diff --git a/src/croner.ts b/src/croner.ts
index ecdc5e9..816a2d3 100644
--- a/src/croner.ts
+++ b/src/croner.ts
@@ -499,6 +499,13 @@ class Cron<T = undefined> {
       waitMs = maxDelay;
     }
 
+    // Clamp negative delays to 0 - some runtimes (e.g. Deno) treat large negative values
+    // as large positive delays due to 32-bit integer overflow, causing jobs with allowPast:true
+    // and a far-past date to never fire. Use a backoff when paused to avoid a tight loop.
+    if (waitMs < 0) {
+      waitMs = this._states.paused ? 1000 : 0;
+    }
+
     // Start the timer loop
     // _checkTrigger will either call _trigger (if it's time, croner isn't paused and whatever),
     // or recurse back to this function to wait for next trigger
diff --git a/test/croner.test.ts b/test/croner.test.ts
index ac9aeff..5a8a26d 100644
--- a/test/croner.test.ts
+++ b/test/croner.test.ts
@@ -1159,6 +1159,43 @@ test(
   }),
 );
 
+test(
+  "Fire-once job with allowPast: true, paused: true, and far-past date should fire after resume",
+  //@ts-ignore
+  timeout(4000, (resolve) => {
+    let fired = false;
+    let resumed = false;
+    let settled = false;
+    let watchdog: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | undefined;
+    const veryOldDate = new Date("2020-01-01T00:00:00");
+    const job = new Cron(veryOldDate, { allowPast: true, paused: true }, () => {
+      fired = true;
+
+      if (!resumed || settled) return;
+
+      settled = true;
+      if (watchdog) clearTimeout(watchdog);
+      job.stop();
+      assertEquals(fired, true);
+      resolve();
+    });
+
+    // Should not fire while paused
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      assertEquals(fired, false);
+      resumed = true;
+      job.resume();
+
+      watchdog = setTimeout(() => {
+        if (settled) return;
+        settled = true;
+        job.stop();
+        assertEquals(fired, true);
+      }, 2000);
+    }, 100);
+  }),
+);
+
 test("Fire-once job with no allowPast and date > 1s in past should have null nextRun and not be running", function () {
   // A once-job 3 seconds in the past without allowPast should silently not schedule
   const pastTime = new Date(Date.now() - 3000);