diff --git a/backend/danswer/db/index_attempt.py b/backend/danswer/db/index_attempt.py
index 7e08c167b95..7d8b38959b9 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/db/index_attempt.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/db/index_attempt.py
@@ -244,20 +244,15 @@ def cancel_indexing_attempts_for_connector(
     db_session: Session,
     include_secondary_index: bool = False,
 ) -> None:
-    subquery = select(EmbeddingModel.id).where(
-        EmbeddingModel.status != IndexModelStatus.FUTURE
-    )
-
-    stmt = (
-        update(IndexAttempt)
-        .where(
-            IndexAttempt.connector_id == connector_id,
-            IndexAttempt.status == IndexingStatus.NOT_STARTED,
-        )
-        .values(status=IndexingStatus.FAILED)
+    stmt = delete(IndexAttempt).where(
+        IndexAttempt.connector_id == connector_id,
+        IndexAttempt.status == IndexingStatus.NOT_STARTED,
     )
 
     if not include_secondary_index:
+        subquery = select(EmbeddingModel.id).where(
+            EmbeddingModel.status != IndexModelStatus.FUTURE
+        )
         stmt = stmt.where(IndexAttempt.embedding_model_id.in_(subquery))
 
     db_session.execute(stmt)