diff --git a/docs/specs/hosted.md b/docs/specs/hosted.md
index 40df20063..c85553e14 100644
--- a/docs/specs/hosted.md
+++ b/docs/specs/hosted.md
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ A session-gated route answers a session of an account no longer entitled with th
 - **Must sweep every Relay table's expired rows from the relay's hourly Cron Trigger** (rationale); sign-in challenges, minted unauthenticated and flat, are bounded by it and the per-address limit.
 - **Must answer 429 with `Retry-After` past the per-address limit on `signin/*` (`RELAY_SIGNIN_LIMIT`) and `setup/begin`/`finish` (`RELAY_SETUP_LIMIT`)**, before the body limit and any database read: 30 a minute, a ceremony's two routes sharing one budget (rationale).
 - **Must restore a token a refused `finish` spent on its original expiry, within the Burrow's cap, and never once that expiry has passed.**
+- **Must compare expiries under an advisory lock against `LOCKED_NOW` in `hosted/server/relay-auth.ts`**, never `now()`, which predates the lock wait.
 
 **Push.** The push routes keep `docs/specs/relay.md` -> "Web Push" and its "State files" upsert rules; a send is HTTPS from the Burrow to the relay Worker, independent of terminal transport.
 
diff --git a/hosted/server/relay-api.ts b/hosted/server/relay-api.ts
index 3db77c690..38bef5bd5 100644
--- a/hosted/server/relay-api.ts
+++ b/hosted/server/relay-api.ts
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ import { relayPushRoutes } from "./relay-push";
 import {
   OWNER_COLUMNS,
   database,
+  LOCKED_NOW,
   locked,
   ownerOf,
   requireBurrow,
@@ -522,7 +523,7 @@ export function relayApiRoutes(app: Hono<{ Bindings: RelayEnv }>) {
           `WITH spent AS (
             UPDATE dormouse_relay_enrollment_approvals
             SET "redeemedBurrowId" = $3, "redeemedAt" = now()
-            WHERE "userCode" = $1 AND "userId" = $2 AND "expiresAt" > now()
+            WHERE "userCode" = $1 AND "userId" = $2 AND "expiresAt" > ${LOCKED_NOW}
               AND "redeemedAt" IS NULL
             RETURNING "userId"
           )
@@ -537,7 +538,7 @@ export function relayApiRoutes(app: Hono<{ Bindings: RelayEnv }>) {
           rows: [spent],
         } = await db.query<{ redeemedBurrowId: string }>(
           `SELECT "redeemedBurrowId" FROM dormouse_relay_enrollment_approvals
-          WHERE "userCode" = $1 AND "expiresAt" > now() AND "redeemedBurrowId" IS NOT NULL`,
+          WHERE "userCode" = $1 AND "expiresAt" > ${LOCKED_NOW} AND "redeemedBurrowId" IS NOT NULL`,
           [userCode],
         );
         return spent ? { redeemed: spent.redeemedBurrowId } : "expired";
@@ -642,8 +643,8 @@ async function consumeChallenge(db: Client, challenge: string, burrowId: string
  * in one statement: its own expired rows pruned, its live rows trimmed to
  * leave one slot under the cap (latest expiry kept), then the row. No other
  * owner's rows are read. `expiry` is a TTL in milliseconds or an instant; a
- * row already expired is not inserted. Answers its expiry in epoch
- * milliseconds, or undefined when nothing was inserted.
+ * row already expired is not inserted and trims nothing. Answers its expiry
+ * in epoch milliseconds, or undefined when nothing was inserted.
  */
 export async function admit(
   db: Client,
@@ -660,16 +661,16 @@ export async function admit(
   return locked(db, `${table}:${ownerValue}`, async () => {
     const { rows } = await db.query<{ expiresAt: number }>(
       `WITH pruned AS (
-        DELETE FROM ${table} WHERE ${owner} = $1 AND "expiresAt" <= now()
+        DELETE FROM ${table} WHERE ${owner} = $1 AND "expiresAt" <= ${LOCKED_NOW}
       ), trimmed AS (
-        DELETE FROM ${table} WHERE ${pk} IN (
-          SELECT ${pk} FROM ${table} WHERE ${owner} = $1 AND "expiresAt" > now()
+        DELETE FROM ${table} WHERE ${expiresAt} > ${LOCKED_NOW} AND ${pk} IN (
+          SELECT ${pk} FROM ${table} WHERE ${owner} = $1 AND "expiresAt" > ${LOCKED_NOW}
           ORDER BY "expiresAt" DESC, ${pk} OFFSET $2
         )
       )
       INSERT INTO ${table} (${columns.map((column) => `"${column}"`).join(", ")}, "expiresAt")
       SELECT ${columns.map((_, i) => `$${i + 3}`).join(", ")}, ${expiresAt}
-      WHERE ${expiresAt} > now()
+      WHERE ${expiresAt} > ${LOCKED_NOW}
       ON CONFLICT (${pk}) DO NOTHING
       RETURNING ${epochMs('"expiresAt"')} AS "expiresAt"`,
       [ownerValue, cap - 1, ...values, expiry],
diff --git a/hosted/server/relay-auth.ts b/hosted/server/relay-auth.ts
index 2102c25fd..e44988172 100644
--- a/hosted/server/relay-auth.ts
+++ b/hosted/server/relay-auth.ts
@@ -110,6 +110,13 @@ export function database<T>(
   return withClient(c.env.HYPERDRIVE.connectionString, action);
 }
 
+/**
+ * "Now" for a liveness check inside `locked`'s action: the statement's start,
+ * after the lock wait. Not `now()`, the transaction's start before that wait,
+ * so a row that expired while its writer waited would still read as live.
+ */
+export const LOCKED_NOW = "statement_timestamp()";
+
 /** Runs `action` in a transaction holding `key`'s advisory lock, so a cap check and its insert cannot interleave. */
 export async function locked<T>(db: Client, key: string, action: () => Promise<T>) {
   await db.query("BEGIN");
diff --git a/hosted/server/tests/relay.test.ts b/hosted/server/tests/relay.test.ts
index 3f24d1f47..facec4ab6 100644
--- a/hosted/server/tests/relay.test.ts
+++ b/hosted/server/tests/relay.test.ts
@@ -765,6 +765,35 @@ test("restoring a setup token that has since expired never evicts a live one", a
   expect(after).toContain(digest(back));
 });
 
+test("a setup token that expires while its restore waits on the lock is not restored", async ({
+  onTestFinished,
+}) => {
+  const f = await fixture();
+  onTestFinished(f.close);
+  const owner = await f.account(ADMIN_EMAIL);
+  const laptop = await f.burrow(owner);
+  const live: string[] = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < MAX_TOKENS_PER_BURROW; i++) live.push(digest(await f.setupToken(laptop.token)));
+  const expiresAt = new Date(Date.now() + 1000);
+  // Another write holds the Burrow's token lock across the restored token's expiry.
+  await withClient(f.url, async (holder) => {
+    await holder.query("BEGIN");
+    await holder.query("SELECT pg_advisory_xact_lock(hashtextextended($1, 0))", [
+      `dormouse-relay:dormouse_relay_setup_tokens:${laptop.burrowId}`,
+    ]);
+    const restoring = withClient(f.url, (db) =>
+      restoreSetupToken(db, randomSecret(), { burrowId: laptop.burrowId, userId: owner, expiresAt }),
+    );
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, expiresAt.getTime() - Date.now() + 500));
+    await holder.query("COMMIT");
+    await restoring;
+  });
+  const hashes = (await f.sql<{ tokenHash: string }>(`SELECT "tokenHash" FROM dormouse_relay_setup_tokens`))
+    .map((row) => row.tokenHash)
+    .sort();
+  expect(hashes).toEqual([...live].sort());
+});
+
 test("a de-entitled account signs in to nothing, and its sessions answer as expired", async ({
   onTestFinished,
 }) => {