diff --git a/includes/job/JobQueue.php b/includes/job/JobQueue.php
index 17f6648fc27..6cdc9482311 100644
--- a/includes/job/JobQueue.php
+++ b/includes/job/JobQueue.php
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ abstract class JobQueue {
 
 	const QoS_Atomic = 1; // integer; "all-or-nothing" job insertions
 
+	const MAX_ATTEMPTS = 3; // integer; number of times to try a job
+
 	/**
 	 * @param $params array
 	 */
@@ -61,7 +63,9 @@ abstract class JobQueue {
 	 *                If "random" is used, pop() will pick jobs in random order. This might be
 	 *                useful for improving concurrency depending on the queue storage medium.
 	 *   - claimTTL : If supported, the queue will recycle jobs that have been popped
-	 *                but not acknowledged as completed after this many seconds.
+	 *                but not acknowledged as completed after this many seconds. Recycling
+	 *                of jobs simple means re-inserting them into the queue. Jobs can be
+	 *                attempted up to three times before being discarded.
 	 *
 	 * Queue classes should throw an exception if they do not support the options given.
 	 *
diff --git a/includes/job/JobQueueDB.php b/includes/job/JobQueueDB.php
index 1c9c8a74c54..99a517e68fb 100644
--- a/includes/job/JobQueueDB.php
+++ b/includes/job/JobQueueDB.php
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ class JobQueueDB extends JobQueue {
 	const CACHE_TTL_SHORT = 30; // integer; seconds to cache info without re-validating
 	const CACHE_TTL_LONG  = 300; // integer; seconds to cache info that is kept up to date
 	const MAX_AGE_PRUNE   = 604800; // integer; seconds a job can live once claimed
-	const MAX_ATTEMPTS    = 3; // integer; number of times to try a job
 	const MAX_JOB_RANDOM  = 2147483647; // integer; 2^31 - 1, used for job_random
 	const MAX_OFFSET      = 255; // integer; maximum number of rows to skip
 
diff --git a/maintenance/runJobs.php b/maintenance/runJobs.php
index 85b0993df0c..0cf02174b70 100644
--- a/maintenance/runJobs.php
+++ b/maintenance/runJobs.php
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ class RunJobs extends Maintenance {
 				$t = microtime( true );
 				$this->runJobsLog( $job->toString() . " STARTING" );
 				$status = $job->run();
-				$group->ack( $job ); // done
+				if ( $status ) {
+					$group->ack( $job ); // done
+				}
 				$t = microtime( true ) - $t;
 				$timeMs = intval( $t * 1000 );
 				if ( !$status ) {