diff --git a/backend/app/services/print_scheduler.py b/backend/app/services/print_scheduler.py
index 6dbd8e6ff..47c59908e 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/print_scheduler.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/print_scheduler.py
@@ -76,18 +76,6 @@ class PrintScheduler:
                 if item.scheduled_time and item.scheduled_time > datetime.utcnow():
                     continue
 
-                # Safety: Skip stale items (older than 24 hours) to prevent phantom reprints
-                # This protects against items that got stuck in "pending" status due to
-                # crashes/restarts after the print already started
-                stale_threshold = timedelta(hours=24)
-                if item.created_at and datetime.utcnow() - item.created_at.replace(tzinfo=None) > stale_threshold:
-                    logger.warning(f"Queue item {item.id} is stale (created {item.created_at}), marking as expired")
-                    item.status = "expired"
-                    item.error_message = "Queue item expired - older than 24 hours"
-                    item.completed_at = datetime.utcnow()
-                    await db.commit()
-                    continue
-
                 # Skip items that require manual start
                 if item.manual_start:
                     continue