diff --git a/store.go b/store.go
index 8a2ce6d..d856f23 100644
--- a/store.go
+++ b/store.go
@@ -156,7 +156,6 @@ func newStoreFromConfig(operation string, config StoreConfig) (*Store, error) {
 	}
 
 	storeInstance.startBackgroundPurge()
-	storeInstance.cleanUpOrphanedWorkspaces(defaultWorkspaceStateDirectory)
 	return storeInstance, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/workspace.go b/workspace.go
index f1f0e8f..bcaac4a 100644
--- a/workspace.go
+++ b/workspace.go
@@ -159,17 +159,6 @@ func discoverOrphanWorkspacePaths(stateDirectory string) []string {
 	return orphanPaths
 }
 
-func (storeInstance *Store) cleanUpOrphanedWorkspaces(stateDirectory string) {
-	if storeInstance == nil {
-		return
-	}
-
-	for _, orphanWorkspace := range storeInstance.RecoverOrphans(stateDirectory) {
-		_ = orphanWorkspace.Aggregate()
-		orphanWorkspace.Discard()
-	}
-}
-
 func workspaceNameFromPath(stateDirectory, databasePath string) string {
 	relativePath := core.TrimPrefix(databasePath, joinPath(stateDirectory, ""))
 	return core.TrimSuffix(relativePath, ".duckdb")
diff --git a/workspace_test.go b/workspace_test.go
index 2ae88f1..3ea498f 100644
--- a/workspace_test.go
+++ b/workspace_test.go
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ func TestWorkspace_RecoverOrphans_Good(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.False(t, testFilesystem().Exists(workspaceFilePath(stateDirectory, "orphan-session")))
 }
 
-func TestWorkspace_New_Good_CleansUpOrphanedWorkspaces(t *testing.T) {
+func TestWorkspace_New_Good_LeavesOrphanedWorkspacesForRecovery(t *testing.T) {
 	stateDirectory := useWorkspaceStateDirectory(t)
 	requireCoreOK(t, testFilesystem().EnsureDir(stateDirectory))
 
@@ -198,6 +198,12 @@ func TestWorkspace_New_Good_CleansUpOrphanedWorkspaces(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer storeInstance.Close()
 
+	assert.True(t, testFilesystem().Exists(orphanDatabasePath))
+
+	orphans := storeInstance.RecoverOrphans(stateDirectory)
+	require.Len(t, orphans, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, "orphan-session", orphans[0].Name())
+	orphans[0].Discard()
 	assert.False(t, testFilesystem().Exists(orphanDatabasePath))
 	assert.False(t, testFilesystem().Exists(orphanDatabasePath+"-wal"))
 	assert.False(t, testFilesystem().Exists(orphanDatabasePath+"-shm"))