diff --git a/src/Illuminate/Bus/UniqueLock.php b/src/Illuminate/Bus/UniqueLock.php
index dea12303b719..9a2726e9d8a5 100644
--- a/src/Illuminate/Bus/UniqueLock.php
+++ b/src/Illuminate/Bus/UniqueLock.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public function release($job)
      * @param  mixed  $job
      * @return string
      */
-    protected function getKey($job)
+    public static function getKey($job)
     {
         $uniqueId = method_exists($job, 'uniqueId')
                     ? $job->uniqueId()
diff --git a/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Bus/PendingDispatch.php b/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Bus/PendingDispatch.php
index 361454214d95..4addfe3e0ae3 100644
--- a/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Bus/PendingDispatch.php
+++ b/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Bus/PendingDispatch.php
@@ -7,9 +7,12 @@
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Bus\Dispatcher;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Cache\Repository as Cache;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldBeUnique;
+use Illuminate\Foundation\Queue\InteractsWithUniqueJobs;
 
 class PendingDispatch
 {
+    use InteractsWithUniqueJobs;
+
     /**
      * The job.
      *
@@ -207,12 +210,18 @@ public function __call($method, $parameters)
      */
     public function __destruct()
     {
+        $this->addUniqueJobInformationToContext($this->job);
+
         if (! $this->shouldDispatch()) {
+            $this->removeUniqueJobInformationFromContext($this->job);
+
             return;
         } elseif ($this->afterResponse) {
             app(Dispatcher::class)->dispatchAfterResponse($this->job);
         } else {
             app(Dispatcher::class)->dispatch($this->job);
         }
+
+        $this->removeUniqueJobInformationFromContext($this->job);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Queue/InteractsWithUniqueJobs.php b/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Queue/InteractsWithUniqueJobs.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..064c3f094233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Queue/InteractsWithUniqueJobs.php
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Illuminate\Foundation\Queue;
+
+use Illuminate\Bus\UniqueLock;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldBeUnique;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Context;
+
+trait InteractsWithUniqueJobs
+{
+    /**
+     * Store unique job information in the context in case we can't resolve the job on the queue side.
+     *
+     * @param  mixed  $job
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function addUniqueJobInformationToContext($job): void
+    {
+        if ($job instanceof ShouldBeUnique) {
+            Context::addHidden([
+                'laravel_unique_job_cache_store' => $this->getUniqueJobCacheStore($job),
+                'laravel_unique_job_key' => UniqueLock::getKey($job),
+            ]);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Remove the unique job information from the context.
+     *
+     * @param  mixed  $job
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function removeUniqueJobInformationFromContext($job): void
+    {
+        if ($job instanceof ShouldBeUnique) {
+            Context::forgetHidden([
+                'laravel_unique_job_cache_store',
+                'laravel_unique_job_key',
+            ]);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Determine the cache store used by the unique job to acquire locks.
+     *
+     * @param  mixed  $job
+     * @return string|null
+     */
+    protected function getUniqueJobCacheStore($job): ?string
+    {
+        return method_exists($job, 'uniqueVia')
+            ? $job->uniqueVia()->getName()
+            : config('cache.default');
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Illuminate/Queue/CallQueuedHandler.php b/src/Illuminate/Queue/CallQueuedHandler.php
index 4f2e9e9ce9ef..4bd5aa30feb2 100644
--- a/src/Illuminate/Queue/CallQueuedHandler.php
+++ b/src/Illuminate/Queue/CallQueuedHandler.php
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 use Illuminate\Bus\Batchable;
 use Illuminate\Bus\UniqueLock;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Bus\Dispatcher;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Cache\Factory as CacheFactory;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Cache\Repository as Cache;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Container\Container;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Encryption\Encrypter;
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldBeUnique;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldBeUniqueUntilProcessing;
 use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\ModelNotFoundException;
+use Illuminate\Log\Context\Repository as ContextRepository;
 use Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline;
 use Illuminate\Queue\Attributes\DeleteWhenMissingModels;
 use ReflectionClass;
@@ -227,6 +229,8 @@ protected function handleModelNotFound(Job $job, $e)
             $shouldDelete = false;
         }
 
+        $this->ensureUniqueJobLockIsReleasedViaContext();
+
         if ($shouldDelete) {
             return $job->delete();
         }
@@ -234,6 +238,35 @@ protected function handleModelNotFound(Job $job, $e)
         return $job->fail($e);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Ensure the lock for a unique job is released via context.
+     *
+     * This is required when we can't unserialize the job due to missing models.
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    protected function ensureUniqueJobLockIsReleasedViaContext()
+    {
+        if (! $this->container->bound(ContextRepository::class) ||
+            ! $this->container->bound(CacheFactory::class)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        $context = $this->container->make(ContextRepository::class);
+
+        [$store, $key] = [
+            $context->getHidden('laravel_unique_job_cache_store'),
+            $context->getHidden('laravel_unique_job_key'),
+        ];
+
+        if ($store && $key) {
+            $this->container->make(CacheFactory::class)
+                ->store($store)
+                ->lock($key)
+                ->forceRelease();
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Call the failed method on the job instance.
      *
diff --git a/tests/Integration/Queue/UniqueJobTest.php b/tests/Integration/Queue/UniqueJobTest.php
index 36eb9aeb5cb7..82e567282a6f 100644
--- a/tests/Integration/Queue/UniqueJobTest.php
+++ b/tests/Integration/Queue/UniqueJobTest.php
@@ -8,10 +8,14 @@
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldBeUnique;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldBeUniqueUntilProcessing;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\ModelNotFoundException;
+use Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User;
 use Illuminate\Foundation\Bus\Dispatchable;
 use Illuminate\Queue\InteractsWithQueue;
+use Illuminate\Queue\SerializesModels;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Bus;
 use Orchestra\Testbench\Attributes\WithMigration;
+use Orchestra\Testbench\Factories\UserFactory;
 
 #[WithMigration]
 #[WithMigration('cache')]
@@ -130,6 +134,28 @@ public function testLockCanBeReleasedBeforeProcessing()
         $this->assertTrue($this->app->get(Cache::class)->lock($this->getLockKey($job), 10)->get());
     }
 
+    public function testLockIsReleasedOnModelNotFoundException()
+    {
+        UniqueTestSerializesModelsJob::$handled = false;
+
+        /** @var \Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User */
+        $user = UserFactory::new()->create();
+        $job = new UniqueTestSerializesModelsJob($user);
+
+        $this->expectException(ModelNotFoundException::class);
+
+        try {
+            $user->delete();
+            dispatch($job);
+            $this->runQueueWorkerCommand(['--once' => true]);
+            unserialize(serialize($job));
+        } finally {
+            $this->assertFalse($job::$handled);
+            $this->assertModelMissing($user);
+            $this->assertTrue($this->app->get(Cache::class)->lock($this->getLockKey($job), 10)->get());
+        }
+    }
+
     protected function getLockKey($job)
     {
         return 'laravel_unique_job:'.(is_string($job) ? $job : get_class($job)).':';
@@ -185,3 +211,14 @@ class UniqueUntilStartTestJob extends UniqueTestJob implements ShouldBeUniqueUnt
 {
     public $tries = 2;
 }
+
+class UniqueTestSerializesModelsJob extends UniqueTestJob
+{
+    use SerializesModels;
+
+    public $deleteWhenMissingModels = true;
+
+    public function __construct(public User $user)
+    {
+    }
+}