diff --git a/frontend/src/manufacturing/ProvisioningWizard.jsx b/frontend/src/manufacturing/ProvisioningWizard.jsx
index 0593a0e..a067492 100644
--- a/frontend/src/manufacturing/ProvisioningWizard.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/manufacturing/ProvisioningWizard.jsx
@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ function StepVerify({ device, onVerified }) {
     setTimedOut(false);
     setError("");
 
-    const startTime = new Date().toISOString();
+    const startTime = Date.now();
 
     intervalRef.current = setInterval(async () => {
       try {
@@ -761,7 +761,12 @@ function StepVerify({ device, onVerified }) {
         if (hbData.heartbeats && hbData.heartbeats.length > 0) {
           const latest = hbData.heartbeats[0];
           const receivedAt = latest.received_at;
-          if (receivedAt && receivedAt > startTime) {
+          // SQLite stores datetime as "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS" (UTC, no T/Z suffix).
+          // Replace the space with T and append Z so Date.parse() treats it as UTC.
+          const receivedMs = receivedAt
+            ? Date.parse(receivedAt.replace(" ", "T") + "Z")
+            : NaN;
+          if (!isNaN(receivedMs) && receivedMs > startTime) {
             clearInterval(intervalRef.current);
             clearTimeout(timeoutRef.current);
             // Promote device status to provisioned