diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index b43d977a..7e17121d 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/cache v0.9.0
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/runtime v0.60.0
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/version v0.7.0
+	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.2
 	github.com/google/go-containerregistry v0.20.5
 	github.com/google/go-containerregistry/pkg/authn/k8schain v0.0.0-20250225234217-098045d5e61f
 	github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.16.5
@@ -86,7 +87,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.9.0 // indirect
 	github.com/fxamacker/cbor/v2 v2.8.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-errors/errors v1.5.1 // indirect
-	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.2 // indirect
 	github.com/go-logr/zapr v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer v0.21.1 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonreference v0.21.0 // indirect
diff --git a/internal/database/badger_gc.go b/internal/database/badger_gc.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f884c5d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/database/badger_gc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2025 The Flux authors
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+package database
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/dgraph-io/badger/v3"
+	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
+	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
+)
+
+// BadgerGarbageCollector implements controller runtime's Runnable
+type BadgerGarbageCollector struct {
+	// DiscardRatio must be a float between 0.0 and 1.0, inclusive
+	// See badger.DB.RunValueLogGC for more info
+	DiscardRatio float64
+	Interval     time.Duration
+
+	name string
+	db   *badger.DB
+	log  logr.Logger
+}
+
+// NewBadgerGarbageCollector creates and returns a new BadgerGarbageCollector
+func NewBadgerGarbageCollector(name string, db *badger.DB, interval time.Duration, discardRatio float64) *BadgerGarbageCollector {
+	return &BadgerGarbageCollector{
+		DiscardRatio: discardRatio,
+		Interval:     interval,
+
+		name: name,
+		db:   db,
+	}
+}
+
+// Start repeatedly runs the BadgerDB garbage collector with a delay inbetween
+// runs.
+//
+// Start blocks until the context is cancelled. The database is expected to
+// already be open and not be closed while this context is active.
+//
+// ctx should be a logr.Logger context.
+func (gc *BadgerGarbageCollector) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
+	gc.log = ctrl.LoggerFrom(ctx).WithName(gc.name)
+
+	gc.log.Info("Starting Badger GC")
+	timer := time.NewTimer(gc.Interval)
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-timer.C:
+			gc.discardValueLogFiles()
+			timer.Reset(gc.Interval)
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			timer.Stop()
+			gc.log.Info("Stopped Badger GC")
+			return nil
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// upper bound for loop
+const maxDiscards = 1000
+
+func (gc *BadgerGarbageCollector) discardValueLogFiles() {
+	gc.log.V(1).Info("Running Badger GC")
+	for c := 0; c < maxDiscards; c++ {
+		err := gc.db.RunValueLogGC(gc.DiscardRatio)
+		if errors.Is(err, badger.ErrNoRewrite) {
+			// there is no more garbage to discard
+			gc.log.V(1).Info("Ran Badger GC", "discarded_vlogs", c)
+			return
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			gc.log.Error(err, "Badger GC Error", "discarded_vlogs", c)
+			return
+		}
+	}
+	gc.log.Error(nil, "Warning: Badger GC ran for maximum discards", "discarded_vlogs", maxDiscards)
+}
diff --git a/internal/database/badger_gc_test.go b/internal/database/badger_gc_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..61bb5c89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/database/badger_gc_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2020 The Flux authors
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+package database
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/dgraph-io/badger/v3"
+	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
+	"github.com/go-logr/logr/testr"
+)
+
+func TestBadgerGarbageCollectorDoesStop(t *testing.T) {
+	badger, db := createBadgerDatabaseForGC(t)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(
+		logr.NewContext(context.Background(),
+			testr.NewWithOptions(t, testr.Options{Verbosity: 1, LogTimestamp: true})))
+
+	stop := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		gc := NewBadgerGarbageCollector("test-badger-gc", badger, 500*time.Millisecond, 0.01)
+		gc.Start(ctx)
+		stop <- struct{}{}
+	}()
+
+	time.Sleep(time.Second)
+
+	tags := []string{"latest", "v0.0.1", "v0.0.2"}
+	fatalIfError(t, db.SetTags(testRepo, tags))
+	_, err := db.Tags(testRepo)
+	fatalIfError(t, err)
+	t.Log("wrote tags successfully")
+
+	time.Sleep(time.Second)
+
+	cancel()
+	t.Log("waiting for GC stop")
+	select {
+	case <-time.NewTimer(5 * time.Second).C:
+		t.Fatalf("GC did not stop")
+	case <-stop:
+		t.Log("GC Stopped")
+	}
+}
+
+func createBadgerDatabaseForGC(t *testing.T) (*badger.DB, *BadgerDatabase) {
+	t.Helper()
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp(os.TempDir(), t.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	db, err := badger.Open(badger.DefaultOptions(dir))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		db.Close()
+		os.RemoveAll(dir)
+	})
+	return db, NewBadgerDatabase(db)
+}
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 816f80d3..f60e95cb 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/dgraph-io/badger/v3"
 	flag "github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -61,7 +62,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller/internal/registry"
 )
 
-const controllerName = "image-reflector-controller"
+const (
+	controllerName = "image-reflector-controller"
+	discardRatio   = 0.7
+)
 
 var (
 	scheme   = runtime.NewScheme()
@@ -90,6 +94,7 @@ func main() {
 		watchOptions            helper.WatchOptions
 		storagePath             string
 		storageValueLogFileSize int64
+		gcInterval              uint16 // max value is 65535 minutes (~ 45 days) which is well under the maximum time.Duration
 		concurrent              int
 		awsAutoLogin            bool
 		gcpAutoLogin            bool
@@ -105,6 +110,7 @@ func main() {
 	flag.StringVar(&healthAddr, "health-addr", ":9440", "The address the health endpoint binds to.")
 	flag.StringVar(&storagePath, "storage-path", "/data", "Where to store the persistent database of image metadata")
 	flag.Int64Var(&storageValueLogFileSize, "storage-value-log-file-size", 1<<28, "Set the database's memory mapped value log file size in bytes. Effective memory usage is about two times this size.")
+	flag.Uint16Var(&gcInterval, "gc-interval", 10, "The number of minutes to wait between garbage collections. 0 disables the garbage collector.")
 	flag.IntVar(&concurrent, "concurrent", 4, "The number of concurrent resource reconciles.")
 
 	// NOTE: Deprecated flags.
@@ -152,7 +158,14 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 	defer badgerDB.Close()
+
 	db := database.NewBadgerDatabase(badgerDB)
+	var badgerGC *database.BadgerGarbageCollector
+	if gcInterval > 0 {
+		badgerGC = database.NewBadgerGarbageCollector("badger-gc", badgerDB, time.Duration(gcInterval)*time.Minute, discardRatio)
+	} else {
+		setupLog.V(1).Info("Badger garbage collector is disabled")
+	}
 
 	watchNamespace := ""
 	if !watchOptions.AllNamespaces {
@@ -225,6 +238,10 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
+	if badgerGC != nil {
+		mgr.Add(badgerGC)
+	}
+
 	probes.SetupChecks(mgr, setupLog)
 
 	var eventRecorder *events.Recorder