diff --git a/modules/propresenter-timers/ltc-listener.js b/modules/propresenter-timers/ltc-listener.js
index cc43b93..d98a1b8 100644
--- a/modules/propresenter-timers/ltc-listener.js
+++ b/modules/propresenter-timers/ltc-listener.js
@@ -191,9 +191,13 @@ function createLtcListener({ device, channel, moduleDir, log, onUpdate }) {
     });
     if (!tool.ready) {
       report({ error: tool.error, detail: tool.detail });
-      // A build in flight restarts us itself when it lands; anything else is
-      // config-shaped and should back off hard rather than spin.
-      if (tool.error !== TOOL_BUILDING) scheduleRestart(BAD_CONFIG_RETRY_MS);
+      // onReady is only the FAST path (a successful build restarts us at
+      // once). The slow retry must stay armed regardless: a failed build
+      // never calls back, and a binary can also arrive from outside — scp'd
+      // in on a machine whose toolchain can't build (AB's broken CLT).
+      // Waiting on onReady alone deadlocked exactly that way in production:
+      // "Capture tool building…" forever, with a working binary on disk.
+      scheduleRestart(BAD_CONFIG_RETRY_MS);
       return;
     }
 
diff --git a/modules/propresenter-timers/module.json b/modules/propresenter-timers/module.json
index a825788..7e17779 100644
--- a/modules/propresenter-timers/module.json
+++ b/modules/propresenter-timers/module.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "propresenter-timers",
   "name": "Timers",
-  "version": "1.5.0",
+  "version": "1.5.1",
   "proddash": ">=1.4.0",
   "description": "Timers, Clocks, and LTC From configured Modules",
   "provides": [