diff --git a/mtapi_c/src/embb_mtapi_scheduler_t.c b/mtapi_c/src/embb_mtapi_scheduler_t.c
index 0495030..1bdeddf 100644
--- a/mtapi_c/src/embb_mtapi_scheduler_t.c
+++ b/mtapi_c/src/embb_mtapi_scheduler_t.c
@@ -658,76 +658,85 @@ mtapi_boolean_t embb_mtapi_scheduler_schedule_task(
 
   assert(MTAPI_NULL != node);
 
+  if (embb_mtapi_action_pool_is_handle_valid(
+    node->action_pool, task->action)) {
 #ifdef EMBB_HARD_REALTIME
-  if (scheduler->mode == GLOBAL_EDF) {
-    embb_mtapi_task_queue_push(&node->global_task_queue, task);
-    pushed = MTAPI_TRUE;
-  } else {
-#endif /*EMBB_HARD_REALTIME*/
-    if (embb_mtapi_action_pool_is_handle_valid(
-      node->action_pool, task->action)) {
-      embb_mtapi_queue_t* local_queue = MTAPI_NULL;
+    if (scheduler->mode == GLOBAL_EDF) {
       /* fetch action and schedule */
       embb_mtapi_action_t* local_action =
         embb_mtapi_action_pool_get_storage_for_handle(
         node->action_pool, task->action);
+      /* one more task in flight for this action */
+      embb_atomic_fetch_and_add_int(&local_action->num_tasks, 1);
 
-      mtapi_affinity_t affinity =
-        local_action->attributes.affinity & task->attributes.affinity;
-
-      /* check if task is running from an ordered queue */
-      if (embb_mtapi_queue_pool_is_handle_valid(node->queue_pool, task->queue)) {
-        local_queue = embb_mtapi_queue_pool_get_storage_for_handle(
-          node->queue_pool, task->queue);
-        if (local_queue->attributes.ordered) {
-          /* yes, modify affinity accordingly */
-          affinity = local_queue->ordered_affinity;
-        }
+      pushed = embb_mtapi_task_queue_push(&node->global_task_queue, task);
+      if (!pushed) {
+        embb_atomic_fetch_and_add_int(&local_action->num_tasks, -1);
       }
+    } else {
+#endif /*EMBB_HARD_REALTIME*/
+    embb_mtapi_queue_t* local_queue = MTAPI_NULL;
+    /* fetch action and schedule */
+    embb_mtapi_action_t* local_action =
+      embb_mtapi_action_pool_get_storage_for_handle(
+      node->action_pool, task->action);
 
-      /* check affinity */
-      if (affinity == 0) {
-        affinity = node->affinity_all;
+    mtapi_affinity_t affinity =
+      local_action->attributes.affinity & task->attributes.affinity;
+
+    /* check if task is running from an ordered queue */
+    if (embb_mtapi_queue_pool_is_handle_valid(node->queue_pool, task->queue)) {
+      local_queue = embb_mtapi_queue_pool_get_storage_for_handle(
+        node->queue_pool, task->queue);
+      if (local_queue->attributes.ordered) {
+        /* yes, modify affinity accordingly */
+        affinity = local_queue->ordered_affinity;
       }
+    }
 
-      /* one more task in flight for this action */
-      embb_atomic_fetch_and_add_int(&local_action->num_tasks, 1);
+    /* check affinity */
+    if (affinity == 0) {
+      affinity = node->affinity_all;
+    }
 
-      if (affinity == node->affinity_all) {
-        /* no affinity restrictions, schedule for stealing */
-        pushed = embb_mtapi_task_queue_push(
-          scheduler->worker_contexts[ii].queue[task->attributes.priority],
-          task);
-      } else {
-        mtapi_status_t affinity_status;
-
-        /* affinity is restricted, check and adapt scheduling target */
-        ii = (mtapi_uint_t)embb_atomic_fetch_and_add_int(
-          &scheduler->affine_task_counter, 1);
-        while (MTAPI_FALSE == mtapi_affinity_get(
-          &affinity, ii, &affinity_status)) {
-          ii = (ii + 1) % scheduler->worker_count;
-        }
-        /* schedule into private queue to disable stealing */
-        pushed = embb_mtapi_task_queue_push(
-          scheduler->worker_contexts[ii].private_queue[task->attributes.priority],
-          task);
+    /* one more task in flight for this action */
+    embb_atomic_fetch_and_add_int(&local_action->num_tasks, 1);
+
+    if (affinity == node->affinity_all) {
+      /* no affinity restrictions, schedule for stealing */
+      pushed = embb_mtapi_task_queue_push(
+        scheduler->worker_contexts[ii].queue[task->attributes.priority],
+        task);
+    } else {
+      mtapi_status_t affinity_status;
+
+      /* affinity is restricted, check and adapt scheduling target */
+      ii = (mtapi_uint_t)embb_atomic_fetch_and_add_int(
+        &scheduler->affine_task_counter, 1);
+      while (MTAPI_FALSE == mtapi_affinity_get(
+        &affinity, ii, &affinity_status)) {
+        ii = (ii + 1) % scheduler->worker_count;
       }
+      /* schedule into private queue to disable stealing */
+      pushed = embb_mtapi_task_queue_push(
+        scheduler->worker_contexts[ii].private_queue[task->attributes.priority],
+        task);
+    }
 
-      if (pushed) {
-        /* signal the worker thread a task was pushed to */
-        if (embb_atomic_load_int(&scheduler->worker_contexts[ii].is_sleeping)) {
-          embb_condition_notify_one(
-            &scheduler->worker_contexts[ii].work_available);
-        }
-      } else {
-        /* task could not be launched */
-        embb_atomic_fetch_and_add_int(&local_action->num_tasks, -1);
+    if (pushed) {
+      /* signal the worker thread a task was pushed to */
+      if (embb_atomic_load_int(&scheduler->worker_contexts[ii].is_sleeping)) {
+        embb_condition_notify_one(
+          &scheduler->worker_contexts[ii].work_available);
       }
+    } else {
+      /* task could not be launched */
+      embb_atomic_fetch_and_add_int(&local_action->num_tasks, -1);
     }
 #ifdef EMBB_HARD_REALTIME
-  }
+    }
 #endif /*EMBB_HARD_REALTIME*/
+  }
 
   return pushed;
 }