diff --git a/forester/src/processor/tx_cache.rs b/forester/src/processor/tx_cache.rs
index f15e5c9e77..4b7c7fdb63 100644
--- a/forester/src/processor/tx_cache.rs
+++ b/forester/src/processor/tx_cache.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
 use std::{collections::HashMap, time::Duration};
 
 use tokio::time::Instant;
+use tracing::warn;
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+struct CacheEntry {
+    timestamp: Instant,
+    timeout: Duration,
+}
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct ProcessedHashCache {
-    entries: HashMap<String, Instant>,
+    entries: HashMap<String, CacheEntry>,
     ttl: Duration,
 }
 
@@ -17,18 +24,66 @@ impl ProcessedHashCache {
     }
 
     pub fn add(&mut self, hash: &str) {
-        self.entries.insert(hash.to_string(), Instant::now());
+        self.entries.insert(
+            hash.to_string(),
+            CacheEntry {
+                timestamp: Instant::now(),
+                timeout: self.ttl,
+            },
+        );
+    }
+
+    pub fn add_with_timeout(&mut self, hash: &str, timeout: Duration) {
+        self.entries.insert(
+            hash.to_string(),
+            CacheEntry {
+                timestamp: Instant::now(),
+                timeout,
+            },
+        );
+    }
+
+    pub fn extend_timeout(&mut self, hash: &str, new_timeout: Duration) {
+        if let Some(entry) = self.entries.get_mut(hash) {
+            entry.timeout = new_timeout;
+        }
     }
 
     pub fn contains(&mut self, hash: &str) -> bool {
         self.cleanup();
-        self.entries.contains_key(hash)
+        if let Some(entry) = self.entries.get(hash) {
+            let age = Instant::now().duration_since(entry.timestamp);
+            if age > Duration::from_secs(60) && age < entry.timeout {
+                warn!(
+                    "Cache entry {} has been processing for {:?} (timeout: {:?})",
+                    hash, age, entry.timeout
+                );
+            }
+            true
+        } else {
+            false
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn get_age(&self, hash: &str) -> Option<Duration> {
+        self.entries
+            .get(hash)
+            .map(|entry| Instant::now().duration_since(entry.timestamp))
     }
 
     pub fn cleanup(&mut self) {
         let now = Instant::now();
-        self.entries
-            .retain(|_, timestamp| now.duration_since(*timestamp) < self.ttl);
+        self.entries.retain(|hash, entry| {
+            let age = now.duration_since(entry.timestamp);
+            let should_keep = age < entry.timeout;
+            if !should_keep && age < Duration::from_secs(30) {
+                warn!(
+                    "Removing cache entry {} after {:?} timeout (was: {:?})",
+                    hash, age, entry.timeout
+                );
+            }
+            should_keep
+        });
     }
 
     pub fn cleanup_by_key(&mut self, key: &str) {
diff --git a/forester/src/processor/v1/tx_builder.rs b/forester/src/processor/v1/tx_builder.rs
index 7f3b0075fa..13f0d620f1 100644
--- a/forester/src/processor/v1/tx_builder.rs
+++ b/forester/src/processor/v1/tx_builder.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::{sync::Arc, time::Duration};
 
 use account_compression::processor::initialize_address_merkle_tree::Pubkey;
 use async_trait::async_trait;
@@ -91,10 +91,18 @@ impl<R: Rpc> TransactionBuilder for EpochManagerTransactions<R> {
             })
             .collect();
 
+        // Add items with short timeout (30 seconds) for processing
         for item in &work_items {
             let hash_str = bs58::encode(&item.queue_item_data.hash).into_string();
-            cache.add(&hash_str);
+            cache.add_with_timeout(&hash_str, Duration::from_secs(15));
+            trace!("Added {} to cache with 15s timeout", hash_str);
         }
+
+        let work_item_hashes: Vec<String> = work_items
+            .iter()
+            .map(|item| bs58::encode(&item.queue_item_data.hash).into_string())
+            .collect();
+
         drop(cache);
 
         if work_items.is_empty() {
@@ -143,6 +151,18 @@ impl<R: Rpc> TransactionBuilder for EpochManagerTransactions<R> {
             .await?;
             transactions.push(transaction);
         }
+
+        if !transactions.is_empty() {
+            let mut cache = self.processed_hash_cache.lock().await;
+            for hash_str in work_item_hashes {
+                cache.extend_timeout(&hash_str, Duration::from_secs(30));
+                trace!(
+                    "Extended cache timeout for {} to 30s after successful transaction creation",
+                    hash_str
+                );
+            }
+        }
+
         Ok((transactions, last_valid_block_height))
     }
 }
diff --git a/forester/src/queue_helpers.rs b/forester/src/queue_helpers.rs
index f6b4d05f12..f2c4ee395f 100644
--- a/forester/src/queue_helpers.rs
+++ b/forester/src/queue_helpers.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,17 @@ pub async fn fetch_queue_item_data<R: Rpc>(
     queue_length: u16,
 ) -> Result<Vec<QueueItemData>> {
     trace!("Fetching queue data for {:?}", queue_pubkey);
-    let mut account = rpc.get_account(*queue_pubkey).await?.unwrap();
+    let account = rpc.get_account(*queue_pubkey).await?;
+    let mut account = match account {
+        Some(acc) => acc,
+        None => {
+            tracing::warn!(
+                "Queue account {} not found - may have been deleted or not yet created",
+                queue_pubkey
+            );
+            return Ok(Vec::new());
+        }
+    };
     let queue: HashSet =
         unsafe { HashSet::from_bytes_copy(&mut account.data[8 + size_of::<QueueAccount>()..])? };
     let end_index = (start_index + processing_length).min(queue_length);