diff --git a/autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/features/chat/stream_registry.py b/autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/features/chat/stream_registry.py
index 789d94225f..986be18b66 100644
--- a/autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/features/chat/stream_registry.py
+++ b/autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/features/chat/stream_registry.py
@@ -814,6 +814,24 @@ async def get_active_task_for_session(
                 if task_user_id and user_id != task_user_id:
                     continue
 
+                # Auto-expire stale tasks that exceeded stream_timeout
+                created_at_str = meta.get("created_at", "")
+                if created_at_str:
+                    try:
+                        created_at = datetime.fromisoformat(created_at_str)
+                        age_seconds = (
+                            datetime.now(timezone.utc) - created_at
+                        ).total_seconds()
+                        if age_seconds > config.stream_timeout:
+                            logger.warning(
+                                f"[TASK_LOOKUP] Auto-expiring stale task {task_id[:8]}... "
+                                f"(age={age_seconds:.0f}s > timeout={config.stream_timeout}s)"
+                            )
+                            await mark_task_completed(task_id, "failed")
+                            continue
+                    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+                        pass
+
                 logger.info(
                     f"[TASK_LOOKUP] Found running task {task_id[:8]}... for session {session_id[:8]}..."
                 )