diff --git a/api/jobs/queue.py b/api/jobs/queue.py
index 1922651826c5ed12eac3d9c282a0373c0148c93b..06b0ede9d17bc1f417c9f7c3109cd11efaec51f6 100644
--- a/api/jobs/queue.py
+++ b/api/jobs/queue.py
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class Queue(object):
 
         # If no jobs marked "now" are found, search again ordering by FIFO
         if result is None:
-            query['now'] = False
+            query['now'] = {'$ne': True}
             result = config.db.jobs.find_one_and_update(
                 query,