queues)) {
 				$top_priority = self::highestPriority();
@@ -807,10 +799,12 @@ class Worker
 	 * @brief Find and claim the next worker process for us
 	 *
 	 * @param boolean $passing_slow Returns if we had passed low priority processes
+	 * @param integer $entries Total number of queue entries
+	 * @param integer $deferred Number of deferred queue entries
 	 * @return boolean Have we found something?
 	 * @throws \Friendica\Network\HTTPException\InternalServerErrorException
 	 */
-	private static function findWorkerProcesses(&$passing_slow)
+	private static function findWorkerProcesses(&$passing_slow, $entries, $deferred)
 	{
 		$mypid = getmypid();
 
@@ -824,23 +818,22 @@ class Worker
 		$worker_queues = Config::get("system", "worker_queues", 4);
 		$queue_length = Config::get('system', 'worker_fetch_limit', 1);
 		$lower_job_limit = $worker_queues * $queue_length * 2;
-		$jobs = self::totalEntries();
-		$deferred = self::deferredEntries();
+		$entries = max($entries - $deferred, 0);
 
 		// Now do some magic
 		$exponent = 2;
 		$slope = $queue_length / pow($lower_job_limit, $exponent);
-		$limit = min($queue_length, ceil($slope * pow($jobs, $exponent)));
+		$limit = min($queue_length, ceil($slope * pow($entries, $exponent)));
 
-		Logger::log('Deferred: ' . $deferred . ' - Total: ' . $jobs . ' - Maximum: ' . $queue_length . ' - jobs per queue: ' . $limit, Logger::DEBUG);
+		Logger::log('Deferred: ' . $deferred . ' - Total: ' . $entries . ' - Maximum: ' . $queue_length . ' - jobs per queue: ' . $limit, Logger::DEBUG);
 		$ids = [];
 		if (self::passingSlow($highest_priority)) {
 			// Are there waiting processes with a higher priority than the currently highest?
 			$result = DBA::select(
 				'workerqueue',
 				['id'],
-				["`executed` <= ? AND `priority` < ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?",
-				DBA::NULL_DATETIME, $highest_priority, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()],
+				["`pid` = 0 AND `priority` < ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?",
+				$highest_priority, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()],
 				['limit' => $limit, 'order' => ['priority', 'created']]
 			);
 
@@ -856,8 +849,8 @@ class Worker
 				$result = DBA::select(
 					'workerqueue',
 					['id'],
-					["`executed` <= ? AND `priority` > ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?",
-					DBA::NULL_DATETIME, $highest_priority, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()],
+					["`pid` = 0 AND `priority` > ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?",
+					$highest_priority, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()],
 					['limit' => $limit, 'order' => ['priority', 'created']]
 				);
 
@@ -876,8 +869,8 @@ class Worker
 			$result = DBA::select(
 				'workerqueue',
 				['id'],
-				["`executed` <= ? AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?",
-				DBA::NULL_DATETIME, DateTimeFormat::utcNow()],
+				["`pid` = 0 AND NOT `done` AND `next_try` < ?",
+				DateTimeFormat::utcNow()],
 				['limit' => $limit, 'order' => ['priority', 'created']]
 			);
 
@@ -918,13 +911,18 @@ class Worker
 		DBA::close($r);
 
 		$stamp = (float)microtime(true);
+
+		// Counting the rows outside the lock reduces the lock time
+		$entries = self::totalEntries();
+		$deferred = self::deferredEntries();
+
 		if (!Lock::acquire('worker_process')) {
 			return false;
 		}
 		self::$lock_duration = (microtime(true) - $stamp);
 
 		$stamp = (float)microtime(true);
-		$found = self::findWorkerProcesses($passing_slow);
+		$found = self::findWorkerProcesses($passing_slow, $entries, $deferred);
 		self::$db_duration += (microtime(true) - $stamp);
 
 		Lock::release('worker_process');
@@ -1039,10 +1037,10 @@ class Worker
 		Logger::log('Add cron entries', Logger::DEBUG);
 
 		// Check for spooled items
-		self::add(PRIORITY_HIGH, "SpoolPost");
+		self::add(['priority' => PRIORITY_HIGH, 'force_priority' => true], 'SpoolPost');
 
 		// Run the cron job that calls all other jobs
-		self::add(PRIORITY_MEDIUM, "Cron");
+		self::add(['priority' => PRIORITY_MEDIUM, 'force_priority' => true], 'Cron');
 
 		// Cleaning dead processes
 		self::killStaleWorkers();
@@ -1103,6 +1101,7 @@ class Worker
 		$priority = PRIORITY_MEDIUM;
 		$dont_fork = Config::get("system", "worker_dont_fork", false);
 		$created = DateTimeFormat::utcNow();
+		$force_priority = false;
 
 		$run_parameter = array_shift($args);
 
@@ -1118,6 +1117,9 @@ class Worker
 			if (isset($run_parameter['dont_fork'])) {
 				$dont_fork = $run_parameter['dont_fork'];
 			}
+			if (isset($run_parameter['force_priority'])) {
+				$force_priority = $run_parameter['force_priority'];
+			}
 		}
 
 		$parameters = json_encode($args);
@@ -1130,6 +1132,8 @@ class Worker
 
 		if (!$found) {
 			DBA::insert('workerqueue', ['parameter' => $parameters, 'created' => $created, 'priority' => $priority]);
+		} elseif ($force_priority) {
+			DBA::update('workerqueue', ['priority' => $priority], ['parameter' => $parameters, 'done' => false, 'pid' => 0]);
 		}
 
 		// Should we quit and wait for the worker to be called as a cronjob?
@@ -1175,6 +1179,7 @@ class Worker
 
 		$retrial = $queue['retrial'];
 		$id = $queue['id'];
+		$priority = $queue['priority'];
 
 		if ($retrial > 14) {
 			Logger::log('Id ' . $id . ' had been tried 14 times. We stop now.', Logger::DEBUG);
@@ -1185,9 +1190,17 @@ class Worker
 		$delay = (($retrial + 3) ** 4) + (rand(1, 30) * ($retrial + 1));
 		$next = DateTimeFormat::utc('now + ' . $delay . ' seconds');
 
-		Logger::log('Defer execution ' . $retrial . ' of id ' . $id . ' to ' . $next, Logger::DEBUG);
+		if (($priority < PRIORITY_MEDIUM) && ($retrial > 2)) {
+			$priority = PRIORITY_MEDIUM;
+		} elseif (($priority < PRIORITY_LOW) && ($retrial > 5)) {
+			$priority = PRIORITY_LOW;
+		} elseif (($priority < PRIORITY_NEGLIGIBLE) && ($retrial > 7)) {
+			$priority = PRIORITY_NEGLIGIBLE;
+		}
 
-		$fields = ['retrial' => $retrial + 1, 'next_try' => $next, 'executed' => DBA::NULL_DATETIME, 'pid' => 0];
+		Logger::log('Defer execution ' . $retrial . ' of id ' . $id . ' to ' . $next . ' - priority old/new: ' . $queue['priority'] . '/' . $priority, Logger::DEBUG);
+
+		$fields = ['retrial' => $retrial + 1, 'next_try' => $next, 'executed' => DBA::NULL_DATETIME, 'pid' => 0, 'priority' => $priority];
 		DBA::update('workerqueue', $fields, ['id' => $id]);
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/Worker/OnePoll.php b/src/Worker/OnePoll.php
index 2d36ee8f47..8523ce2e0b 100644
--- a/src/Worker/OnePoll.php
+++ b/src/Worker/OnePoll.php
@@ -138,18 +138,27 @@ class OnePoll
 		// We don't poll our followers
 		if ($contact["rel"] == Contact::FOLLOWER) {
 			Logger::log("Don't poll follower");
+
+			// set the last-update so we don't keep polling
+			DBA::update('contact', ['last-update' => DateTimeFormat::utcNow()], ['id' => $contact['id']]);
 			return;
 		}
 
 		// Don't poll if polling is deactivated (But we poll feeds and mails anyway)
 		if (!in_array($contact['network'], [Protocol::FEED, Protocol::MAIL]) && Config::get('system', 'disable_polling')) {
 			Logger::log('Polling is disabled');
+
+			// set the last-update so we don't keep polling
+			DBA::update('contact', ['last-update' => DateTimeFormat::utcNow()], ['id' => $contact['id']]);
 			return;
 		}
 
 		// We don't poll AP contacts by now
 		if ($contact['network'] === Protocol::ACTIVITYPUB) {
 			Logger::log("Don't poll AP contact");
+
+			// set the last-update so we don't keep polling
+			DBA::update('contact', ['last-update' => DateTimeFormat::utcNow()], ['id' => $contact['id']]);
 			return;
 		}