diff --git a/jetstream/consumer.ts b/jetstream/consumer.ts
index 2bb1049a..50d50ad8 100644
--- a/jetstream/consumer.ts
+++ b/jetstream/consumer.ts
@@ -977,6 +977,7 @@ export class OrderedPullConsumerImpl implements Consumer {
   iter: OrderedConsumerMessages | null;
   type: PullConsumerType;
   startSeq: number;
+  maxInitialReset: number;
 
   constructor(
     api: ConsumerAPI,
@@ -998,6 +999,7 @@ export class OrderedPullConsumerImpl implements Consumer {
     this.iter = null;
     this.type = PullConsumerType.Unset;
     this.consumerOpts = opts;
+    this.maxInitialReset = 30;
 
     // to support a random start sequence we need to update the cursor
     this.startSeq = this.consumerOpts.opt_start_seq || 0;
@@ -1067,6 +1069,7 @@ export class OrderedPullConsumerImpl implements Consumer {
   }
 
   async resetConsumer(seq = 0): Promise<ConsumerInfo> {
+    const isNew = this.serial === 0;
     // try to delete the consumer
     this.consumer?.delete().catch(() => {});
     seq = seq === 0 ? 1 : seq;
@@ -1096,7 +1099,7 @@ export class OrderedPullConsumerImpl implements Consumer {
           }
         }
 
-        if (seq === 0 && i >= 30) {
+        if (isNew && i >= this.maxInitialReset) {
           // consumer was never created, so we can fail this
           throw err;
         } else {
@@ -1294,7 +1297,7 @@ export class OrderedPullConsumerImpl implements Consumer {
 
   async info(cached?: boolean): Promise<ConsumerInfo> {
     if (this.currentConsumer == null) {
-      this.currentConsumer = await this.resetConsumer(this.serial);
+      this.currentConsumer = await this.resetConsumer(this.startSeq);
       return Promise.resolve(this.currentConsumer);
     }
     if (cached && this.currentConsumer) {
diff --git a/jetstream/tests/consumers_ordered_test.ts b/jetstream/tests/consumers_ordered_test.ts
index 27bca953..a2e914f3 100644
--- a/jetstream/tests/consumers_ordered_test.ts
+++ b/jetstream/tests/consumers_ordered_test.ts
@@ -1052,3 +1052,24 @@ Deno.test("ordered consumers - next reset", async () => {
 
   await cleanup(ns, nc);
 });
+
+Deno.test("ordered consumers - initial creation fails, consumer fails", async () => {
+  const { ns, nc } = await setup(jetstreamServerConf());
+  const jsm = await nc.jetstreamManager();
+
+  await jsm.streams.add({ name: "A", subjects: ["a"] });
+  const js = nc.jetstream();
+
+  const c = await js.consumers.get("A") as OrderedPullConsumerImpl;
+  await jsm.streams.delete("A");
+  c.maxInitialReset = 3;
+  await assertRejects(
+    () => {
+      return c.consume();
+    },
+    Error,
+    "stream not found",
+  );
+
+  await cleanup(ns, nc);
+});