diff --git a/flytepropeller/pkg/controller/nodes/array/handler.go b/flytepropeller/pkg/controller/nodes/array/handler.go
index a772d40bb3..bb0d1458dc 100644
--- a/flytepropeller/pkg/controller/nodes/array/handler.go
+++ b/flytepropeller/pkg/controller/nodes/array/handler.go
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ func (a *arrayNodeHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, nCtx interfaces.NodeExecu
 					arrayNodeState.SubNodeDeltaTimestamps.SetItem(index, 0)
 				} else if startedAt != nil && arrayNodeState.SubNodeDeltaTimestamps.GetItem(index) == 0 {
 					// otherwise if `SubNodeDeltaTimestamps` is unset, we compute the delta and set it
-					deltaDuration := uint64(subNodeStartedAt.Time.Sub(startedAt.Time).Seconds())
+					deltaDuration := deltaTimestampSeconds(startedAt.Time, subNodeStartedAt.Time, arrayNodeState.SubNodeDeltaTimestamps.ItemSize)
 					arrayNodeState.SubNodeDeltaTimestamps.SetItem(index, deltaDuration)
 				}
 			}
@@ -825,3 +825,22 @@ func (a *arrayNodeHandler) buildArrayNodeContext(ctx context.Context, nCtx inter
 
 	return arrayNodeExecutor, arrayExecutionContext, &arrayNodeLookup, &arrayNodeLookup, &subNodeSpec, subNodeStatus, nil
 }
+
+// deltaTimestampSeconds returns the whole seconds between the ArrayNode and subNode start times,
+// clamped to the range an itemSize-bit CompactArray item can hold. A subNode may start more than
+// MaxDeltaTimestamp after the ArrayNode (large fan-out with low parallelism), and a retried or
+// recovered ArrayNode may have a later start time than its subNodes. Storing either value as is
+// panics in SetItem on every evaluation, so we trade timestamp precision for progress.
+func deltaTimestampSeconds(startedAt, subNodeStartedAt time.Time, itemSize uint) uint64 {
+	delta := subNodeStartedAt.Sub(startedAt)
+	if delta <= 0 {
+		return 0
+	}
+
+	seconds := uint64(delta / time.Second) // #nosec G115
+	if maxValue := (uint64(1) << itemSize) - 1; seconds > maxValue {
+		return maxValue
+	}
+
+	return seconds
+}
diff --git a/flytepropeller/pkg/controller/nodes/array/handler_test.go b/flytepropeller/pkg/controller/nodes/array/handler_test.go
index 2cd09be2b8..e23763baaa 100644
--- a/flytepropeller/pkg/controller/nodes/array/handler_test.go
+++ b/flytepropeller/pkg/controller/nodes/array/handler_test.go
@@ -1581,3 +1581,32 @@ func convertListToLiterals(values []int64) *idlcore.Literal {
 		},
 	}
 }
+
+func TestDeltaTimestampSeconds(t *testing.T) {
+	// default MaxDeltaTimestamp of 3 days needs 18 bits, so the largest storable value is 2^18 - 1
+	deltaTimestamps, err := bitarray.NewCompactArray(1, bitarray.Item((3 * 24 * time.Hour).Seconds()))
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	maxValue := uint64(1)<<deltaTimestamps.ItemSize - 1
+
+	startedAt := time.Date(2026, 10, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	tests := []struct {
+		name             string
+		subNodeStartedAt time.Time
+		expected         uint64
+	}{
+		{name: "SameTime", subNodeStartedAt: startedAt, expected: 0},
+		{name: "WithinRange", subNodeStartedAt: startedAt.Add(90*time.Minute + 500*time.Millisecond), expected: 5400},
+		{name: "LargestStorableValue", subNodeStartedAt: startedAt.Add(time.Duration(maxValue) * time.Second), expected: maxValue}, // #nosec G115
+		{name: "BeyondRange", subNodeStartedAt: startedAt.Add(time.Duration(267605) * time.Second), expected: maxValue},
+		{name: "SubNodeStartedBeforeArrayNode", subNodeStartedAt: startedAt.Add(-time.Hour), expected: 0},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			delta := deltaTimestampSeconds(startedAt, test.subNodeStartedAt, deltaTimestamps.ItemSize)
+			assert.Equal(t, test.expected, delta)
+			assert.NotPanics(t, func() { deltaTimestamps.SetItem(0, delta) })
+			assert.Equal(t, test.expected, deltaTimestamps.GetItem(0))
+		})
+	}
+}