diff --git a/.idea/runConfigurations/BackendApplicationKt.run.xml b/.idea/runConfigurations/BackendApplicationKt.run.xml
index 8acc59de2..fdbaec48f 100644
--- a/.idea/runConfigurations/BackendApplicationKt.run.xml
+++ b/.idea/runConfigurations/BackendApplicationKt.run.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <component name="ProjectRunConfigurationManager">
   <configuration default="false" name="BackendApplicationKt" type="SpringBootApplicationConfigurationType" factoryName="Spring Boot" nameIsGenerated="true">
     <module name="backend.main" />
-    <option name="PROGRAM_PARAMETERS" value="--spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://0.0.0.0:5432/loculus --spring.datasource.username=postgres --spring.datasource.password=unsecure --keycloak.user=backend --keycloak.password=backend --keycloak.realm=loculusRealm --keycloak.client=test-cli --keycloak.url=http://localhost:8083 --backend.config.path=website/tests/config/backend_config.json --spring.security.oauth2.resourceserver.jwt.jwk-set-uri=http://localhost:8083/realms/loculusRealm/protocol/openid-connect/certs" />
+    <option name="PROGRAM_PARAMETERS" value="--spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://0.0.0.0:5432/loculus --spring.datasource.username=postgres --spring.datasource.password=unsecure --keycloak.user=backend --keycloak.password=backend --keycloak.realm=loculusRealm --keycloak.client=test-cli --keycloak.url=http://localhost:8083 --loculus.config.path=website/tests/config/backend_config.json --spring.security.oauth2.resourceserver.jwt.jwk-set-uri=http://localhost:8083/realms/loculusRealm/protocol/openid-connect/certs" />
     <option name="SPRING_BOOT_MAIN_CLASS" value="org.loculus.backend.BackendApplicationKt" />
     <extension name="net.ashald.envfile">
       <option name="IS_ENABLED" value="false" />
diff --git a/backend/src/main/kotlin/org/loculus/backend/config/BackendSpringConfig.kt b/backend/src/main/kotlin/org/loculus/backend/config/BackendSpringConfig.kt
index 85bb1aa2d..1fce65aba 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/kotlin/org/loculus/backend/config/BackendSpringConfig.kt
+++ b/backend/src/main/kotlin/org/loculus/backend/config/BackendSpringConfig.kt
@@ -20,8 +20,7 @@ import javax.sql.DataSource
 
 object BackendSpringProperty {
     const val BACKEND_CONFIG_PATH = "loculus.config.path"
-    const val ENABLE_CLEAN_UP_TASK = "loculus.cleanup.task.enabled"
-    const val STALE_AFTER_SECONDS = "loculus.cleanup.task.reset-stale-in-processing-every-seconds"
+    const val STALE_AFTER_SECONDS = "loculus.cleanup.task.reset-stale-in-processing-after-seconds"
     const val CLEAN_UP_RUN_EVERY_SECONDS = "loculus.cleanup.task.run-every-seconds"
 }
 
diff --git a/backend/src/main/kotlin/org/loculus/backend/service/submission/CleanUpStaleSequencesInProcessingTask.kt b/backend/src/main/kotlin/org/loculus/backend/service/submission/CleanUpStaleSequencesInProcessingTask.kt
index 724772864..b461710ce 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/kotlin/org/loculus/backend/service/submission/CleanUpStaleSequencesInProcessingTask.kt
+++ b/backend/src/main/kotlin/org/loculus/backend/service/submission/CleanUpStaleSequencesInProcessingTask.kt
@@ -2,18 +2,12 @@ package org.loculus.backend.service.submission
 
 import org.loculus.backend.config.BackendSpringProperty
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value
-import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.condition.ConditionalOnProperty
 import org.springframework.scheduling.annotation.Scheduled
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Component
 
 private val log = mu.KotlinLogging.logger {}
 
 @Component
-@ConditionalOnProperty(
-    name = ["\${${BackendSpringProperty.ENABLE_CLEAN_UP_TASK}}"],
-    havingValue = "true",
-    matchIfMissing = true,
-)
 class CleanUpStaleSequencesInProcessingTask(
     private val submissionDatabaseService: SubmissionDatabaseService,
     @Value("\${${BackendSpringProperty.STALE_AFTER_SECONDS}}") private val timeToStaleInSeconds: Long,
diff --git a/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties b/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 5c8d2ae42..9fa18d890 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@ management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=health
 management.health.livenessState.enabled=true
 management.health.readinessState.enabled=true
 
-loculus.cleanup.task.reset-stale-in-processing-every-seconds=60
+loculus.cleanup.task.reset-stale-in-processing-after-seconds=60
 loculus.cleanup.task.run-every-seconds=60
-loculus.cleanup.task.enabled=true
+