diff --git a/core/repair_worker.py b/core/repair_worker.py
index 519b04ed..1394d8b4 100644
--- a/core/repair_worker.py
+++ b/core/repair_worker.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import threading
 import time
 import uuid
 from difflib import SequenceMatcher
-from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 
 from core.metadata_service import (
@@ -585,13 +585,29 @@ class RepairWorker:
 
         logger.info("Repair worker thread finished")
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _hours_since(finished_at_iso: str, now_utc: datetime) -> float:
+        """Hours between a stored ``finished_at`` and ``now_utc``, both in UTC.
+
+        ``finished_at`` is written by SQLite's CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, which is ALWAYS
+        UTC (and naive). #885: the scheduler compared it against ``datetime.now()``
+        (naive LOCAL), so the local↔UTC offset leaked into the elapsed time. For a
+        zone AHEAD of UTC (Australia/Sydney = +11) every job looked ~11h stale and
+        fired every poll; behind UTC (the Americas) it just waited too long. Parse
+        the naive timestamp AS UTC and subtract a UTC ``now`` so scheduling is
+        timezone-independent."""
+        dt = datetime.fromisoformat(finished_at_iso)
+        if dt.tzinfo is None:
+            dt = dt.replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+        return (now_utc - dt).total_seconds() / 3600
+
     def _pick_next_job(self) -> Optional[str]:
         """Pick the next job to run based on staleness priority.
 
         Returns job_id of the stalest job whose interval has elapsed,
         or None if nothing is due.
         """
-        now = datetime.now()
+        now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
         best_job_id = None
         best_staleness = -1
 
@@ -613,8 +629,7 @@ class RepairWorker:
                 continue
 
             try:
-                last_finished = datetime.fromisoformat(last_run['finished_at'])
-                elapsed_hours = (now - last_finished).total_seconds() / 3600
+                elapsed_hours = self._hours_since(last_run['finished_at'], now)
 
                 if elapsed_hours < interval_hours:
                     continue  # Not due yet
diff --git a/tests/test_repair_scheduler_tz.py b/tests/test_repair_scheduler_tz.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ff869db4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_repair_scheduler_tz.py
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+"""#885: repair-job scheduling must be timezone-independent.
+
+`finished_at` is written by SQLite's CURRENT_TIMESTAMP (always UTC), but the
+scheduler compared it against `datetime.now()` (naive LOCAL). With TZ=Australia/
+Sydney (UTC+11) every job looked ~11h stale and ran every poll; America/New_York
+(behind UTC) masked it. The fix parses finished_at as UTC and compares against a
+UTC now, so the machine timezone no longer leaks into elapsed time.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import time
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+
+import pytest
+
+from core.repair_worker import RepairWorker
+
+
+# ── pure helper ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+def test_hours_since_treats_naive_timestamp_as_utc():
+    now = datetime(2026, 6, 18, 6, 0, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    # SQLite CURRENT_TIMESTAMP style: UTC, no tz suffix.
+    assert RepairWorker._hours_since('2026-06-18 00:00:00', now) == pytest.approx(6.0)
+
+
+def test_hours_since_handles_aware_timestamp():
+    now = datetime(2026, 6, 18, 6, 0, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    assert RepairWorker._hours_since('2026-06-18T00:00:00+00:00', now) == pytest.approx(6.0)
+
+
+def test_hours_since_recent_is_near_zero():
+    now = datetime(2026, 6, 18, 0, 0, 30, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    assert RepairWorker._hours_since('2026-06-18 00:00:00', now) == pytest.approx(30 / 3600, abs=1e-6)
+
+
+# ── the #885 repro: a just-run job is never due, regardless of timezone ────────
+def _set_tz(monkeypatch, tz):
+    monkeypatch.setenv('TZ', tz)
+    try:
+        time.tzset()
+    except AttributeError:
+        pytest.skip('time.tzset() unavailable on this platform')
+
+
+def test_just_run_job_not_due_under_any_timezone(monkeypatch):
+    w = RepairWorker.__new__(RepairWorker)
+    w._jobs = {'cache_evictor': object()}
+    monkeypatch.setattr(RepairWorker, 'get_job_config',
+                        lambda self, jid: {'enabled': True, 'interval_hours': 6})
+    # Job finished "now" in UTC (exactly how CURRENT_TIMESTAMP records it).
+    finished = datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
+    monkeypatch.setattr(RepairWorker, '_get_last_run',
+                        lambda self, jid: {'finished_at': finished})
+
+    # Australia/Sydney is the exact repro; check the Americas + UTC too.
+    for tz in ('Australia/Sydney', 'America/New_York', 'UTC'):
+        _set_tz(monkeypatch, tz)
+        assert w._pick_next_job() is None, f"just-run job wrongly due under TZ={tz}"
+
+
+def test_stale_job_is_still_picked_under_sydney(monkeypatch):
+    # Sanity: a genuinely-overdue job IS picked (we didn't break due-detection).
+    w = RepairWorker.__new__(RepairWorker)
+    w._jobs = {'cache_evictor': object()}
+    monkeypatch.setattr(RepairWorker, 'get_job_config',
+                        lambda self, jid: {'enabled': True, 'interval_hours': 6})
+    # Finished ~10h ago in UTC.
+    old = datetime(2026, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc).strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
+    monkeypatch.setattr(RepairWorker, '_get_last_run',
+                        lambda self, jid: {'finished_at': old})
+    _set_tz(monkeypatch, 'Australia/Sydney')
+    assert w._pick_next_job() == 'cache_evictor'