=== modified file 'modules/system/system.queue.inc'
--- modules/system/system.queue.inc	2009-10-12 15:40:04 +0000
+++ modules/system/system.queue.inc	2009-10-14 04:23:42 +0000
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@
     // 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