diff --git a/src/apps/persistence/jobs.clj b/src/apps/persistence/jobs.clj
index 32868776..ffffe357 100644
--- a/src/apps/persistence/jobs.clj
+++ b/src/apps/persistence/jobs.clj
@@ -787,6 +787,14 @@
 (defn mark-job-status-updates-propagated
   "Marks a set of job status updates as propagated."
   [ids]
+  (when (seq ids)
+    (sql/update :job_status_updates
+                (set-fields {:propagated true})
+                (where {:id [in ids]}))))
+
+(defn mark-job-status-updates-for-external-id-completed
+  "Marks all job status updates for an external ID as completed."
+  [external-id]
   (sql/update :job_status_updates
               (set-fields {:propagated true})
-              (where {:id [in ids]})))
+              (where {:external_id external-id})))
diff --git a/src/apps/service/apps.clj b/src/apps/service/apps.clj
index 9c02c59e..d19b9e6c 100644
--- a/src/apps/service/apps.clj
+++ b/src/apps/service/apps.clj
@@ -219,12 +219,11 @@
 
 (defn update-job-status
   ([external-id]
+   (jobs/validate-job-status-update-step-count external-id)
    (transaction
-    (let [updates (jp/get-job-status-updates external-id)
-          steps   (jp/get-job-steps-by-external-id external-id)]
+    (let [updates (jp/get-job-status-updates external-id)]
       (when (seq updates)
-        (jobs/validate-job-status-update-step-count external-id updates steps)
-        (let [job-id      (:job_id (first steps))
+        (let [job-id      (:job_id (jp/get-job-steps-by-external-id external-id))
               job-step    (jobs/lock-job-step job-id external-id)
               job         (jobs/lock-job job-id)
               batch       (when-let [parent-id (:parent_id job)] (jp/get-job-by-id parent-id))
diff --git a/src/apps/service/apps/jobs.clj b/src/apps/service/apps/jobs.clj
index 47afc1cb..42ab37a7 100644
--- a/src/apps/service/apps/jobs.clj
+++ b/src/apps/service/apps/jobs.clj
@@ -17,14 +17,15 @@
 (defn validate-job-status-update-step-count
   "Validates the number of steps for an external ID provided in a set of job status updates. If there are too many or
   too few matching job steps then all of the job status updates will be marked as propagated and an exception will be
-  thrown."
-  [external-id updates job-steps]
-  (when (empty? job-steps)
-    (jp/mark-job-status-updates-propagated (mapv :id updates))
-    (service/not-found "job step" external-id))
-  (when (> (count job-steps) 1)
-    (jp/mark-job-status-updates-propagated (mapv :id updates))
-    (service/not-unique "job step" external-id)))
+  thrown. This function should not be called from within a transaction."
+  [external-id]
+  (let [job-steps (jp/get-job-steps-by-external-id external-id)]
+    (when (empty? job-steps)
+      (jp/mark-job-status-updates-for-external-id-completed external-id)
+      (service/not-found "job step" external-id))
+    (when (> (count job-steps) 1)
+      (jp/mark-job-status-updates-for-external-id-completed external-id)
+      (service/not-unique "job step" external-id))))
 
 (defn lock-job-step
   [job-id external-id]