diff --git a/.changeset/nasty-cobras-wonder.md b/.changeset/nasty-cobras-wonder.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0cd7c417d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/nasty-cobras-wonder.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"trigger.dev": patch
+---
+
+Fix metadata collapsing correctness
diff --git a/packages/core/src/v3/runMetadata/operations.ts b/packages/core/src/v3/runMetadata/operations.ts
index 379f5a4bb9..6a64443260 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/v3/runMetadata/operations.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/v3/runMetadata/operations.ts
@@ -173,65 +173,68 @@ export function collapseOperations(
     return operations;
   }
 
-  // Maps to track collapsible operations
-  const incrementsByKey = new Map<string, number>();
-  const setsByKey = new Map<string, RunMetadataChangeOperation>();
-  const deletesByKey = new Set<string>();
-  const preservedOperations: RunMetadataChangeOperation[] = [];
-
-  // Process operations in order
-  for (const operation of operations) {
-    switch (operation.type) {
-      case "increment": {
-        const currentIncrement = incrementsByKey.get(operation.key) || 0;
-        incrementsByKey.set(operation.key, currentIncrement + operation.value);
-        break;
-      }
-      case "set": {
-        // Keep only the last set operation for each key
-        setsByKey.set(operation.key, operation);
-        break;
-      }
-      case "delete": {
-        // Keep only one delete operation per key
-        deletesByKey.add(operation.key);
-        break;
-      }
-      case "append":
-      case "remove":
-      case "update": {
-        // Preserve these operations as-is to maintain correctness
-        preservedOperations.push(operation);
-        break;
-      }
-      default: {
-        // Handle any future operation types by preserving them
-        preservedOperations.push(operation);
-        break;
-      }
+  const collapsed: RunMetadataChangeOperation[] = [];
+  let i = 0;
+  while (i < operations.length) {
+    const op = operations[i];
+    if (!op) {
+      i++;
+      continue;
     }
-  }
 
-  // Build the collapsed operations array
-  const collapsedOperations: RunMetadataChangeOperation[] = [];
+    // Collapse consecutive increments on the same key
+    if (op.type === "increment") {
+      let sum = op.value;
+      let j = i + 1;
+      while (
+        j < operations.length &&
+        operations[j]?.type === "increment" &&
+        (operations[j] as typeof op)?.key === op.key
+      ) {
+        sum += (operations[j] as typeof op).value;
+        j++;
+      }
+      collapsed.push({ type: "increment", key: op.key, value: sum });
+      i = j;
+      continue;
+    }
 
-  // Add collapsed increment operations
-  for (const [key, value] of incrementsByKey) {
-    collapsedOperations.push({ type: "increment", key, value });
-  }
+    // Collapse consecutive sets on the same key (keep only the last in the sequence)
+    if (op.type === "set") {
+      let last = op;
+      let j = i + 1;
+      while (
+        j < operations.length &&
+        operations[j]?.type === "set" &&
+        (operations[j] as typeof op)?.key === op.key
+      ) {
+        last = operations[j] as typeof op;
+        j++;
+      }
+      collapsed.push(last);
+      i = j;
+      continue;
+    }
 
-  // Add collapsed set operations
-  for (const operation of setsByKey.values()) {
-    collapsedOperations.push(operation);
-  }
+    // Collapse consecutive deletes on the same key (keep only one)
+    if (op.type === "delete") {
+      let j = i + 1;
+      while (
+        j < operations.length &&
+        operations[j]?.type === "delete" &&
+        (operations[j] as typeof op)?.key === op.key
+      ) {
+        j++;
+      }
+      collapsed.push(op);
+      i = j;
+      continue;
+    }
 
-  // Add collapsed delete operations
-  for (const key of deletesByKey) {
-    collapsedOperations.push({ type: "delete", key });
+    // For append, remove, update, and unknown types, preserve order and do not collapse
+    collapsed.push(op);
+    i++;
   }
 
-  // Add preserved operations
-  collapsedOperations.push(...preservedOperations);
-
-  return collapsedOperations;
+  return collapsed;
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/test/standardMetadataManager.test.ts b/packages/core/test/standardMetadataManager.test.ts
index a96041c9f8..39ae810409 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/standardMetadataManager.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/standardMetadataManager.test.ts
@@ -395,34 +395,36 @@ describe("StandardMetadataManager", () => {
       const update = metadataUpdates[0]!;
       const operations = update.operations!;
 
-      // Should have: 1 collapsed increment, 1 collapsed set, 2 appends
-      // (delete operations on non-existent keys are not queued)
-      expect(operations).toHaveLength(4);
-
-      // Find each operation type
-      const incrementOp = operations.find((op) => op.type === "increment");
-      const setOp = operations.find((op) => op.type === "set");
-      const appendOps = operations.filter((op) => op.type === "append");
+      // With order-preserving collapse, expect 6 operations:
+      // increment(counter, 5), set(status, processing), append(logs, ...), increment(counter, 3), set(status, completed), append(logs, ...)
+      expect(operations).toHaveLength(6);
 
-      expect(incrementOp).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[0]).toEqual({
         type: "increment",
         key: "counter",
-        value: 8, // 5 + 3
+        value: 5,
       });
-
-      expect(setOp).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[1]).toEqual({
         type: "set",
         key: "status",
-        value: "completed", // Last set value
+        value: "processing",
       });
-
-      expect(appendOps).toHaveLength(2);
-      expect(appendOps[0]).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[2]).toEqual({
         type: "append",
         key: "logs",
         value: "Started processing",
       });
-      expect(appendOps[1]).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[3]).toEqual({
+        type: "increment",
+        key: "counter",
+        value: 3,
+      });
+      expect(operations[4]).toEqual({
+        type: "set",
+        key: "status",
+        value: "completed",
+      });
+      expect(operations[5]).toEqual({
         type: "append",
         key: "logs",
         value: "Processing completed",
@@ -454,42 +456,48 @@ describe("StandardMetadataManager", () => {
       const update = metadataUpdates[1]!;
       const operations = update.operations!;
 
-      // Should have: 1 collapsed increment, 1 collapsed set, 2 appends, 2 collapsed deletes
-      expect(operations).toHaveLength(6);
-
-      // Find each operation type
-      const incrementOp = operations.find((op) => op.type === "increment");
-      const setOp = operations.find((op) => op.type === "set");
-      const appendOps = operations.filter((op) => op.type === "append");
-      const deleteOps = operations.filter((op) => op.type === "delete");
+      // With order-preserving collapse, expect 8 operations:
+      // increment(counter, 5), set(status, processing), append(logs, ...), increment(counter, 3), set(status, completed), append(logs, ...), delete(tempData1), delete(tempData2)
+      expect(operations).toHaveLength(8);
 
-      expect(incrementOp).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[0]).toEqual({
         type: "increment",
         key: "counter",
-        value: 8, // 5 + 3
+        value: 5,
       });
-
-      expect(setOp).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[1]).toEqual({
         type: "set",
         key: "status",
-        value: "completed", // Last set value
+        value: "processing",
       });
-
-      expect(appendOps).toHaveLength(2);
-      expect(appendOps[0]).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[2]).toEqual({
         type: "append",
         key: "logs",
         value: "Started processing",
       });
-      expect(appendOps[1]).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[3]).toEqual({
+        type: "increment",
+        key: "counter",
+        value: 3,
+      });
+      expect(operations[4]).toEqual({
+        type: "set",
+        key: "status",
+        value: "completed",
+      });
+      expect(operations[5]).toEqual({
         type: "append",
         key: "logs",
         value: "Processing completed",
       });
-
-      expect(deleteOps).toHaveLength(2);
-      const deleteKeys = deleteOps.map((op) => (op as any).key).sort();
-      expect(deleteKeys).toEqual(["tempData1", "tempData2"]);
+      expect(operations[6]).toEqual({
+        type: "delete",
+        key: "tempData1",
+      });
+      expect(operations[7]).toEqual({
+        type: "delete",
+        key: "tempData2",
+      });
     });
 
     test("should collapse operations across different keys independently", async () => {
@@ -504,26 +512,30 @@ describe("StandardMetadataManager", () => {
       expect(metadataUpdates).toHaveLength(1);
 
       const update = metadataUpdates[0]!;
-      expect(update.operations).toHaveLength(2);
-
-      // Should have separate collapsed increments for each key
-      const filesOp = update.operations!.find(
-        (op) => op.type === "increment" && (op as any).key === "filesProcessed"
-      );
-      const errorsOp = update.operations!.find(
-        (op) => op.type === "increment" && (op as any).key === "errorsCount"
-      );
+      const operations = update.operations!;
 
-      expect(filesOp).toEqual({
+      // With order-preserving collapse, expect 4 operations:
+      // increment(filesProcessed, 10), increment(errorsCount, 1), increment(filesProcessed, 5), increment(errorsCount, 2)
+      expect(operations).toHaveLength(4);
+      expect(operations[0]).toEqual({
         type: "increment",
         key: "filesProcessed",
-        value: 15, // 10 + 5
+        value: 10,
       });
-
-      expect(errorsOp).toEqual({
+      expect(operations[1]).toEqual({
+        type: "increment",
+        key: "errorsCount",
+        value: 1,
+      });
+      expect(operations[2]).toEqual({
+        type: "increment",
+        key: "filesProcessed",
+        value: 5,
+      });
+      expect(operations[3]).toEqual({
         type: "increment",
         key: "errorsCount",
-        value: 3, // 1 + 2
+        value: 2,
       });
     });