diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0162_importjob_task_id.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0162_importjob_task_id.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0bc7cc8de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0162_importjob_task_id.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.2.15 on 2022-11-05 22:28
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("bookwyrm", "0161_alter_importjob_status"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="importjob",
+            name="task_id",
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, max_length=200, null=True),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/import_job.py b/bookwyrm/models/import_job.py
index f648c70ab..85735fe97 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/models/import_job.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/import_job.py
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ class ImportJob(models.Model):
     source = models.CharField(max_length=100)
     privacy = models.CharField(max_length=255, default="public", choices=PrivacyLevels)
     retry = models.BooleanField(default=False)
+    task_id = models.CharField(max_length=200, null=True, blank=True)
 
     complete = models.BooleanField(default=False)
     status = models.CharField(
@@ -70,15 +71,17 @@ class ImportJob(models.Model):
 
     def start_job(self):
         """Report that the job has started"""
-        start_import_task.delay(self.id)
+        task = start_import_task.delay(self.id)
+        self.task_id = task.id
 
         self.status = "active"
-        self.save(update_fields=["status"])
+        self.save(update_fields=["status", "task_id"])
 
     def complete_job(self):
         """Report that the job has completed"""
         self.status = "complete"
         self.complete = True
+        self.pending_items.update(fail_reason=_("Import stopped"))
         self.save(update_fields=["status", "complete"])
 
     def stop_job(self):
@@ -86,6 +89,14 @@ class ImportJob(models.Model):
         self.status = "stopped"
         self.complete = True
         self.save(update_fields=["status", "complete"])
+        self.pending_items.update(fail_reason=_("Import stopped"))
+
+        # stop starting
+        app.control.revoke(self.task_id, terminate=True)
+        tasks = self.pending_items.filter(task_id__isnull=False).values_list(
+            "task_id", flat=True
+        )
+        app.control.revoke(list(tasks))
 
     @property
     def pending_items(self):
@@ -143,12 +154,13 @@ class ImportItem(models.Model):
     def update_job(self):
         """let the job know when the items get work done"""
         job = self.job
+        if job.complete:
+            return
+
         job.updated_date = timezone.now()
         job.save()
         if not job.pending_items.exists() and not job.complete:
-            job.status = "complete"
-            job.complete = True
-            job.save(update_fields=["complete", "status"])
+            job.complete_job()
 
     def resolve(self):
         """try various ways to lookup a book"""
@@ -318,6 +330,10 @@ class ImportItem(models.Model):
 def start_import_task(job_id):
     """trigger the child tasks for each row"""
     job = ImportJob.objects.get(id=job_id)
+    # don't start the job if it was stopped from the UI
+    if job.complete:
+        return
+
     # these are sub-tasks so that one big task doesn't use up all the memory in celery
     for item in job.items.all():
         task = import_item_task.delay(item.id)
@@ -327,19 +343,6 @@ def start_import_task(job_id):
     job.save()
 
 
-@app.task(queue="low_priority")
-def stop_import_task(job_id):
-    """Wait, let's not"""
-    job = ImportJob.objects.get(id=job_id)
-    job.status = "stopped"
-    job.complete = True
-    job.save(update_fields=["status", "complete"])
-    for item in job.items.filter(task_id__isnull=False).values_list(
-        "task_id", flat=True
-    ):
-        app.control.revoke(item.task_id)
-
-
 @app.task(queue="low_priority")
 def import_item_task(item_id):
     """resolve a row into a book"""
@@ -369,6 +372,9 @@ def import_item_task(item_id):
 def handle_imported_book(item):
     """process a csv and then post about it"""
     job = item.job
+    if job.complete:
+        return
+
     user = job.user
     if isinstance(item.book, Work):
         item.book = item.book.default_edition