diff --git a/src/jobrunner.rs b/src/jobrunner.rs
index 67e0a0d..c066bd2 100644
--- a/src/jobrunner.rs
+++ b/src/jobrunner.rs
@@ -81,9 +81,10 @@ impl JobRunner {
     /// Listen for new jobs on the queue and then run them.
     fn attend(&mut self) {
         self.update_pollfds();
-        // `check_queue` serves two subtly different purposes:
-        //   * Has the event pipe told us there are new jobs in the queue?
-        //   * Are there jobs in the queue from a previous round that we couldn't run yet?
+        // Have we encountered a temporary failure when trying to run a job? If so, we'll need to
+        // retry again after a timeout. Note: if this is true then `check_queue` will also be true.
+        let mut tmp_failure = false;
+        // Do we need to check the queue?
         let mut check_queue = false;
         // A scratch buffer used to read from files.
         let mut buf = Box::new([0; READBUF]);
@@ -91,9 +92,10 @@ impl JobRunner {
         // the soonest).
         let mut next_finish_by: Option<Instant> = None;
         loop {
+            assert!(!tmp_failure || check_queue);
             // If there are jobs on the queue we haven't been able to run for temporary reasons,
             // then wait a short amount of time and try again.
-            let mut timeout = if check_queue { WAIT_TIMEOUT * 1000 } else { -1 };
+            let mut timeout = if tmp_failure { WAIT_TIMEOUT * 1000 } else { -1 };
             // If any processes will exceed their timeout then, if that's shorter than the above
             // timeout, only wait for enough time to pass before we need to send them SIGTERM.
             if let Some(fby) = next_finish_by {
@@ -247,6 +249,7 @@ impl JobRunner {
                         self.running[i] = None;
                         self.num_running -= 1;
                         self.update_pollfds();
+                        check_queue = true;
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -273,19 +276,33 @@ impl JobRunner {
             // However, it's only worth us checking the queue (which requires a lock) if there's
             // space for us to run further jobs.
             if check_queue && self.num_running < self.maxjobs {
-                check_queue = !self.try_pop_queue();
+                match self.try_pop_queue() {
+                    (false, false) => {
+                        check_queue = false;
+                        tmp_failure = false;
+                    }
+                    (true, false) => {
+                        check_queue = true;
+                        tmp_failure = false;
+                    }
+                    (true, true) => {
+                        check_queue = true;
+                        tmp_failure = true;
+                    }
+                    (false, true) => unreachable!(),
+                }
             }
         }
     }
 
-    /// Try to pop all jobs on the queue: returns `true` if it was able to do so successfully or
-    /// `false` otherwise.
-    fn try_pop_queue(&mut self) -> bool {
+    /// Try to pop all jobs on the queue: returns `(queue_is_empty,
+    /// encountered_temporary_failure)`.
+    fn try_pop_queue(&mut self) -> (bool, bool) {
         let snare = Arc::clone(&self.snare);
         let mut queue = snare.queue.lock().unwrap();
         loop {
-            if self.num_running == self.maxjobs && !queue.is_empty() {
-                return false;
+            if self.num_running == self.maxjobs {
+                return (queue.is_empty(), false);
             }
             let pjob = queue.pop(|repo_id| {
                 self.running.iter().any(|jobslot| {
@@ -311,7 +328,7 @@ impl JobRunner {
                         Err(Some(qj)) => {
                             // The job couldn't be run for temporary reasons: we'll retry later.
                             queue.push_front(qj);
-                            return false;
+                            return (true, true);
                         }
                         Err(None) => {
                             // The job couldn't be run for permanent reasons: it has been consumed
@@ -326,7 +343,7 @@ impl JobRunner {
                     // We weren't able to pop any jobs from the queue, but that doesn't mean that
                     // the queue is necessarily empty: there may be `QueueKind::Sequential` jobs in
                     // it which can't be popped until others with the same path have completed.
-                    return queue.is_empty();
+                    return (queue.is_empty(), false);
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/queue.rs b/src/queue.rs
index 6b6206a..6812dfd 100644
--- a/src/queue.rs
+++ b/src/queue.rs
@@ -48,12 +48,7 @@ impl Queue {
 
     /// Are there any jobs in the queue?
     pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
-        for v in self.q.values() {
-            if !v.is_empty() {
-                return false;
-            }
-        }
-        true
+        self.q.values().all(|x| x.is_empty())
     }
 
     /// Push a new request to the back of the queue.