diff --git a/app/models/ci/runner.rb b/app/models/ci/runner.rb
index 123930273e0..30f5a2ee092 100644
--- a/app/models/ci/runner.rb
+++ b/app/models/ci/runner.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ module Ci
     scope :online, ->() { where('contacted_at > ?', LAST_CONTACT_TIME) }
     scope :ordered, ->() { order(id: :desc) }
 
+    after_save :tick_update
+
     scope :owned_or_shared, ->(project_id) do
       joins('LEFT JOIN ci_runner_projects ON ci_runner_projects.runner_id = ci_runners.id')
         .where("ci_runner_projects.gl_project_id = :project_id OR ci_runners.is_shared = true", project_id: project_id)
@@ -122,8 +124,22 @@ module Ci
       ]
     end
 
+    def tick_update
+      new_update = Time.new.inspect
+      Gitlab::Redis.with { |redis| redis.set(redis_key, new_update, ex: 60.minutes) }
+      new_update
+    end
+
+    def last_build_queue_update
+      Gitlab::Redis.with { |redis| redis.get(redis_key) }
+    end
+
     private
 
+    def redis_key
+      "runner:build_queue:#{self.id}"
+    end
+
     def tag_constraints
       unless has_tags? || run_untagged?
         errors.add(:tags_list,
diff --git a/lib/ci/api/builds.rb b/lib/ci/api/builds.rb
index df32f64ef83..fb14f043a18 100644
--- a/lib/ci/api/builds.rb
+++ b/lib/ci/api/builds.rb
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ module Ci
           not_found! unless current_runner.active?
           update_runner_info
 
-          last_update = Gitlab::Redis.with { |redis| redis.get(current_runner_redis_key)}
+          last_update = current_runner.last_build_queue_update
 
           if params[:last_update].present?
             if params[:last_update] == last_update
@@ -35,13 +35,8 @@ module Ci
           else
             Gitlab::Metrics.add_event(:build_not_found)
 
-            if last_update == ""
-              Gitlab::Redis.with do |redis|
-                new_update = Time.new.inspect
-                redis.set(current_runner_redis_key, new_update, ex: 60.minutes)
-                headers 'X-GitLab-Last-Update', new_update
-              end
-            end
+            new_update = current_runner.tick_update
+            headers 'X-GitLab-Last-Update', new_update
 
             build_not_found!
           end
diff --git a/lib/ci/api/helpers.rb b/lib/ci/api/helpers.rb
index 74e1871619e..e608f5f6cad 100644
--- a/lib/ci/api/helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/ci/api/helpers.rb
@@ -60,10 +60,6 @@ module Ci
         @runner ||= Runner.find_by_token(params[:token].to_s)
       end
 
-      def current_runner_redis_key
-        @runner_redis_key ||= "#{current_runner.token}_#{current_runner.tag_list}"
-      end
-
       def get_runner_version_from_params
         return unless params["info"].present?
         attributes_for_keys(["name", "version", "revision", "platform", "architecture"], params["info"])