diff --git a/docker/telemetry/grafana/dashboards/ledger-sync-health.json b/docker/telemetry/grafana/dashboards/ledger-sync-health.json
index 65a866dfd8..c284dcb596 100644
--- a/docker/telemetry/grafana/dashboards/ledger-sync-health.json
+++ b/docker/telemetry/grafana/dashboards/ledger-sync-health.json
@@ -1729,7 +1729,7 @@
             "type": "prometheus",
             "uid": "${DS_PROMETHEUS}"
           },
-          "expr": "label_replace(label_join(label_replace(clamp_max(sync_state{service_instance_id=~\"$node\", deployment_environment=~\"$deployment_environment\", xrpl_network_type=~\"$xrpl_network_type\", service_name=~\"$service_name\", xrpl_work_item=~\"$xrpl_work_item\", xrpl_branch=~\"$xrpl_branch\", xrpl_node_role=~\"$xrpl_node_role\", metric=\"ledgers_behind\"}, 1000000), \"series\", \"Ledgers Behind\", \"\", \"\"), \"xrpl_ident\", \", \", \"service_instance_id\", \"xrpl_branch\", \"xrpl_work_item\"), \"xrpl_ident\", \"[$1]\", \"xrpl_ident\", \"(?:, )*(.*[^, ])(?:, )*\")",
+          "expr": "label_replace(label_join(label_replace(sync_state{service_instance_id=~\"$node\", deployment_environment=~\"$deployment_environment\", xrpl_network_type=~\"$xrpl_network_type\", service_name=~\"$service_name\", xrpl_work_item=~\"$xrpl_work_item\", xrpl_branch=~\"$xrpl_branch\", xrpl_node_role=~\"$xrpl_node_role\", metric=\"ledgers_behind\"}, \"series\", \"Ledgers Behind\", \"\", \"\"), \"xrpl_ident\", \", \", \"service_instance_id\", \"xrpl_branch\", \"xrpl_work_item\"), \"xrpl_ident\", \"[$1]\", \"xrpl_ident\", \"(?:, )*(.*[^, ])(?:, )*\")",
           "refId": "A"
         }
       ],
diff --git a/src/xrpld/app/ledger/InboundLedger.h b/src/xrpld/app/ledger/InboundLedger.h
index 96e84724a0..7543295338 100644
--- a/src/xrpld/app/ledger/InboundLedger.h
+++ b/src/xrpld/app/ledger/InboundLedger.h
@@ -113,16 +113,37 @@ public:
     void
     runData();
 
+    /**
+     * Mark this acquire as still alive, so the sweeper does not reclaim it.
+     *
+     * InboundLedgers::sweep() destroys any acquire whose last action is more
+     * than a minute old, and that destruction is what the telemetry reports as
+     * `outcome=abandoned`. Anything that represents real progress must therefore
+     * call this, or a fetch that is working normally can be deleted for looking
+     * idle.
+     *
+     * @note Thread-safe and lock-free: a relaxed store of the clock's tick
+     *       count. Called from peer threads on the receive path, from the
+     *       acquiring thread, and read by the sweeper on the timer thread, so it
+     *       cannot be a plain member.
+     */
     void
     touch()
     {
-        lastAction_ = clock_.now();
+        lastAction_.store(clock_.now().time_since_epoch().count(), std::memory_order_relaxed);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * When this acquire last made progress, for the sweeper's age check.
+     *
+     * @note Thread-safe and lock-free: a relaxed load. A value one tick stale is
+     *       acceptable against a 60-second sweep interval.
+     */
     clock_type::time_point
     getLastAction() const
     {
-        return lastAction_;
+        return clock_type::time_point{
+            clock_type::duration{lastAction_.load(std::memory_order_relaxed)}};
     }
 
     /**
@@ -354,7 +375,17 @@ private:
         std::optional<int> missingNodes) noexcept;
 
     clock_type& clock_;
-    clock_type::time_point lastAction_;
+
+    /**
+     * Tick count of the last action, as the clock's duration rep.
+     *
+     * Stored as the raw rep rather than a `time_point` so it can be atomic: the
+     * receive path writes it from peer threads while InboundLedgers::sweep()
+     * reads it from the timer thread. Relaxed on both sides -- the sweeper
+     * compares against a 60-second threshold, so a value one tick out of date
+     * cannot change its decision.
+     */
+    std::atomic<clock_type::duration::rep> lastAction_;
 
     std::shared_ptr<Ledger> ledger_;
     bool haveHeader_{false};
diff --git a/src/xrpld/app/ledger/detail/InboundLedger.cpp b/src/xrpld/app/ledger/detail/InboundLedger.cpp
index 983315e471..bc9e5b8ad0 100644
--- a/src/xrpld/app/ledger/detail/InboundLedger.cpp
+++ b/src/xrpld/app/ledger/detail/InboundLedger.cpp
@@ -1430,6 +1430,15 @@ InboundLedger::gotData(
     // Mirror the depth for the telemetry gauge, which must not take this lock.
     receivedDataDepth_.store(receivedData_.size(), std::memory_order_relaxed);
 
+    // A peer just answered, so this acquire is making progress even if its turn
+    // to apply the data has not come up yet. Without this the sweeper's one
+    // minute idle test measures the wait for a JtLedgerData slot rather than
+    // real inactivity, and deletes fetches that are still being served: on a
+    // fresh mainnet sync that produced 490 abandoned acquires against zero
+    // expired retry budgets, because only the constructor, update() and done()
+    // ever refreshed the timestamp.
+    touch();
+
     if (receiveDispatched_)
         return false;
 
diff --git a/src/xrpld/app/misc/NetworkOPs.cpp b/src/xrpld/app/misc/NetworkOPs.cpp
index b331c1229d..0b233aee7b 100644
--- a/src/xrpld/app/misc/NetworkOPs.cpp
+++ b/src/xrpld/app/misc/NetworkOPs.cpp
@@ -1055,6 +1055,16 @@ NetworkOPsImp::getLedgersBehindNetwork() const
 
     auto const validated = registry_.get().getLedgerMaster().getValidLedgerIndex();
 
+    // A node that has validated nothing is not "behind" by the whole sequence
+    // space; the distance is undefined until there is a validated ledger to
+    // measure from. Returning the raw difference here reported ~105.9 million on
+    // a fresh mainnet start, which is a real reading of a meaningless quantity:
+    // it auto-scaled every consumer's axis and would trip any threshold. Report
+    // zero until the first ledger is validated, and let the sync-state signals
+    // say how far along the initial acquire is.
+    if (validated == 0)
+        return 0;
+
     // Floor at zero: we can legitimately be ahead of every peer's reported
     // range, and a peer that has reported nothing yet leaves the target at 0.
     return networkTarget > validated ? networkTarget - validated : 0;