diff --git a/internal/prometheus/job_metrics.go b/internal/prometheus/job_metrics.go
index 3d980b327..b0f63c3fa 100644
--- a/internal/prometheus/job_metrics.go
+++ b/internal/prometheus/job_metrics.go
@@ -61,9 +61,9 @@ func EnqueueJobMetrics(jobType string) {
 	PendingJobs.WithLabelValues(jobType).Inc()
 }
 
-func DequeueJobMetrics(queued time.Time, started time.Time, jobType string) {
-	if !started.IsZero() && !queued.IsZero() {
-		diff := started.Sub(queued).Seconds()
+func DequeueJobMetrics(pending time.Time, started time.Time, jobType string) {
+	if !started.IsZero() && !pending.IsZero() {
+		diff := started.Sub(pending).Seconds()
 		JobWaitDuration.WithLabelValues(jobType).Observe(diff)
 		PendingJobs.WithLabelValues(jobType).Dec()
 		RunningJobs.WithLabelValues(jobType).Inc()
diff --git a/internal/worker/server.go b/internal/worker/server.go
index 56c5fa0f6..1416fb6ef 100644
--- a/internal/worker/server.go
+++ b/internal/worker/server.go
@@ -455,13 +455,23 @@ func (s *Server) requestJob(ctx context.Context, arch string, jobTypes []string,
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Record how long the job has been pending for, that is either how
+	// long it has been queued for, in case it has no dependencies, or
+	// how long it has been since all its dependencies finished, if it
+	// has any.
+	pending := status.Queued
+
 	for _, depID := range depIDs {
 		// TODO: include type of arguments
 		var result json.RawMessage
-		_, result, _, _, _, _, _, err = s.jobs.JobStatus(depID)
+		var finished time.Time
+		_, result, _, _, finished, _, _, err = s.jobs.JobStatus(depID)
 		if err != nil {
 			return
 		}
+		if finished.After(pending) {
+			pending = finished
+		}
 		dynamicArgs = append(dynamicArgs, result)
 	}
 
@@ -474,7 +484,7 @@ func (s *Server) requestJob(ctx context.Context, arch string, jobTypes []string,
 
 	// TODO: Drop the ':$architecture' for metrics too, first prometheus queries for alerts and
 	// dashboards need to be adjusted.
-	prometheus.DequeueJobMetrics(status.Queued, status.Started, jobType)
+	prometheus.DequeueJobMetrics(pending, status.Started, jobType)
 	if jobType == "osbuild:"+arch {
 		jobType = "osbuild"
 	} else if jobType == "osbuild-koji:"+arch {