diff --git a/internal/database/artifacts.go b/internal/database/artifacts.go
index fcd6e21..68acd01 100644
--- a/internal/database/artifacts.go
+++ b/internal/database/artifacts.go
@@ -109,16 +109,22 @@ func (db *DB) InsertAccessLog(ctx context.Context, remoteName, path string, cach
 	return err
 }
 
-func (db *DB) FindOrphanedBlobs(ctx context.Context) ([]models.Blob, error) {
+// FindOrphanedBlobs returns blobs no longer referenced by any artifact or
+// local file, restricted to those created before now()-minAge. The age cutoff
+// is a grace period that avoids a TOCTOU race with in-flight dedup uploads,
+// which insert the blob row before the referencing artifact/local_files row.
+func (db *DB) FindOrphanedBlobs(ctx context.Context, minAge time.Duration) ([]models.Blob, error) {
+	cutoff := time.Now().Add(-minAge)
 	rows, err := db.Pool.Query(ctx, `
 		SELECT b.content_hash, b.s3_key, b.size_bytes, b.content_type, b.created_at
 		FROM blobs b
-		WHERE b.content_hash NOT IN (
+		WHERE b.created_at < $1
+		  AND b.content_hash NOT IN (
 			SELECT content_hash FROM artifacts
 			UNION
 			SELECT content_hash FROM local_files
 		)
-	`)
+	`, cutoff)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/gc/gc.go b/internal/gc/gc.go
index d024334..fbf0e36 100644
--- a/internal/gc/gc.go
+++ b/internal/gc/gc.go
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ import (
 	"git.unkin.net/unkin/artifactapi/internal/storage"
 )
 
+// blobGracePeriod is how old an orphaned blob must be before GC will delete
+// it. This avoids racing in-flight dedup uploads that insert the blob row
+// before the referencing artifact/local_files row exists.
+const blobGracePeriod = 1 * time.Hour
+
 type Collector struct {
 	db       *database.DB
 	store    *storage.S3
@@ -38,7 +43,7 @@ func (c *Collector) Run(ctx context.Context) {
 func (c *Collector) sweep(ctx context.Context) {
 	start := time.Now()
 
-	orphaned, err := c.db.FindOrphanedBlobs(ctx)
+	orphaned, err := c.db.FindOrphanedBlobs(ctx, blobGracePeriod)
 	if err != nil {
 		slog.Error("gc: find orphaned blobs", "error", err)
 		return