diff --git a/librarian_background/rolling_deletion.py b/librarian_background/rolling_deletion.py
index 4a7a4e7..b9460ab 100644
--- a/librarian_background/rolling_deletion.py
+++ b/librarian_background/rolling_deletion.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def core(self, session: Session):
         deleted = 0
         for instance in instances:
             # First, see if we've timed out.
-            if datetime.datetime.now(timezone.utc) - core_begin > self.soft_timeout:
+            if (datetime.now(timezone.utc) - core_begin) > self.soft_timeout:
                 logger.warning(
                     "Ran out of time in deletion task! Only successfully deleted "
                     "{n}/{m} instances; we will return later",