diff --git a/backend/btrixcloud/crawls.py b/backend/btrixcloud/crawls.py
index c6c8780f06..c6c27b19c4 100644
--- a/backend/btrixcloud/crawls.py
+++ b/backend/btrixcloud/crawls.py
@@ -121,7 +121,13 @@ async def init_index(self):
         await self.crawls.create_index(
             [("type", pymongo.HASHED), ("fileSize", pymongo.DESCENDING)]
         )
-
+        await self.crawls.create_index(
+            [
+                ("state", pymongo.ASCENDING),
+                ("oid", pymongo.ASCENDING),
+                ("started", pymongo.ASCENDING),
+            ]
+        )
         await self.crawls.create_index([("finished", pymongo.DESCENDING)])
         await self.crawls.create_index([("oid", pymongo.HASHED)])
         await self.crawls.create_index([("cid", pymongo.HASHED)])
@@ -336,6 +342,18 @@ async def list_crawls(
 
         return crawls, total
 
+    async def get_active_crawls(self, oid: UUID, limit: int) -> list[str]:
+        """get list of waiting crawls, sorted from earliest to latest"""
+        res = (
+            self.crawls.find(
+                {"state": {"$in": RUNNING_AND_WAITING_STATES}, "oid": oid}, {"_id": 1}
+            )
+            .sort({"started": 1})
+            .limit(limit)
+        )
+        res_list = await res.to_list()
+        return [res["_id"] for res in res_list]
+
     async def delete_crawls(
         self,
         org: Organization,
diff --git a/backend/btrixcloud/operator/crawls.py b/backend/btrixcloud/operator/crawls.py
index 314d4eb30d..841f2de244 100644
--- a/backend/btrixcloud/operator/crawls.py
+++ b/backend/btrixcloud/operator/crawls.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
     TYPE_NON_RUNNING_STATES,
     TYPE_RUNNING_STATES,
     TYPE_ALL_CRAWL_STATES,
-    NON_RUNNING_STATES,
     RUNNING_STATES,
     WAITING_STATES,
     RUNNING_AND_STARTING_ONLY,
@@ -53,7 +52,6 @@
     CMAP,
     PVC,
     CJS,
-    BTRIX_API,
 )
 
 
@@ -258,7 +256,7 @@ async def sync_crawls(self, data: MCSyncData):
                     return self._empty_response(status)
 
         if status.state in ("starting", "waiting_org_limit"):
-            if not await self.can_start_new(crawl, data, status):
+            if not await self.can_start_new(crawl, status):
                 return self._empty_response(status)
 
             await self.set_state(
@@ -738,20 +736,10 @@ async def set_state(
 
     def get_related(self, data: MCBaseRequest):
         """return objects related to crawl pods"""
-        spec = data.parent.get("spec", {})
-        crawl_id = spec["id"]
-        oid = spec.get("oid")
-        # filter by role as well (job vs qa-job)
-        role = data.parent.get("metadata", {}).get("labels", {}).get("role")
-        related_resources = [
-            {
-                "apiVersion": BTRIX_API,
-                "resource": "crawljobs",
-                "labelSelector": {"matchLabels": {"btrix.org": oid, "role": role}},
-            },
-        ]
-
+        related_resources = []
         if self.k8s.enable_auto_resize:
+            spec = data.parent.get("spec", {})
+            crawl_id = spec["id"]
             related_resources.append(
                 {
                     "apiVersion": METRICS_API,
@@ -765,7 +753,6 @@ def get_related(self, data: MCBaseRequest):
     async def can_start_new(
         self,
         crawl: CrawlSpec,
-        data: MCSyncData,
         status: CrawlStatus,
     ):
         """return true if crawl can start, otherwise set crawl to 'queued' state
@@ -774,27 +761,17 @@ async def can_start_new(
         if not max_crawls:
             return True
 
+        next_active_crawls = await self.crawl_ops.get_active_crawls(
+            crawl.oid, max_crawls
+        )
+
         # if total crawls < concurrent, always allow, no need to check further
-        if len(data.related[CJS]) <= max_crawls:
+        if len(next_active_crawls) < max_crawls:
             return True
 
-        name = data.parent.get("metadata", {}).get("name")
-
-        # assume crawls already sorted from oldest to newest
-        # (seems to be the case always)
-        i = 0
-        for crawl_sorted in data.related[CJS].values():
-            # if crawl not running, don't count
-            if crawl_sorted.get("status", {}).get("state") in NON_RUNNING_STATES:
-                continue
-
-            # if reached current crawl, if did not reach crawl quota, allow current crawl to run
-            if crawl_sorted.get("metadata").get("name") == name:
-                if i < max_crawls:
-                    return True
-
-                break
-            i += 1
+        # allow crawl if within first list of active crawls
+        if crawl.id in next_active_crawls:
+            return True
 
         await self.set_state(
             "waiting_org_limit", status, crawl, allowed_from=["starting"]