Adobe Media Encoder 2023 Stops Encoding When Not in Focus

Hello all,

I've been encoding several Premiere Pro sequences using Adobe Media Encoder 2023.  Granted, this was before the most recent 23.2 update, but here's what's happening:

I am sending multiple sequences from Premiere Pro directly to AME 2023 23.1 and, before I start the queue encoding,  I close Premiere Pro.  The only Adobe product running when I press the Start Queue button is AME.  I then make sure that the Encoding panel is selected (or in focus).  If I switch to any other window (such as my browser or a Windows explorer), AME will run for about 10 more seconds and then stop encoding.  It doesn't officially stop or pause the encoding (there is no "Pause" indicator in the Queue panel on the item currently encoding), it just hangs there until the Encoding panel is selected (or in focus) again.  The Encode Preview just continues to display the most recent frame encoded and the Elapsed Time and Time to Completion timers don't move.  If I re-select the Encoding panel in AME, the encode immediately continues where it left off.

This means that I cannot do anything else on my computer while AME is encoding.  Additionally, I am on a work PC which is set to show the Windows Sign-in screen if I don't move the cursor for about 5 minutes.  This takes the focus away from the AME Encoding panel and hangs the encoding process. So, I can't do anything on my PC (multi-task) and I can't walk away from my PC (for example to allow AME encode overnight) as the PC goes to the login screen and AME stops encoding.  This has caused me to miss a major deadline.

Any thoughts on how to fix this behaviour?  AME should surely continue to encode when not in focus.