diff --git a/store.go b/store.go
index d856f23..8a2ce6d 100644
--- a/store.go
+++ b/store.go
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ 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 bcaac4a..f1f0e8f 100644
--- a/workspace.go
+++ b/workspace.go
@@ -159,6 +159,17 @@ 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 319d48c..2ae88f1 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_PreservesOrphanedWorkspacesUntilRecovered(t *testing.T) {
+func TestWorkspace_New_Good_CleansUpOrphanedWorkspaces(t *testing.T) {
 	stateDirectory := useWorkspaceStateDirectory(t)
 	requireCoreOK(t, testFilesystem().EnsureDir(stateDirectory))
 
@@ -198,11 +198,7 @@ func TestWorkspace_New_Good_PreservesOrphanedWorkspacesUntilRecovered(t *testing
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer storeInstance.Close()
 
-	assert.True(t, testFilesystem().Exists(orphanDatabasePath))
-
-	orphans := storeInstance.RecoverOrphans(stateDirectory)
-	require.Len(t, orphans, 1)
-	orphans[0].Discard()
-
 	assert.False(t, testFilesystem().Exists(orphanDatabasePath))
+	assert.False(t, testFilesystem().Exists(orphanDatabasePath+"-wal"))
+	assert.False(t, testFilesystem().Exists(orphanDatabasePath+"-shm"))
 }