diff --git a/pkg/icingadb/ha.go b/pkg/icingadb/ha.go
index 764057183..92fd0bb76 100644
--- a/pkg/icingadb/ha.go
+++ b/pkg/icingadb/ha.go
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ func (h *HA) controller() {
 
 				// Ensure that updating/inserting the instance row is completed by the current heartbeat's expiry time.
 				realizeCtx, cancelRealizeCtx := context.WithDeadline(h.ctx, m.ExpiryTime())
-				err = h.realize(realizeCtx, s, t, envId, shouldLogRoutineEvents)
+				err = h.realize(realizeCtx, s, envId, shouldLogRoutineEvents)
 				cancelRealizeCtx()
 				if errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
 					h.signalHandover("instance update/insert deadline exceeded heartbeat expiry time")
@@ -268,10 +268,12 @@ func (h *HA) controller() {
 // realize a HA cycle triggered by a heartbeat event.
 //
 // shouldLogRoutineEvents indicates if recurrent events should be logged.
+//
+// The internal, retryable function always fetches the last received heartbeat's timestamp instead of reusing the one
+// from the calling controller loop. Doing so results in inserting a more accurate timestamp if a retry happens.
 func (h *HA) realize(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	s *icingaredisv1.IcingaStatus,
-	t *types.UnixMilli,
 	envId types.Binary,
 	shouldLogRoutineEvents bool,
 ) error {
@@ -354,7 +356,7 @@ func (h *HA) realize(
 				EnvironmentMeta: v1.EnvironmentMeta{
 					EnvironmentId: envId,
 				},
-				Heartbeat:                         *t,
+				Heartbeat:                         types.UnixMilli(time.UnixMilli(h.heartbeat.LastMessageTime())),
 				Responsible:                       types.Bool{Bool: takeover != "" || h.responsible, Valid: true},
 				EndpointId:                        s.EndpointId,
 				Icinga2Version:                    s.Version,
diff --git a/pkg/icingaredis/heartbeat.go b/pkg/icingaredis/heartbeat.go
index bb1e83796..7473659fb 100644
--- a/pkg/icingaredis/heartbeat.go
+++ b/pkg/icingaredis/heartbeat.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ type Heartbeat struct {
 	active         bool
 	events         chan *HeartbeatMessage
 	lastReceivedMs atomic.Int64
+	lastMessageMs  atomic.Int64
 	cancelCtx      context.CancelFunc
 	client         *redis.Client
 	done           chan struct{}
@@ -62,6 +63,11 @@ func (h *Heartbeat) LastReceived() int64 {
 	return h.lastReceivedMs.Load()
 }
 
+// LastMessageTime returns the last message's time in ms.
+func (h *Heartbeat) LastMessageTime() int64 {
+	return h.lastMessageMs.Load()
+}
+
 // Close stops the heartbeat controller loop, waits for it to finish, and returns an error if any.
 // Implements the io.Closer interface.
 func (h *Heartbeat) Close() error {
@@ -139,6 +145,15 @@ func (h *Heartbeat) controller(ctx context.Context) {
 				}
 
 				h.lastReceivedMs.Store(m.received.UnixMilli())
+
+				statsT, err := m.stats.Time()
+				if err != nil {
+					h.logger.Warnw("Received Icinga heartbeat with invalid stats time", zap.Error(err))
+					h.lastMessageMs.Store(0)
+				} else {
+					h.lastMessageMs.Store(statsT.Time().UnixMilli())
+				}
+
 				h.sendEvent(m)
 			case <-time.After(Timeout):
 				if h.active {
@@ -150,6 +165,7 @@ func (h *Heartbeat) controller(ctx context.Context) {
 				}
 
 				h.lastReceivedMs.Store(0)
+				h.lastMessageMs.Store(0)
 			case <-ctx.Done():
 				return ctx.Err()
 			}