diff --git a/lib/OpenQA/Task/Git/Clone.pm b/lib/OpenQA/Task/Git/Clone.pm
index 08642399b4b3..5677ff303da1 100644
--- a/lib/OpenQA/Task/Git/Clone.pm
+++ b/lib/OpenQA/Task/Git/Clone.pm
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious::Plugin', -signatures;
 use Mojo::Util 'trim';
 
 use Mojo::File;
+use OpenQA::Log qw(log_debug);
 use Time::Seconds 'ONE_HOUR';
 
 sub register ($self, $app, @) {
@@ -24,15 +25,16 @@ sub _git_clone_all ($job, $clones) {
     my $job_id = $job->id;
 
     my $retry_delay = {delay => 30 + int(rand(10))};
-    # Don't interfere with any needle task
-    return $job->retry({delay => 5})
-      unless my $needle_guard = $app->minion->guard('limit_needle_task', 2 * ONE_HOUR);
     # Prevent multiple git_clone tasks for the same path to run in parallel
     my @guards;
     for my $path (sort keys %$clones) {
         $path = Mojo::File->new($path)->realpath if -e $path;    # resolve symlinks
-        my $guard = $app->minion->guard("git_clone_${path}_task", 2 * ONE_HOUR);
-        return $job->retry($retry_delay) unless $guard;
+        my $guard_name = "git_clone_${path}_task";
+        my $guard = $app->minion->guard($guard_name, 2 * ONE_HOUR);
+        unless ($guard) {
+            log_debug("Could not get guard for $guard_name, retrying in $retry_delay->{delay}s");
+            return $job->retry($retry_delay);
+        }
         push @guards, $guard;
     }
 
diff --git a/lib/OpenQA/Task/Needle/Save.pm b/lib/OpenQA/Task/Needle/Save.pm
index 88a99168494b..d7105dd0a5cc 100644
--- a/lib/OpenQA/Task/Needle/Save.pm
+++ b/lib/OpenQA/Task/Needle/Save.pm
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use OpenQA::Git;
 use OpenQA::Jobs::Constants;
 use OpenQA::Utils;
 use Mojo::JSON 'decode_json';
+use Time::Seconds 'ONE_HOUR';
 
 sub register {
     my ($self, $app) = @_;
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ sub _save_needle {
 
     # prevent multiple save_needle and delete_needles tasks to run in parallel
     return $minion_job->finish({error => 'Another save or delete needle job is ongoing. Try again later.'})
-      unless my $guard = $app->minion->guard('limit_needle_task', 7200);
+      unless my $guard = $app->minion->guard('limit_needle_task', 2 * ONE_HOUR);
 
     my $schema = $app->schema;
     my $openqa_job = $schema->resultset('Jobs')->find($args->{job_id});
@@ -99,6 +100,8 @@ sub _save_needle {
     if (!$needledir || !(-d $needledir)) {
         return $minion_job->fail({error => $needledir ? "$needledir is not a directory" : 'no needle directory'});
     }
+    return $minion_job->finish({error => 'Another git_clone task is ongoing. Try again later.'})
+      unless my $git_clone_guard = $app->minion->guard("git_clone_${needledir}_task", 2 * ONE_HOUR);
 
     # ensure needle dir is up-to-date
     my $git = OpenQA::Git->new({app => $app, dir => $needledir, user => $user});
diff --git a/t/14-grutasks-git.t b/t/14-grutasks-git.t
index d19840be0220..a4d40664b2a5 100644
--- a/t/14-grutasks-git.t
+++ b/t/14-grutasks-git.t
@@ -203,11 +203,11 @@ subtest 'git clone' => sub {
     };
 
     subtest 'minion guard' => sub {
-        my $guard = $t->app->minion->guard('limit_needle_task', ONE_HOUR);
+        my $guard = $t->app->minion->guard("git_clone_${git_clones}/opensuse_task", ONE_HOUR);
         my $start = time;
         $res = run_gru_job(@gru_args);
         is $res->{state}, 'inactive', 'job is inactive';
-        ok(($res->{delayed} - $start) > 5, 'job delayed as expected');
+        ok(($res->{delayed} - $start) > 30, 'job delayed as expected');
     };
 };