diff --git a/src/main/node-runtime/managed-runtime-release.test.ts b/src/main/node-runtime/managed-runtime-release.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..300093a4cac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/node-runtime/managed-runtime-release.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, readdir, rm } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { reclaimRuntimeReleases } from './managed-runtime-release'
+
+it('removes every release and leftover but the kept one', async () => {
+  const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'orca-runtime-reclaim-'))
+  await Promise.all(['1.0', '0.9', '.download-1-left'].map((name) => mkdir(join(root, name))))
+  expect(await reclaimRuntimeReleases(root, '1.0')).toEqual([])
+  expect(await readdir(root)).toEqual(['1.0'])
+  await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+})
diff --git a/src/main/node-runtime/managed-runtime-release.ts b/src/main/node-runtime/managed-runtime-release.ts
index f16ade04e42..446a7fc41e1 100644
--- a/src/main/node-runtime/managed-runtime-release.ts
+++ b/src/main/node-runtime/managed-runtime-release.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // cheap enough for every launch: a full hash is only ever taken by an install.
 
 import { lstatSync, readFileSync, readdirSync, realpathSync, statSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { readdir, rm } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import { basename, dirname, join } from 'node:path'
 import { z } from 'zod'
 import { isDefinitiveAbsence } from '../../shared/definitive-filesystem-absence'
@@ -107,6 +108,20 @@ export function copyBesidePinnedMembers(
   }
 }
 
+/** Removes everything under `root` but the release named `keep`: called only while the caller
+ *  owns every install and launch of this runtime, so nothing else runs from or publishes into it.
+ *  Answers the entries it could not remove. */
+export async function reclaimRuntimeReleases(root: string, keep: string | null): Promise<string[]> {
+  const names = await readdir(root).catch((error: NodeJS.ErrnoException) =>
+    error.code === 'ENOENT' ? [] : Promise.reject(error)
+  )
+  const stale = names.filter((name) => name !== keep)
+  const results = await Promise.allSettled(
+    stale.map((name) => rm(join(root, name), { recursive: true, force: true }))
+  )
+  return stale.filter((_, index) => results[index]?.status === 'rejected')
+}
+
 function readRelease(folder: string, version: string): ReleaseRead {
   try {
     const receiptPath = join(folder, RUNTIME_RELEASE_RECEIPT)