Celery 4.4 "What's New" mis-reports configuration

The Fix

pip install celery==5.0.0

Based on closed celery/celery issue #6349 · PR/commit linked

Production note: This usually shows up under retries/timeouts. Treat it as a side-effect risk until you can verify behavior with a canary + real traffic.

Open PR/Commit

@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ have been moved into a new  ``task_`` prefix.
 ``CELERY_RESULT_EXCHANGE``                 :setting:`result_exchange`
 ``CELERY_RESULT_EXCHANGE_TYPE``            :setting:`result_exchange_type`
-``CELERY_RESULT_EXPIRES``                  :setting:`result_expires`
+``CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES``             :setting:`result_expires`
 ``CELERY_RESULT_PERSISTENT``               :setting:`result_persistent`

fix.md

Option A — Upgrade to fixed release\npip install celery==5.0.0\nWhen NOT to use: Do not apply this fix if the documentation is already accurate.\n\n

Why This Fix Works in Production

Trigger: 4.4 "What's New" mis-reports configuration CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES change
Mechanism: The documentation incorrectly reported the configuration change from CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES to CELERY_RESULT_EXPIRES
Why the fix works: Corrects the documentation regarding the configuration option CELERY_RESULT_EXPIRES, changing it back to CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES. (first fixed release: 5.0.0).

Production impact:

If left unfixed, the same config can fail only in production (env differences), causing startup failures or partial feature outages.

Why This Breaks in Prod

The documentation incorrectly reported the configuration change from CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES to CELERY_RESULT_EXPIRES
Production symptom (often without a traceback): 4.4 "What's New" mis-reports configuration CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES change

Proof / Evidence

GitHub issue: #6349
Fix PR: https://github.com/celery/celery/pull/6303
First fixed release: 5.0.0
Reproduced locally: No (not executed)
Last verified: 2026-02-09
Confidence: 0.75
Did this fix it?: Yes (upstream fix exists)
Own content ratio: 0.65

Discussion

High-signal excerpts from the issue thread (symptoms, repros, edge-cases).

Jump to Sources Open on GitHub

“I revoke my suggestion of changing the code to match the documents - the number of hours I have wasted making and provisioning changes to…”

@stringfellow · 2020-09-11 · source

“I think only change needed is in whats new”

@auvipy · 2021-02-19 · source

“https://github.com/celery/celery/commit/197e419a38eaa4cdde300e147e7243a18be92724”

@auvipy · 2021-02-19 · source

Failure Signature (Search String)

4.4 "What's New" mis-reports configuration CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES change
- [x] I have included all related issues and possible duplicate issues in this issue

Copy-friendly signature

signature.txt

Failure Signature
-----------------
4.4 "What's New" mis-reports configuration CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES change
- [x] I have included all related issues and possible duplicate issues in this issue

Error Message

Signature-only (no traceback captured)

error.txt

Error Message
-------------
4.4 "What's New" mis-reports configuration CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES change
- [x] I have included all related issues and possible duplicate issues in this issue

What Broke

Users experienced confusion and wasted time due to incorrect documentation on configuration options.

Why It Broke

The documentation incorrectly reported the configuration change from CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES to CELERY_RESULT_EXPIRES

Fix Options (Details)

Option A — Upgrade to fixed release Safe default (recommended)

pip install celery==5.0.0

When NOT to use: Do not apply this fix if the documentation is already accurate.

Use when you can deploy the upstream fix. It is usually lower-risk than long-lived workarounds.

Fix reference: https://github.com/celery/celery/pull/6303

First fixed release: 5.0.0

Last verified: 2026-02-09. Validate in your environment.

When NOT to Use This Fix

Do not apply this fix if the documentation is already accurate.

Did This Fix Work in Your Case?

Quick signal helps us prioritize which fixes to verify and improve.

Prevention

Capture the exact failing error string in logs and tests so you can reproduce via a minimal script.
Pin production dependencies and upgrade only with a reproducible test that hits the failing path.

Version Compatibility Table

Version	Status
5.0.0	Fixed

Related Issues

No related fixes found.

Cluster: celery:configuration-error Celery hub Celery best practices All hubs All clusters

Related clusters: Data consistency Duplicates Duplicate processing

Sources

We don’t republish the full GitHub discussion text. Use the links above for context.

Celery 4.4 "What's New" mis-reports configuration CELERY_TASK_RESULT_EXPIRES change (Fix)