diff --git a/packages/pds/src/api/com/atproto/sync/subscribeRepos.ts b/packages/pds/src/api/com/atproto/sync/subscribeRepos.ts
index 0f98db5061c..7fc9be6f3ac 100644
--- a/packages/pds/src/api/com/atproto/sync/subscribeRepos.ts
+++ b/packages/pds/src/api/com/atproto/sync/subscribeRepos.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export default function (server: Server, ctx: AppContext) {
           message: 'Requested cursor exceeded limit. Possibly missing events',
         }
         const startEvt = await ctx.sequencer.earliestAfterTime(backfillTime)
-        outboxCursor = startEvt?.seq ?? undefined
+        outboxCursor = startEvt?.seq ? startEvt.seq - 1 : undefined
       } else {
         outboxCursor = cursor
       }
diff --git a/packages/pds/src/sequencer/sequencer.ts b/packages/pds/src/sequencer/sequencer.ts
index 2e0ee59b60f..23624800a41 100644
--- a/packages/pds/src/sequencer/sequencer.ts
+++ b/packages/pds/src/sequencer/sequencer.ts
@@ -60,9 +60,9 @@ export class Sequencer extends (EventEmitter as new () => SequencerEmitter) {
       .selectFrom('repo_seq')
       .selectAll()
       .where('seq', 'is not', null)
-      .where('sequencedAt', '>', time)
+      .where('sequencedAt', '>=', time)
+      .orderBy('sequencedAt', 'asc')
       .limit(1)
-      .orderBy('sequencedAt', 'desc')
       .executeTakeFirst()
     return got || null
   }