diff --git a/.changeset/three-bears-heal.md b/.changeset/three-bears-heal.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..114d2975c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/three-bears-heal.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend': patch
+---
+
+Minor internal tweak to `refreshByRefreshKeys`
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/database/operations/provider/refreshByRefreshKeys.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/database/operations/provider/refreshByRefreshKeys.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd3a3c717e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/database/operations/provider/refreshByRefreshKeys.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2025 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { TestDatabaseId, TestDatabases } from '@backstage/backend-test-utils';
+import * as uuid from 'uuid';
+import { applyDatabaseMigrations } from '../../migrations';
+import { DbRefreshKeysRow, DbRefreshStateRow } from '../../tables';
+import { generateTargetKey } from '../../util';
+import { refreshByRefreshKeys } from './refreshByRefreshKeys';
+
+jest.setTimeout(60_000);
+
+describe('refreshByRefreshKeys', () => {
+  const databases = TestDatabases.create();
+
+  async function createDatabase(databaseId: TestDatabaseId) {
+    const knex = await databases.init(databaseId);
+    await applyDatabaseMigrations(knex);
+    return knex;
+  }
+
+  it.each(databases.eachSupportedId())(
+    'works for the simple path, %p',
+    async databaseId => {
+      const knex = await createDatabase(databaseId);
+
+      const eid1 = uuid.v4();
+      await knex<DbRefreshStateRow>('refresh_state').insert({
+        entity_id: eid1,
+        entity_ref: 'k:ns/n1',
+        unprocessed_entity: '{}',
+        processed_entity: '{}',
+        errors: '[]',
+        next_update_at: '2021-04-01 13:37:00',
+        last_discovery_at: '2021-04-01 13:37:00',
+      });
+
+      const eid2 = uuid.v4();
+      await knex<DbRefreshStateRow>('refresh_state').insert({
+        entity_id: eid2,
+        entity_ref: 'k:ns/n2',
+        unprocessed_entity: '{}',
+        processed_entity: '{}',
+        errors: '[]',
+        next_update_at: '2021-04-01 13:37:00',
+        last_discovery_at: '2021-04-01 13:37:00',
+      });
+
+      await knex<DbRefreshKeysRow>('refresh_keys').insert([
+        { entity_id: eid1, key: generateTargetKey('k1') },
+        { entity_id: eid2, key: generateTargetKey('k2') },
+      ]);
+
+      const [before1, before2] = await knex
+        .from('refresh_state')
+        .select('next_update_at')
+        .orderBy('entity_ref');
+
+      await refreshByRefreshKeys({ tx: knex, keys: ['k1'] });
+
+      const [after1, after2] = await knex
+        .from('refresh_state')
+        .select('next_update_at')
+        .orderBy('entity_ref');
+
+      function normalizeTimestamp(t: string | Date): number {
+        return typeof t === 'string' ? new Date(t).getTime() : t.getTime();
+      }
+
+      expect(normalizeTimestamp(before1.next_update_at)).toEqual(
+        normalizeTimestamp(before2.next_update_at),
+      );
+      expect(normalizeTimestamp(before1.next_update_at)).not.toEqual(
+        normalizeTimestamp(after1.next_update_at),
+      );
+      expect(normalizeTimestamp(before2.next_update_at)).toEqual(
+        normalizeTimestamp(after2.next_update_at),
+      );
+    },
+  );
+});
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/database/operations/provider/refreshByRefreshKeys.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/database/operations/provider/refreshByRefreshKeys.ts
index c84b6c8e13..159f18fcd9 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/database/operations/provider/refreshByRefreshKeys.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/database/operations/provider/refreshByRefreshKeys.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import { generateTargetKey } from '../../util';
  * processing loop.
  */
 export async function refreshByRefreshKeys(options: {
-  tx: Knex.Transaction;
+  tx: Knex | Knex.Transaction;
   keys: string[];
 }): Promise<void> {
   const { tx, keys } = options;
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export async function refreshByRefreshKeys(options: {
 
   await tx<DbRefreshStateRow>('refresh_state')
     .whereIn('entity_id', function selectEntityRefs(inner) {
-      inner
+      return inner
         .whereIn('key', hashedKeys)
         .select({
           entity_id: 'refresh_keys.entity_id',