diff --git a/mxq_job.c b/mxq_job.c
index 42a5dc02..ee3b3918 100644
--- a/mxq_job.c
+++ b/mxq_job.c
@@ -801,3 +801,44 @@ int mxq_load_jobs_running_on_server(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_job **job
 
     return res;
 }
+
+int mxq_unload_job_from_server(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_daemon *daemon, uint64_t job_id) {
+
+    /* set a job from LOADED back to INQ. This needs to reset what
+     * mxq_assign_job_from_group_to_daemon() and mxq_set_job_status_loaded_on_server()
+     * did to the job:
+     *
+     * mxq_assign_job_from_group_to_daemon() : daemon_id, host_hostname, host_slots, server_id, job_status
+     * mxq_set_job_status_loaded_on_server() : host_id, job_status
+     *
+     * Only to be used as an error path, if we fail after loading a job during job setup
+     * before any users code was executed (with possible user-visible side effects)
+     */
+
+    struct mx_mysql_bind param = {0};
+    int res;
+
+    char *query =
+        "UPDATE"
+            " mxq_job"
+        " SET"
+            " daemon_id     = 0,"
+            " host_hostname = '',"
+            " host_slots    = 0,"
+            " server_id     = '',"
+            " host_id       = '',"
+            " job_status    = " status_str(MXQ_JOB_STATUS_INQ)
+        " WHERE"
+            " job_id          = ?"
+            " AND job_status = " status_str(MXQ_JOB_STATUS_LOADED);
+
+    mx_mysql_bind_init_param(&param, 1);
+    mx_mysql_bind_var(&param, 0, uint64, &(job_id));
+
+    res = mx_mysql_do_statement_noresult_retry_on_fail(mysql, query, &param);
+    if (res < 0) {
+        mx_log_err("mx_mysql_do_statement(): %m");
+        return res;
+    }
+    return res;
+}
diff --git a/mxq_job.h b/mxq_job.h
index dd5c9c80..a08aa4ad 100644
--- a/mxq_job.h
+++ b/mxq_job.h
@@ -96,4 +96,5 @@ int mxq_job_set_tmpfilenames(struct mxq_group *g, struct mxq_job *j);
 int mxq_load_job_from_group_assigned_to_daemon(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_job **jobs_result, uint64_t group_id, struct mxq_daemon *daemon);
 int mxq_load_job_from_group_for_daemon(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_job *mxqjob, uint64_t group_id, struct mxq_daemon *daemon,unsigned long slots_per_job);
 int mxq_load_jobs_running_on_server(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_job **jobs_result, struct mxq_daemon *daemon);
+int mxq_unload_job_from_server(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_daemon *daemon, uint64_t job_id);
 #endif