diff --git a/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater.yml b/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater.yml
index fe20a16..2089e90 100644
--- a/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater.yml
+++ b/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater.yml
@@ -185,6 +185,11 @@
           - "IP changed: {{ nb_ip_changed|default(false) }}"
           - "Reason: {{ nb_change_reason|default('none') }}"
 
+    - name: "NB preflight | Compute next_attempt"
+      delegate_to: localhost
+      set_fact:
+        next_attempt: "{{ (requeue_attempt | int) + 1 }}"
+
     # --- Requeue control: only 3 attempts, 300s apart ---
     - name: "NB preflight | Publish delayed requeue (300s) if needed"
       when:
@@ -205,12 +210,12 @@
         body:
           properties:
             content_type: "application/json"
-            headers: { x-delay: 300000 }   # 300 seconds = 5 minutes
+            headers: { x-delay: 300000 }
           routing_key: "deviceconfig"
           payload: "{{ {
             'inscope_device': (ansible_hostname | default(inventory_hostname)),
             'task_name': 'sot-updater',
-            'attempt': ((requeue_attempt | int) + 1)
+            'attempt': next_attempt
           } | to_json }}"
           payload_encoding: "string"
       register: rmq_requeue
@@ -225,7 +230,7 @@
       delegate_to: localhost
       debug:
         msg:
-          - "Requeue published (attempt {{ requeue_attempt+1 }})"
+          - "Requeue published (attempt {{ (requeue_attempt | int) + 1 }})"
           - "HTTP: {{ rmq_requeue.status|default('n/a') }}"
           - "JSON: {{ rmq_requeue.json|default('<none>') }}"