diff --git a/internal/adapter/postgres/work_queue.go b/internal/adapter/postgres/work_queue.go
index d0cdbff..c14a731 100644
--- a/internal/adapter/postgres/work_queue.go
+++ b/internal/adapter/postgres/work_queue.go
@@ -60,9 +60,11 @@ func (r *WorkQueueRepository) Dequeue(ctx context.Context, workerID string) (*do
 	var resultJSON []byte
 	var errorMsg sql.NullString
 
+	// Clear stale error/completed_at when claiming for execution or retry.
+	// This prevents the API from returning confusing "running" status with stale error messages.
 	err := r.db.QueryRowContext(ctx, `
 		UPDATE work_queue
-		SET status = 'running', worker_id = $1, started_at = NOW()
+		SET status = 'running', worker_id = $1, started_at = NOW(), error = NULL, completed_at = NULL
 		WHERE id = (
 			SELECT id FROM work_queue
 			WHERE status = 'pending'