diff --git a/changelog.d/jobs-schema-missing-in-transaction.fixed.md b/changelog.d/jobs-schema-missing-in-transaction.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..609b331c4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/jobs-schema-missing-in-transaction.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- With `jobsAutoCreateTables = false` on PostgreSQL or CockroachDB, a job call made inside a database transaction while the job tables are missing now reports `Wheels.Job.SchemaMissing`, pointing at `wheels jobs install`. Before, the failed table probe aborted the transaction, and the caller saw "current transaction is aborted" instead.
diff --git a/vendor/wheels/Job.cfc b/vendor/wheels/Job.cfc
index 260dd4bb1d..e7646a169f 100644
--- a/vendor/wheels/Job.cfc
+++ b/vendor/wheels/Job.cfc
@@ -1232,6 +1232,12 @@ component {
 	 * Public with $ prefix so JobWorker can bootstrap the table on a fresh database.
 	 */
 	public boolean function $ensureJobTable() {
+		// PostgreSQL and CockroachDB abort a transaction on a failed statement, so inside one the
+		// probe below would turn a missing table into "current transaction is aborted" for the
+		// catalog check after it. With auto-create off, ask the catalog first there.
+		if (!$jobSchema().autoCreateEnabled() && $jobSchema().databaseType() == "postgresql" && !$jobSchema().hasTable("wheels_jobs")) {
+			$throwJobSchemaMissing("The wheels_jobs table");
+		}
 		try {
 			// Check if table already exists by querying it
 			$jobsQuery("SELECT COUNT(*) AS cnt FROM wheels_jobs WHERE 1=0", {}, {datasource = variables.$datasource});
diff --git a/vendor/wheels/tests/_assets/jobs/HookProbeJob.cfc b/vendor/wheels/tests/_assets/jobs/HookProbeJob.cfc
index e9f45b07e3..8f0e5c8eb3 100644
--- a/vendor/wheels/tests/_assets/jobs/HookProbeJob.cfc
+++ b/vendor/wheels/tests/_assets/jobs/HookProbeJob.cfc
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 /**
  * A job with every lifecycle hook (core-suite fixture). Each hook appends to a list in the
  * application scope so the hook specs can check what ran, in what order, with what.
- * data.mode picks what perform() does: "text" (default), "struct", "void", "long" or "fail".
+ * data.mode picks what perform() does: "text" (default), "struct", "void", "empty" (returns ""),
+ * "long", "unicode", "unicodeLong" or "fail".
  */
 component extends="wheels.Job" {
 
@@ -38,6 +39,9 @@ component extends="wheels.Job" {
 		if (local.mode == "void") {
 			return;
 		}
+		if (local.mode == "empty") {
+			return "";
+		}
 		return "done";
 	}
 
diff --git a/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobHeartbeatGraceSpec.cfc b/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobHeartbeatGraceSpec.cfc
index 00f16277f1..dfdf22b284 100644
--- a/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobHeartbeatGraceSpec.cfc
+++ b/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobHeartbeatGraceSpec.cfc
@@ -62,6 +62,14 @@ component extends="wheels.WheelsTest" {
 				expect($status(id)).toBe("processing", "15 seconds is inside the 30-second minimum");
 			});
 
+			it("reclaims a job idle past the 30-second minimum when the setting is below it", function() {
+				application.wheels.jobsHeartbeatGraceSeconds = 5;
+				var id = $insertRunning(queue = "test_grace_floor_past", heartbeatSecondsAgo = 45);
+				var reaped = new wheels.JobWorker().checkTimeouts(timeout = 300, queues = "test_grace_floor_past");
+				expect(reaped).toBe(1);
+				expect($status(id)).toBe("pending", "45 seconds is past the 30-second minimum, so the job is retried");
+			});
+
 			it("renews an exclusive job's lease by the heartbeat grace window", function() {
 				application.wheels.jobsHeartbeatGraceSeconds = 100;
 				var job = new wheels.Job();
diff --git a/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobLifecycleHooksSpec.cfc b/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobLifecycleHooksSpec.cfc
index d0894f84a7..c122556a52 100644
--- a/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobLifecycleHooksSpec.cfc
+++ b/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobLifecycleHooksSpec.cfc
@@ -53,6 +53,14 @@ component extends="wheels.WheelsTest" {
 				expect(ListLast(application["$hookSpecLog"], "|")).toBe("success:none");
 			});
 
+			it("stores NULL when perform() returns an empty string, as for nothing", function() {
+				var id = $insertJob(queue = "test_hooks_empty", data = {mode = "empty"});
+				new wheels.JobWorker().processNext(queues = "test_hooks_empty", timeout = 300);
+				var row = $row(id);
+				expect(row.status).toBe("completed");
+				expect(row.resultIsNull).toBeTrue("Oracle can't tell an empty string from NULL, so every database stores NULL");
+			});
+
 			it("cuts a long result short with a visible marker", function() {
 				var id = $insertJob(queue = "test_hooks_long", data = {mode = "long"});
 				new wheels.JobWorker().processNext(queues = "test_hooks_long", timeout = 300);
diff --git a/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobSchemaSpec.cfc b/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobSchemaSpec.cfc
index 387bf905dc..034aa9dc42 100644
--- a/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobSchemaSpec.cfc
+++ b/vendor/wheels/tests/specs/jobs/JobSchemaSpec.cfc
@@ -166,6 +166,22 @@ component extends="wheels.WheelsTest" {
 				expect(new wheels.JobSchema().hasTable("wheels_jobs")).toBeFalse();
 			});
 
+			it("with jobsAutoCreateTables = false, says the schema is missing from inside a transaction too", function() {
+				$dropJobTable();
+				application.wheels.jobsAutoCreateTables = false;
+				var ensured = {type = "", message = ""};
+				transaction {
+					try {
+						new wheels.Job().$ensureJobTable();
+					} catch (any e) {
+						ensured.type = e.type;
+						ensured.message = e.message;
+					}
+					transaction action="rollback";
+				}
+				expect(ensured.type).toBe("Wheels.Job.SchemaMissing", "not a database error from an aborted transaction: " & ensured.message);
+			});
+
 			it("with jobsAutoCreateTables = false, reports a probe failure as itself when the table exists", function() {
 				// The catalog says the table is there but the probe fails (here: a datasource that
 				// doesn't exist, as for a lost connection): that error surfaces, not a misleading
diff --git a/web/sites/guides/src/content/docs/v4-2-0/digging-deeper/running-jobs-on-multiple-servers.mdx b/web/sites/guides/src/content/docs/v4-2-0/digging-deeper/running-jobs-on-multiple-servers.mdx
index c5c62714d4..a935ea5c9a 100644
--- a/web/sites/guides/src/content/docs/v4-2-0/digging-deeper/running-jobs-on-multiple-servers.mdx
+++ b/web/sites/guides/src/content/docs/v4-2-0/digging-deeper/running-jobs-on-multiple-servers.mdx
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ The `event` struct deliberately carries **no job `data`** (that can hold secrets
 
 ### The stored result
 
-`perform()`'s return value is stored on the row, in a `wheels_jobs.result` column, and handed to `onSuccess(result)`. A simple value is stored as-is; a struct or array is stored as JSON. It's capped — 4000 characters on SQL Server (`NVARCHAR`), 4000 **UTF-8 bytes** on the other databases (a safe bound; Oracle's `VARCHAR2` counts bytes) — truncated on a character boundary with a visible marker if it's longer, so return a small summary, not a large payload. The `result` column is added by the same guarded auto-`ALTER` as the other 4.2 columns; without it, jobs run exactly as before and nothing is stored.
+`perform()`'s return value is stored on the row, in a `wheels_jobs.result` column, and handed to `onSuccess(result)`. A simple value is stored as-is; a struct or array is stored as JSON. Returning nothing stores `NULL`, and so does returning an empty string (Oracle can't tell the two apart, so no database does). It's capped — 4000 characters on SQL Server (`NVARCHAR`), 4000 **UTF-8 bytes** on the other databases (a safe bound; Oracle's `VARCHAR2` counts bytes) — truncated on a character boundary with a visible marker if it's longer, so return a small summary, not a large payload. The `result` column is added by the same guarded auto-`ALTER` as the other 4.2 columns; without it, jobs run exactly as before and nothing is stored.
 
 ## Cap how many jobs a server runs at once