diff --git a/lib/upload-manager.js b/lib/upload-manager.js
index b4dfdd8..247c61f 100644
--- a/lib/upload-manager.js
+++ b/lib/upload-manager.js
@@ -243,6 +243,18 @@ class UploadManager extends EventEmitter {
         return;
       }
 
+      // If this account already failed in this batch, switch to fallback immediately
+      // instead of wasting retries on a known-bad account
+      if (task.accountId && this._failedAccounts.has(task.hoster + ':' + task.accountId)) {
+        const override = this._accountOverrides.get(task.hoster);
+        if (override && !this._failedAccounts.has(task.hoster + ':' + override.id)) {
+          task.accountId = override.id;
+          task.username = override.username;
+          task.password = override.password;
+          task.apiKey = override.apiKey;
+        }
+      }
+
       this._emitProgress(uploadId, fileName, task.hoster, {
         jobId,
         status: 'queued',