diff --git a/mod/poco.php b/mod/poco.php
index f1fdc55d7..abe10ee39 100644
--- a/mod/poco.php
+++ b/mod/poco.php
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ function poco_init(App $a) {
 		$totalResults = DBA::count('profile', ['net-publish' => true]);
 	} else {
 		$contacts = q("SELECT count(*) AS `total` FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d AND `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 AND `hidden` = 0 AND `archive` = 0
-			AND (`success_update` >= `failure_update` OR `last-item` >= `failure_update`)
+			AND NOT `failed`
 			AND `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s', '%s') $sql_extra",
 			intval($user['uid']),
 			DBA::escape(Protocol::DFRN),
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ function poco_init(App $a) {
 	} else {
 		Logger::log("Start query for user " . $user['nickname'], Logger::DEBUG);
 		$contacts = q("SELECT * FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d AND `blocked` = 0 AND `pending` = 0 AND `hidden` = 0 AND `archive` = 0
-			AND (`success_update` >= `failure_update` OR `last-item` >= `failure_update`)
+			AND NOT `failed`
 			AND `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s', '%s') $sql_extra LIMIT %d, %d",
 			intval($user['uid']),
 			DBA::escape(Protocol::DFRN),
diff --git a/src/Core/Search.php b/src/Core/Search.php
index ea979610e..edc88ffd7 100644
--- a/src/Core/Search.php
+++ b/src/Core/Search.php
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ class Search
 		$count = DBA::count('gcontact', [
 			'NOT `hide`
 			AND `network` IN (?, ?, ?, ?)
-			AND ((`last_contact` >= `last_failure`) OR (`updated` >= `last_failure`))
+			AND NOT `failed`
 			AND (`url` LIKE ? OR `name` LIKE ? OR `location` LIKE ? 
 				OR `addr` LIKE ? OR `about` LIKE ? OR `keywords` LIKE ?)
 			AND `community` = ?',
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ class Search
 		$data = DBA::select('gcontact', ['nurl', 'name', 'addr', 'url', 'photo', 'network', 'keywords'], [
 			'NOT `hide`
 			AND `network` IN (?, ?, ?, ?)
-			AND ((`last_contact` >= `last_failure`) OR (`updated` >= `last_failure`))
+			AND NOT `failed`
 			AND (`url` LIKE ? OR `name` LIKE ? OR `location` LIKE ? 
 				OR `addr` LIKE ? OR `about` LIKE ? OR `keywords` LIKE ?)
 			AND `community` = ?',
diff --git a/src/Model/GContact.php b/src/Model/GContact.php
index 00867475a..6a3c7da74 100644
--- a/src/Model/GContact.php
+++ b/src/Model/GContact.php
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ class GContact
 
 		$results = DBA::p("SELECT `nurl` FROM `gcontact`
 			WHERE NOT `hide` AND `network` IN (?, ?, ?, ?) AND
-				((`last_contact` >= `last_failure`) OR (`updated` >= `last_failure`)) AND
+				NOT `failed` AND
 				(`addr` LIKE ? OR `name` LIKE ? OR `nick` LIKE ?) $extra_sql
 				GROUP BY `nurl` ORDER BY `nurl` DESC LIMIT 1000",
 			Protocol::DFRN, Protocol::ACTIVITYPUB, $ostatus, $diaspora, $search, $search, $search
@@ -274,8 +274,7 @@ class GContact
 			"SELECT count(*) as `total`
 			FROM `glink` INNER JOIN `gcontact` on `glink`.`gcid` = `gcontact`.`id`
 			WHERE `glink`.`cid` = %d AND `glink`.`uid` = %d AND
-			((`gcontact`.`last_contact` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`) OR
-			(`gcontact`.`updated` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`))
+			NOT `gcontact`.`failed`
 			AND `gcontact`.`nurl` IN (select nurl from contact where uid = %d and self = 0 and blocked = 0 and hidden = 0 and id != %d) ",
 			intval($cid),
 			intval($uid),
@@ -338,7 +337,7 @@ class GContact
 			WHERE `glink`.`cid` = %d and `glink`.`uid` = %d
 				AND `contact`.`uid` = %d AND `contact`.`self` = 0 AND `contact`.`blocked` = 0
 				AND `contact`.`hidden` = 0 AND `contact`.`id` != %d
-				AND ((`gcontact`.`last_contact` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`) OR (`gcontact`.`updated` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`))
+				AND NOT `gcontact`.`failed`
 				$sql_extra LIMIT %d, %d",
 			intval($cid),
 			intval($uid),
@@ -397,7 +396,7 @@ class GContact
 			"SELECT count(*) as `total`
 			FROM `glink` INNER JOIN `gcontact` on `glink`.`gcid` = `gcontact`.`id`
 			where `glink`.`cid` = %d and `glink`.`uid` = %d AND
-			((`gcontact`.`last_contact` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`) OR (`gcontact`.`updated` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`))",
+			NOT `gcontact`.`failed`",
 			intval($cid),
 			intval($uid)
 		);
@@ -425,7 +424,7 @@ class GContact
 			INNER JOIN `gcontact` on `glink`.`gcid` = `gcontact`.`id`
 			LEFT JOIN `contact` ON `contact`.`nurl` = `gcontact`.`nurl` AND `contact`.`uid` = %d
 			WHERE `glink`.`cid` = %d AND `glink`.`uid` = %d AND
-			((`gcontact`.`last_contact` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`) OR (`gcontact`.`updated` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`))
+			NOT `gcontact`.`failed`
 			ORDER BY `gcontact`.`name` ASC LIMIT %d, %d ",
 			intval($uid),
 			intval($cid),
@@ -472,7 +471,7 @@ class GContact
 			AND NOT `gcontact`.`name` IN (SELECT `name` FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d)
 			AND NOT `gcontact`.`id` IN (SELECT `gcid` FROM `gcign` WHERE `uid` = %d)
 			AND `gcontact`.`updated` >= '%s' AND NOT `gcontact`.`hide`
-			AND `gcontact`.`last_contact` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`
+			AND NOT `gcontact`.`failed`
 			AND `gcontact`.`network` IN (%s)
 			GROUP BY `glink`.`gcid` ORDER BY `gcontact`.`updated` DESC,`total` DESC LIMIT %d, %d",
 			intval($uid),
@@ -496,7 +495,7 @@ class GContact
 			AND NOT `gcontact`.`name` IN (SELECT `name` FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d)
 			AND NOT `gcontact`.`id` IN (SELECT `gcid` FROM `gcign` WHERE `uid` = %d)
 			AND `gcontact`.`updated` >= '%s'
-			AND `gcontact`.`last_contact` >= `gcontact`.`last_failure`
+			AND NOT `gcontact`.`failed`
 			AND `gcontact`.`network` IN (%s)
 			ORDER BY rand() LIMIT %d, %d",
 			intval($uid),
@@ -1270,7 +1269,7 @@ class GContact
 
 		$r = DBA::select('gserver', ['nurl', 'url'], [
 			'`network` = ?
-			AND `last_contact` >= `last_failure`
+			AND NOT `failed`
 			AND `last_poco_query` < ?',
 			Protocol::OSTATUS,
 			$last_update
@@ -1421,8 +1420,8 @@ class GContact
 	public static function getRandomUrl()
 	{
 		$r = DBA::selectFirst('gcontact', ['url'], [
-			'`network` = ? 
-			AND `last_contact` >= `last_failure`  
+			'`network` = ?
+			AND NOT `failed`
 			AND `updated` > ?',
 			Protocol::DFRN,
 			DateTimeFormat::utc('now - 1 month'),
diff --git a/src/Model/GServer.php b/src/Model/GServer.php
index 23056906c..3d268c37b 100644
--- a/src/Model/GServer.php
+++ b/src/Model/GServer.php
@@ -1587,7 +1587,7 @@ class GServer
 
 		$gservers = DBA::p("SELECT `id`, `url`, `nurl`, `network`, `poco`
 			FROM `gserver`
-			WHERE `last_contact` >= `last_failure`
+			WHERE NOT `failed`
 			AND `poco` != ''
 			AND `last_poco_query` < ?
 			ORDER BY RAND()", $last_update
diff --git a/src/Module/Admin/Federation.php b/src/Module/Admin/Federation.php
index 928a286b1..fd60b0715 100644
--- a/src/Module/Admin/Federation.php
+++ b/src/Module/Admin/Federation.php
@@ -64,14 +64,14 @@ class Federation extends BaseAdmin
 
 		$gservers = DBA::p("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `total`, SUM(`registered-users`) AS `users`, `platform`,
 			ANY_VALUE(`network`) AS `network`, MAX(`version`) AS `version`
-			FROM `gserver` WHERE `last_contact` >= `last_failure` GROUP BY `platform`");
+			FROM `gserver` WHERE NOT `failed` GROUP BY `platform`");
 		while ($gserver = DBA::fetch($gservers)) {
 			$total += $gserver['total'];
 			$users += $gserver['users'];
 
 			$versionCounts = [];
 			$versions = DBA::p("SELECT COUNT(*) AS `total`, `version` FROM `gserver`
-				WHERE `last_contact` >= `last_failure` AND `platform` = ?
+				WHERE NOT `failed` AND `platform` = ?
 				GROUP BY `version` ORDER BY `version`", $gserver['platform']);
 			while ($version = DBA::fetch($versions)) {
 				$version['version'] = str_replace(["\n", "\r", "\t"], " ", $version['version']);
diff --git a/src/Module/Api/Mastodon/Instance/Peers.php b/src/Module/Api/Mastodon/Instance/Peers.php
index 82f08cbad..537d25e28 100644
--- a/src/Module/Api/Mastodon/Instance/Peers.php
+++ b/src/Module/Api/Mastodon/Instance/Peers.php
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class Peers extends BaseApi
 		$return = [];
 
 		// We only select for Friendica and ActivityPub servers, since it is expected to only deliver AP compatible systems here.
-		$instances = DBA::select('gserver', ['url'], ["`network` in (?, ?) AND `last_contact` >= `last_failure`", Protocol::DFRN, Protocol::ACTIVITYPUB]);
+		$instances = DBA::select('gserver', ['url'], ["`network` in (?, ?) AND NOT `failed`", Protocol::DFRN, Protocol::ACTIVITYPUB]);
 		while ($instance = DBA::fetch($instances)) {
 			$urldata = parse_url($instance['url']);
 			unset($urldata['scheme']);
diff --git a/src/Object/Api/Mastodon/Stats.php b/src/Object/Api/Mastodon/Stats.php
index 8677cf042..6ead52672 100644
--- a/src/Object/Api/Mastodon/Stats.php
+++ b/src/Object/Api/Mastodon/Stats.php
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class Stats extends BaseEntity
 		if (!empty(DI::config()->get('system', 'nodeinfo'))) {
 			$stats->user_count = intval(DI::config()->get('nodeinfo', 'total_users'));
 			$stats->status_count = DI::config()->get('nodeinfo', 'local_posts') + DI::config()->get('nodeinfo', 'local_comments');
-			$stats->domain_count = DBA::count('gserver', ["`network` in (?, ?) AND `last_contact` >= `last_failure`", Protocol::DFRN, Protocol::ACTIVITYPUB]);
+			$stats->domain_count = DBA::count('gserver', ["`network` in (?, ?) AND NOT `failed`", Protocol::DFRN, Protocol::ACTIVITYPUB]);
 		}
 		return $stats;
 	}
diff --git a/src/Protocol/PortableContact.php b/src/Protocol/PortableContact.php
index f255347c1..d66676cac 100644
--- a/src/Protocol/PortableContact.php
+++ b/src/Protocol/PortableContact.php
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class PortableContact
 	{
 		$r = q(
 			"SELECT `url`, `site_name` AS `displayName`, `network`, `platform`, `version` FROM `gserver`
-			WHERE `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s') AND `last_contact` > `last_failure`
+			WHERE `network` IN ('%s', '%s', '%s') AND NOT `failed`
 			ORDER BY `last_contact`
 			LIMIT 1000",
 			DBA::escape(Protocol::DFRN),
diff --git a/src/Worker/SearchDirectory.php b/src/Worker/SearchDirectory.php
index 2ffe6120e..afe54e5fb 100644
--- a/src/Worker/SearchDirectory.php
+++ b/src/Worker/SearchDirectory.php
@@ -58,12 +58,11 @@ class SearchDirectory
 		if (!empty($j->results)) {
 			foreach ($j->results as $jj) {
 				// Check if the contact already exists
-				$gcontact = DBA::selectFirst('gcontact', ['id', 'last_contact', 'last_failure', 'updated'], ['nurl' => Strings::normaliseLink($jj->url)]);
+				$gcontact = DBA::selectFirst('gcontact', ['failed'], ['nurl' => Strings::normaliseLink($jj->url)]);
 				if (DBA::isResult($gcontact)) {
 					Logger::info('Profile already exists', ['profile' => $jj->url, 'search' => $search]);
 
-					if (($gcontact['last_contact'] < $gcontact['last_failure']) &&
-						($gcontact['updated'] < $gcontact['last_failure'])) {
+					if ($gcontact['failed']) {
 						continue;
 					}