diff --git a/src/mito2/src/gc.rs b/src/mito2/src/gc.rs
index 06dc13f5fa..d4c02b0b0a 100644
--- a/src/mito2/src/gc.rs
+++ b/src/mito2/src/gc.rs
@@ -287,6 +287,14 @@ impl LocalGcWorker {
         let region_id = region.region_id();
 
         debug!("Doing gc for region {}", region_id);
+        // do the time consuming listing only when full_file_listing is true
+        // and do it first to make sure we have the latest manifest etc.
+        let all_entries = if self.full_file_listing {
+            self.list_from_object_store(&region).await?
+        } else {
+            vec![]
+        };
+
         let manifest = region.manifest_ctx.manifest().await;
         let region_id = manifest.metadata.region_id;
         let current_files = &manifest.files;
@@ -303,10 +311,6 @@ impl LocalGcWorker {
             .map(|s| s.len())
             .sum::<usize>();
 
-        let concurrency = (current_files.len() / Self::CONCURRENCY_LIST_PER_FILES)
-            .max(1)
-            .min(self.opt.max_concurrent_lister_per_gc_job);
-
         let in_used: HashSet<FileId> = current_files
             .keys()
             .cloned()
@@ -314,7 +318,7 @@ impl LocalGcWorker {
             .collect();
 
         let unused_files = self
-            .list_to_be_deleted_files(region_id, &in_used, recently_removed_files, concurrency)
+            .list_to_be_deleted_files(region_id, &in_used, recently_removed_files, all_entries)
             .await?;
 
         let unused_file_cnt = unused_files.len();
@@ -442,6 +446,32 @@ impl LocalGcWorker {
         Ok(listers)
     }
 
+    /// List all files in the region directory.
+    /// Returns a vector of all file entries found.
+    /// This might take a long time if there are many files in the region directory.
+    async fn list_from_object_store(&self, region: &MitoRegionRef) -> Result<Vec<Entry>> {
+        let start = tokio::time::Instant::now();
+        let region_id = region.region_id();
+        let manifest = region.manifest_ctx.manifest().await;
+        let current_files = &manifest.files;
+        let concurrency = (current_files.len() / Self::CONCURRENCY_LIST_PER_FILES)
+            .max(1)
+            .min(self.opt.max_concurrent_lister_per_gc_job);
+
+        let listers = self.partition_region_files(region_id, concurrency).await?;
+        let lister_cnt = listers.len();
+
+        // Step 2: Concurrently list all files in the region directory
+        let all_entries = self.list_region_files_concurrent(listers).await?;
+        let cnt = all_entries.len();
+        info!(
+            "gc: full listing mode cost {} secs using {lister_cnt} lister for {cnt} files in region {}.",
+            start.elapsed().as_secs_f64(),
+            region_id
+        );
+        Ok(all_entries)
+    }
+
     /// Concurrently list all files in the region directory using the provided listers.
     /// Returns a vector of all file entries found across all partitions.
     async fn list_region_files_concurrent(
@@ -572,9 +602,8 @@ impl LocalGcWorker {
         region_id: RegionId,
         in_used: &HashSet<FileId>,
         recently_removed_files: BTreeMap<Timestamp, HashSet<FileId>>,
-        concurrency: usize,
+        all_entries: Vec<Entry>,
     ) -> Result<Vec<FileId>> {
-        let start = tokio::time::Instant::now();
         let now = chrono::Utc::now();
         let may_linger_until = self
             .opt
@@ -629,8 +658,7 @@ impl LocalGcWorker {
                 .collect();
 
             info!(
-                "gc: fast mode (no full listing) cost {} secs for region {}, found {} files to delete from manifest",
-                start.elapsed().as_secs_f64(),
+                "gc: fast mode (no full listing) for region {}, found {} files to delete from manifest",
                 region_id,
                 files_to_delete.len()
             );
@@ -638,15 +666,7 @@ impl LocalGcWorker {
             return Ok(files_to_delete);
         }
 
-        // Full file listing mode: perform expensive list operations to find orphan files
-        // Step 1: Create partitioned listers for concurrent processing
-        let listers = self.partition_region_files(region_id, concurrency).await?;
-        let lister_cnt = listers.len();
-
-        // Step 2: Concurrently list all files in the region directory
-        let all_entries = self.list_region_files_concurrent(listers).await?;
-
-        let cnt = all_entries.len();
+        // Full file listing mode: get the full list of files from object store
 
         // Step 3: Filter files to determine which ones can be deleted
         let (all_unused_files_ready_for_delete, all_in_exist_linger_files) = self
@@ -658,12 +678,6 @@ impl LocalGcWorker {
                 unknown_file_may_linger_until,
             );
 
-        info!(
-            "gc: full listing mode cost {} secs using {lister_cnt} lister for {cnt} files in region {}, found {} unused files to delete",
-            start.elapsed().as_secs_f64(),
-            region_id,
-            all_unused_files_ready_for_delete.len()
-        );
         debug!("All in exist linger files: {:?}", all_in_exist_linger_files);
 
         Ok(all_unused_files_ready_for_delete)