diff --git a/changelog/69042.fixed.md b/changelog/69042.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0588042ee11a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/69042.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Restore explicit ``import salt.utils.jid`` in the ``pgjsonb`` returner so that ``prep_jid`` and ``get_jids`` no longer rely on the import being pulled in transitively. Without the explicit import, any change to the import chain raised ``AttributeError: module 'salt.utils' has no attribute 'jid'`` and prevented the master from publishing jobs when ``master_job_cache: pgjsonb`` was in use.
diff --git a/salt/returners/pgjsonb.py b/salt/returners/pgjsonb.py
index 1df833d66e04..1c4a01d1291a 100644
--- a/salt/returners/pgjsonb.py
+++ b/salt/returners/pgjsonb.py
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@
 import salt.exceptions
 import salt.returners
 import salt.utils.data
+import salt.utils.jid
 import salt.utils.job
 
 try:
diff --git a/tests/pytests/unit/returners/test_pgjsonb.py b/tests/pytests/unit/returners/test_pgjsonb.py
index d0c2bf83a5cd..a151872f284d 100644
--- a/tests/pytests/unit/returners/test_pgjsonb.py
+++ b/tests/pytests/unit/returners/test_pgjsonb.py
@@ -79,3 +79,23 @@ def test_save_load_with_bytes():
         with patch.object(psycopg2.extras, "Json") as json_mock:
             pgjsonb.save_load(load["jid"], load)
             json_mock.assert_called_with(decoded_load)
+
+
+def test_module_imports_salt_utils_jid_explicitly():
+    """
+    ``prep_jid`` and ``get_jids`` reference ``salt.utils.jid.gen_jid`` and
+    ``salt.utils.jid.format_jid_instance``. Prior to the fix the module did
+    not import ``salt.utils.jid`` itself and only worked because another
+    salt module transitively loaded it. Refactoring the import chain
+    silently broke the returner with
+    ``AttributeError: module 'salt.utils' has no attribute 'jid'``.
+
+    This regression test asserts that the module-level import is present
+    so future refactors can no longer drop it.
+    """
+    import salt.utils.jid as utils_jid
+
+    # The module's globals must expose the same ``salt.utils.jid`` object
+    # so that ``salt.utils.jid.gen_jid`` and ``salt.utils.jid.format_jid_instance``
+    # always resolve regardless of the order in which other salt modules load.
+    assert pgjsonb.salt.utils.jid is utils_jid