diff --git a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/JobQueue.pm b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/JobQueue.pm
index 7580f646..80ab7d7b 100644
--- a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/JobQueue.pm
+++ b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/JobQueue.pm
@@ -1,20 +1,19 @@
 package App::Netdisco::Daemon::JobQueue;
 
-use Dancer qw/:moose :syntax :script/;
-
 use Role::Tiny;
 use namespace::clean;
 
 use Module::Load ();
-Module::Load::load_remote 'JobQueue' =>
-  'App::Netdisco::JobQueue::' . setting('workers')->{queue} => ':all';
+Module::Load::load_remote 'JobQueue' => 'App::Netdisco::JobQueue' => ':all';
 
+# central queue
 sub jq_get      { shift and JobQueue::jq_get(@_) }
 sub jq_getlocal { shift and JobQueue::jq_getlocal(@_) }
 sub jq_queued   { shift and JobQueue::jq_queued(@_) }
+sub jq_take     { goto \&JobQueue::jq_take }
 sub jq_lock     { shift and JobQueue::jq_lock(@_) }
 sub jq_defer    { shift and JobQueue::jq_defer(@_) }
 sub jq_complete { shift and JobQueue::jq_complete(@_) }
 sub jq_insert   { shift and JobQueue::jq_insert(@_) }
 
-true;
+1;
diff --git a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/Worker/Common.pm b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/Worker/Common.pm
index cdb6d017..4b1bd5e5 100644
--- a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/Worker/Common.pm
+++ b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/Worker/Common.pm
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ sub worker_body {
 
   while (1) {
       debug "$type ($wid): asking for a job";
-      my $jobs = $self->do('take_jobs', $self->wid, $name);
+      my $jobs = $self->jq_take($self->wid, $name);
 
       foreach my $job (@$jobs) {
           my $target = $self->munge_action($job->action);
diff --git a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/Worker/Manager.pm b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/Worker/Manager.pm
index b5f8d1ae..bec58049 100644
--- a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/Worker/Manager.pm
+++ b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/Daemon/Worker/Manager.pm
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use Dancer qw/:moose :syntax :script/;
 use Role::Tiny;
 use namespace::clean;
 
+use List::Util 'sum';
 with 'App::Netdisco::Daemon::JobQueue';
 
 sub worker_begin {
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@ sub worker_begin {
 sub worker_body {
   my $self = shift;
   my $wid = $self->wid;
+  my $num_slots = sum( 0, map { setting('workers')->{$_} }
+                              values %{setting('job_type_keys')} );
 
   while (1) {
       debug "mgr ($wid): getting potential jobs for $num_slots workers";
diff --git a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/JobQueue.pm b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/JobQueue.pm
index 418c465c..a0b6cbc1 100644
--- a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/JobQueue.pm
+++ b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/JobQueue.pm
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ our @EXPORT_OK = qw/
   jq_queued
   jq_log
   jq_userlog
+  jq_take
   jq_lock
   jq_defer
   jq_complete
@@ -63,6 +64,12 @@ Returns a list of jobs which have been entered into the queue by the passed
 C<$user>. Jobs are returned as objects which implement the Netdisco job
 instance interface (see below).
 
+=head2 jq_take( $wid, $type, $max? )
+
+Searches in the queue for jobs of type C<$type> and if up to C<$max> are
+available, will book them out to the worker with ID C<$wid>. The default
+number of booked jobs is 1.
+
 =head2 jq_lock( $job )
 
 Marks a job in the queue as booked out to this processing node (denoted by the
@@ -88,7 +95,7 @@ status, log and finished fields will be updated from the passed C<$job>.
 
 Returns true if successful else returns false.
 
-=head2 jq_insert( \%job | [ %job, \%job ...] )
+=head2 jq_insert( \%job | [ \%job, \%job ...] )
 
 Adds the passed jobs to the queue.
 
diff --git a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/JobQueue/PostgreSQL.pm b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/JobQueue/PostgreSQL.pm
index 42d0c3b6..61cc1f53 100644
--- a/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/JobQueue/PostgreSQL.pm
+++ b/Netdisco/lib/App/Netdisco/JobQueue/PostgreSQL.pm
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ our @EXPORT_OK = qw/
   jq_queued
   jq_log
   jq_userlog
+  jq_take
   jq_lock
   jq_defer
   jq_complete
@@ -98,6 +99,11 @@ sub jq_userlog {
   return @returned;
 }
 
+# PostgreSQL engine depends on LocalQueue, which is accessed synchronously via
+# the main daemon process. This is only used by daemon workers which can use
+# MCE ->do() method.
+sub jq_take { (shift)->do('take_jobs', @_) }
+
 sub jq_lock {
   my $job = shift;
   my $fqdn = hostfqdn || 'localhost';
@@ -113,6 +119,7 @@ sub jq_lock {
       # remove any duplicate jobs, needed because we have race conditions
       # when queueing jobs of a type for all devices
       schema('netdisco')->resultset('Admin')->search({
+        status    => 'queued',
         device    => $job->device,
         port      => $job->port,
         action    => $job->action,