diff --git a/docs/src/js/interfaces/OptimizeOptions.md b/docs/src/js/interfaces/OptimizeOptions.md
index 700632342..110eb3813 100644
--- a/docs/src/js/interfaces/OptimizeOptions.md
+++ b/docs/src/js/interfaces/OptimizeOptions.md
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ const olderThan = new Date();
 olderThan.setDate(olderThan.getDate() - 1));
 tbl.optimize({cleanupOlderThan: olderThan});
 
-// Delete all versions except the current version
+// Delete versions committed before this point. Versions created by the
+// optimize call itself are newer than the cutoff and will be retained.
 tbl.optimize({cleanupOlderThan: new Date()});
 ```
 
diff --git a/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts b/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
index e8b97bf77..43a027642 100644
--- a/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
+++ b/nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ import {
   Operator,
   instanceOfFullTextQuery,
 } from "../lancedb/query";
+import { LocalTable } from "../lancedb/table";
 
 describe.each([arrow15, arrow16, arrow17, arrow18])(
   "Given a table",
@@ -2518,7 +2519,7 @@ describe("when optimizing a dataset", () => {
   it("cleanups old versions", async () => {
     const stats = await table.optimize({ cleanupOlderThan: new Date() });
     expect(stats.prune.bytesRemoved).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-    expect(stats.prune.oldVersionsRemoved).toBe(3);
+    expect(stats.prune.oldVersionsRemoved).toBe(2);
   });
 
   it("delete unverified", async () => {
@@ -2539,6 +2540,24 @@ describe("when optimizing a dataset", () => {
   });
 });
 
+it("passes cleanupOlderThan to the native binding as an absolute timestamp", async () => {
+  const optimize = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+    compaction: {
+      filesAdded: 0,
+      filesRemoved: 0,
+      fragmentsAdded: 0,
+      fragmentsRemoved: 0,
+    },
+    prune: { bytesRemoved: 0, oldVersionsRemoved: 0 },
+  });
+  const table = new LocalTable({ optimize } as never);
+  const cutoff = new Date("2020-01-02T03:04:05.678Z");
+
+  await table.optimize({ cleanupOlderThan: cutoff, deleteUnverified: true });
+
+  expect(optimize).toHaveBeenCalledWith(cutoff.getTime(), true);
+});
+
 describe.each([arrow15, arrow16, arrow17, arrow18])(
   "when optimizing a dataset",
   // biome-ignore lint/suspicious/noExplicitAny: <explanation>
diff --git a/nodejs/lancedb/table.ts b/nodejs/lancedb/table.ts
index d1fb8acd8..02d4fee83 100644
--- a/nodejs/lancedb/table.ts
+++ b/nodejs/lancedb/table.ts
@@ -147,7 +147,8 @@ export interface OptimizeOptions {
    * olderThan.setDate(olderThan.getDate() - 1));
    * tbl.optimize({cleanupOlderThan: olderThan});
    *
-   * // Delete all versions except the current version
+   * // Delete versions committed before this point. Versions created by the
+   * // optimize call itself are newer than the cutoff and will be retained.
    * tbl.optimize({cleanupOlderThan: new Date()});
    */
   cleanupOlderThan: Date;
@@ -1445,16 +1446,8 @@ export class LocalTable extends Table {
   }
 
   async optimize(options?: Partial<OptimizeOptions>): Promise<OptimizeStats> {
-    let cleanupOlderThanMs;
-    if (
-      options?.cleanupOlderThan !== undefined &&
-      options?.cleanupOlderThan !== null
-    ) {
-      cleanupOlderThanMs =
-        new Date().getTime() - options.cleanupOlderThan.getTime();
-    }
     return await this.inner.optimize(
-      cleanupOlderThanMs,
+      options?.cleanupOlderThan?.getTime(),
       options?.deleteUnverified,
     );
   }
diff --git a/nodejs/src/table.rs b/nodejs/src/table.rs
index db74d38fa..12ade78e0 100644
--- a/nodejs/src/table.rs
+++ b/nodejs/src/table.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
 
 use lancedb::ipc::{ipc_file_to_batches, ipc_file_to_schema};
 use lancedb::table::{
-    AddDataMode, ColumnAlteration as LanceColumnAlteration, Duration,
+    AddDataMode, ColumnAlteration as LanceColumnAlteration,
     FieldMetadataUpdate as LanceFieldMetadataUpdate, FtsToken as LanceDbFtsToken,
     NewColumnTransform, OptimizeAction, OptimizeOptions, Ref, Table as LanceDbTable,
 };
@@ -638,22 +638,20 @@ impl Table {
     #[napi(catch_unwind)]
     pub async fn optimize(
         &self,
-        older_than_ms: Option<i64>,
+        before_timestamp_ms: Option<i64>,
         delete_unverified: Option<bool>,
     ) -> napi::Result<OptimizeStats> {
         let inner = self.inner_ref()?;
 
-        let older_than = if let Some(ms) = older_than_ms {
-            if ms == i64::MIN {
-                return Err(napi::Error::from_reason(format!(
-                    "older_than_ms can not be {}",
-                    i32::MIN,
-                )));
-            }
-            Duration::try_milliseconds(ms)
-        } else {
-            None
-        };
+        let before_timestamp = before_timestamp_ms
+            .map(|ms| {
+                DateTime::from_timestamp_millis(ms).ok_or_else(|| {
+                    napi::Error::from_reason(format!(
+                        "cleanupOlderThan timestamp is out of range: {ms}"
+                    ))
+                })
+            })
+            .transpose()?;
 
         let compaction_stats = inner
             .optimize(OptimizeAction::Compact {
@@ -664,16 +662,22 @@ impl Table {
             .default_error()?
             .compaction
             .unwrap();
-        let prune_stats = inner
-            .optimize(OptimizeAction::Prune {
-                older_than,
-                delete_unverified,
-                error_if_tagged_old_versions: None,
-            })
-            .await
-            .default_error()?
-            .prune
-            .unwrap();
+        let prune_stats = if let Some(before_timestamp) = before_timestamp {
+            inner
+                .optimize_prune_before(before_timestamp, delete_unverified, None)
+                .await
+        } else {
+            inner
+                .optimize(OptimizeAction::Prune {
+                    older_than: None,
+                    delete_unverified,
+                    error_if_tagged_old_versions: None,
+                })
+                .await
+        }
+        .default_error()?
+        .prune
+        .unwrap();
         inner
             .optimize(lancedb::table::OptimizeAction::Index(
                 OptimizeOptions::default(),
diff --git a/rust/lancedb/src/table.rs b/rust/lancedb/src/table.rs
index 7f139c4cb..5adc3bf80 100644
--- a/rust/lancedb/src/table.rs
+++ b/rust/lancedb/src/table.rs
@@ -1739,6 +1739,33 @@ impl Table {
         self.inner.optimize(action).await
     }
 
+    /// Prune versions committed before an absolute timestamp.
+    ///
+    /// This is an internal entry point for language bindings whose public API
+    /// accepts an absolute cleanup cutoff.
+    #[doc(hidden)]
+    pub async fn optimize_prune_before(
+        &self,
+        before_timestamp: chrono::DateTime<chrono::Utc>,
+        delete_unverified: Option<bool>,
+        error_if_tagged_old_versions: Option<bool>,
+    ) -> Result<OptimizeStats> {
+        let native = self.as_native().ok_or_else(|| Error::NotSupported {
+            message: "optimize is not supported on LanceDB cloud.".into(),
+        })?;
+        let prune = optimize::cleanup_old_versions_before(
+            native,
+            before_timestamp,
+            delete_unverified,
+            error_if_tagged_old_versions,
+        )
+        .await?;
+        Ok(OptimizeStats {
+            compaction: None,
+            prune: Some(prune),
+        })
+    }
+
     /// Add new columns to the table, providing values to fill in.
     pub fn add_columns(&self) -> AddColumnsBuilder {
         AddColumnsBuilder::new(self.inner.clone())
diff --git a/rust/lancedb/src/table/optimize.rs b/rust/lancedb/src/table/optimize.rs
index 4ad58cffb..e3c171f27 100644
--- a/rust/lancedb/src/table/optimize.rs
+++ b/rust/lancedb/src/table/optimize.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@
 
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use lance::dataset::cleanup::RemovalStats;
+use chrono::{DateTime, Utc};
+use lance::dataset::cleanup::{CleanupPolicyBuilder, RemovalStats};
 use lance::dataset::optimize::{CompactionMetrics, IndexRemapperOptions, compact_files};
 use lance::index::DatasetIndexExt;
 use lance_index::optimize::OptimizeOptions;
@@ -139,6 +140,25 @@ pub(crate) async fn cleanup_old_versions(
         .await?)
 }
 
+/// Remove dataset versions committed before an absolute timestamp.
+pub(crate) async fn cleanup_old_versions_before(
+    table: &NativeTable,
+    before_timestamp: DateTime<Utc>,
+    delete_unverified: Option<bool>,
+    error_if_tagged_old_versions: Option<bool>,
+) -> Result<RemovalStats> {
+    table.dataset.ensure_mutable()?;
+    let dataset = table.dataset.get().await?;
+    let mut policy = CleanupPolicyBuilder::default().before_timestamp(before_timestamp);
+    if let Some(delete_unverified) = delete_unverified {
+        policy = policy.delete_unverified(delete_unverified);
+    }
+    if let Some(error_if_tagged_old_versions) = error_if_tagged_old_versions {
+        policy = policy.error_if_tagged_old_versions(error_if_tagged_old_versions);
+    }
+    Ok(dataset.cleanup_with_policy(policy.build()).await?)
+}
+
 /// Compact files in the dataset.
 ///
 /// This can be run after making several small appends to optimize the table