diff --git a/internal/broker/derived.go b/internal/broker/derived.go
index b6bbb4d..2471c3e 100644
--- a/internal/broker/derived.go
+++ b/internal/broker/derived.go
@@ -161,8 +161,15 @@ func HolderConsumerFor(node, module string, seat DeclaredSeat) (Consumer, bool)
 		Queue:          "holders",
 		AckWaitSeconds: 60,
 		MaxDeliver:     5,
+		// **One in flight.** A holder works one ask at a time, so the server hands it one at a
+		// time: with the default of many, every ask behind the one being worked was delivered,
+		// left unacknowledged for the length of the work, redelivered after the ack wait, and
+		// after the fifth time dropped — on 2026-10-01 twenty-six of forty-three builds asked in
+		// two minutes were never built, and the queue read as empty (novox/hq issue 186).
+		MaxAckPending: 1,
 		Why: fmt.Sprintf("%s on %s holds %s; it acknowledges after the work is done, so a "+
-			"crash mid-work redelivers rather than loses", module, node, seat.Name),
+			"crash mid-work redelivers rather than loses; one in flight, so a queue of asks is a "+
+			"queue and not a race against the ack wait", module, node, seat.Name),
 	}, true
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/broker/derived_test.go b/internal/broker/derived_test.go
index b4529d4..939d078 100644
--- a/internal/broker/derived_test.go
+++ b/internal/broker/derived_test.go
@@ -153,3 +153,16 @@ func TestANodesDeclarationConsumerIsWhatItsOwnGrantAllows(t *testing.T) {
 	has(t, perms.Publish, "$JS.ACK.NODES."+c.Name+".>")
 	has(t, perms.Subscribe, c.Filters[0])
 }
+
+// A holder works one ask at a time, so the server hands it one at a time (novox/hq issue 186):
+// asks queued behind the one being worked wait in the stream rather than being delivered,
+// left to expire and dropped after the fifth redelivery.
+func TestAHoldersWorkerTakesOneAskAtATime(t *testing.T) {
+	c, found := HolderConsumerFor("anchor", "builder", DeclaredSeat{Name: "mesh-build-machine", Accepts: []string{"build"}})
+	if !found {
+		t.Fatal("a seat that accepts work has no worker")
+	}
+	if c.MaxAckPending != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the worker may have %d asks in flight; one, so a queue is a queue", c.MaxAckPending)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/link/builds_nats.go b/internal/link/builds_nats.go
index 786f783..85e32c3 100644
--- a/internal/link/builds_nats.go
+++ b/internal/link/builds_nats.go
@@ -173,7 +173,13 @@ func (m *natsMachine) Take(ctx context.Context, do func(context.Context, Build))
 				_ = msg.Term()
 				continue
 			}
+			// A build outlives the acknowledgement window many times over; said while it runs,
+			// as the controller says it for its own long handlers, so the server neither hands
+			// the ask to a second machine nor counts the wait against its deliveries.
+			working := make(chan struct{})
+			go stillWorking(msg, working)
 			do(ctx, &natsBuild{request: request, msg: msg, on: m.on, js: m.js})
+			close(working)
 		}
 	}
 }