diff --git a/server/src/services/hls.service.ts b/server/src/services/hls.service.ts
index 949aab12fb..eda24f53b5 100644
--- a/server/src/services/hls.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/hls.service.ts
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ type AssetWithStreamInfo = { videoStream: VideoStreamInfo & { timeBase: number }
 
 @Injectable()
 export class HlsService extends BaseService {
-  private pendingSegments = new PendingEvents<'HlsSegmentResult'>(15_000);
-  private pendingSessions = new PendingEvents<'HlsSessionResult'>(5000);
+  private pendingSegments = new PendingEvents<'HlsSegmentResult'>({ timeoutMs: 15_000 });
+  private pendingSessions = new PendingEvents<'HlsSessionResult'>({ timeoutMs: 5000 });
   private sessions = new Map<string, { lastRequestedSegment: number | null }>();
 
   @OnEvent({ name: 'HlsSessionResult', server: true, workers: [ImmichWorker.Api] })
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ export class HlsService extends BaseService {
       throw new NotFoundException('Asset is not yet ready for streaming');
     }
 
+    // Sharing the sessionId allows only one microservices worker to successfully insert to the session table.
+    // The microservices worker that creates a session owns the transcoding lifecycle for it.
     const sessionId = this.cryptoRepository.randomUUID();
     this.websocketRepository.serverSend('HlsSessionRequest', { sessionId, assetId, ownerId: auth.user.id });
     await this.pendingSessions.wait(sessionId);
diff --git a/server/src/services/transcoding.service.ts b/server/src/services/transcoding.service.ts
index 506be153ce..c913765a2b 100644
--- a/server/src/services/transcoding.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/services/transcoding.service.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ export class TranscodingService extends BaseService {
       this.cleanupInterval ??= setInterval(() => void this.removeInactiveSessions(), HLS_CLEANUP_INTERVAL_MS);
       this.websocketRepository.serverSend('HlsSessionResult', { sessionId });
     } catch (error) {
+      // If insertion failed due to a PK constraint, another worker has already created a session for this ID.
       if (!isVideoStreamSessionPkConstraint(error)) {
         this.logger.error(`Failed to create HLS session ${sessionId}: ${error}`);
         this.websocketRepository.serverSend('HlsSessionResult', { sessionId, error: 'Failed to create HLS session' });
diff --git a/server/src/utils/event.ts b/server/src/utils/event.ts
index adb8c8f1df..77698b903f 100644
--- a/server/src/utils/event.ts
+++ b/server/src/utils/event.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ import { ArgOf, EmitEvent } from 'src/repositories/event.repository';
 
 export class PendingEvents<T extends { [T in EmitEvent]: ArgOf<T> extends { error?: string } ? T : never }[EmitEvent]> {
   private pending = new Map<string, { completers: PromiseWithResolvers<ArgOf<T>>[]; timeout: NodeJS.Timeout }>();
+  private timeoutMs: number;
 
-  constructor(private timeoutMs: number) {}
+  constructor({ timeoutMs }: { timeoutMs: number }) {
+    this.timeoutMs = timeoutMs;
+  }
 
   wait(key: string): Promise<ArgOf<T>> {
     const completer = Promise.withResolvers<ArgOf<T>>();