diff --git a/cmd/catalogd/main.go b/cmd/catalogd/main.go
index af2463e2c6..c60de16077 100644
--- a/cmd/catalogd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/catalogd/main.go
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ func run(ctx context.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	gc := &garbagecollection.GarbageCollector{
-		CachePath:      unpackCacheBasePath,
+		CachePaths:     []string{unpackCacheBasePath, storeDir},
 		Logger:         ctrl.Log.WithName("garbage-collector"),
 		MetadataClient: metaClient,
 		Interval:       cfg.gcInterval,
diff --git a/internal/catalogd/garbagecollection/garbage_collector.go b/internal/catalogd/garbagecollection/garbage_collector.go
index f13abdad21..8c97c98545 100644
--- a/internal/catalogd/garbagecollection/garbage_collector.go
+++ b/internal/catalogd/garbagecollection/garbage_collector.go
@@ -25,7 +25,11 @@ var _ manager.Runnable = (*GarbageCollector)(nil)
 // that no longer exist. This should only clean up cache entries that
 // were missed by the handling of a DELETE event on a Catalog resource.
 type GarbageCollector struct {
-	CachePath      string
+	// CachePaths is the list of directories to garbage-collect. Each directory
+	// is expected to contain only subdirectories named after existing ClusterCatalogs;
+	// any entry whose name does not match a known ClusterCatalog — including orphaned
+	// temporary directories left by interrupted operations — is removed.
+	CachePaths     []string
 	Logger         logr.Logger
 	MetadataClient metadata.Interface
 	Interval       time.Duration
@@ -37,13 +41,7 @@ type GarbageCollector struct {
 // supplied garbage collection interval.
 func (gc *GarbageCollector) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// Run once on startup
-	removed, err := runGarbageCollection(ctx, gc.CachePath, gc.MetadataClient)
-	if err != nil {
-		gc.Logger.Error(err, "running garbage collection")
-	}
-	if len(removed) > 0 {
-		gc.Logger.Info("removed stale cache entries", "removed entries", removed)
-	}
+	gc.runAndLog(ctx)
 
 	// Loop until context is canceled, running garbage collection
 	// at the configured interval
@@ -52,13 +50,19 @@ func (gc *GarbageCollector) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return ctx.Err()
 		case <-time.After(gc.Interval):
-			removed, err := runGarbageCollection(ctx, gc.CachePath, gc.MetadataClient)
-			if err != nil {
-				gc.Logger.Error(err, "running garbage collection")
-			}
-			if len(removed) > 0 {
-				gc.Logger.Info("removed stale cache entries", "removed entries", removed)
-			}
+			gc.runAndLog(ctx)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (gc *GarbageCollector) runAndLog(ctx context.Context) {
+	for _, path := range gc.CachePaths {
+		removed, err := runGarbageCollection(ctx, path, gc.MetadataClient)
+		if err != nil {
+			gc.Logger.Error(err, "running garbage collection", "path", path)
+		}
+		if len(removed) > 0 {
+			gc.Logger.Info("removed stale cache entries", "path", path, "removed entries", removed)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/catalogd/garbagecollection/garbage_collector_test.go b/internal/catalogd/garbagecollection/garbage_collector_test.go
index 5c5fbc6cdf..1ac81bbf42 100644
--- a/internal/catalogd/garbagecollection/garbage_collector_test.go
+++ b/internal/catalogd/garbagecollection/garbage_collector_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -15,6 +16,50 @@ import (
 	ocv1 "github.com/operator-framework/operator-controller/api/v1"
 )
 
+// TestGarbageCollectorStoragePath verifies that the GarbageCollector cleans up
+// orphaned temporary directories in the StoragePath (e.g. /var/cache/catalogs).
+// These dirs are created by LocalDirV1.Store during catalog unpacking and normally
+// removed by a deferred RemoveAll, but can persist if the process is killed.
+func TestGarbageCollectorStoragePath(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	scheme := runtime.NewScheme()
+	require.NoError(t, metav1.AddMetaToScheme(scheme))
+
+	storagePath := t.TempDir()
+
+	// Known catalog — its directory must be preserved.
+	existingCatalog := &metav1.PartialObjectMetadata{
+		TypeMeta:   metav1.TypeMeta{Kind: "ClusterCatalog", APIVersion: ocv1.GroupVersion.String()},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "openshift-redhat-operators"},
+	}
+	require.NoError(t, os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(storagePath, existingCatalog.Name), 0700))
+
+	// Orphaned temp dirs left by a previously interrupted Store — must be removed.
+	for _, orphan := range []string{
+		".openshift-redhat-operators-4015104162",
+		".openshift-redhat-operators-3615668944",
+	} {
+		require.NoError(t, os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(storagePath, orphan), 0700))
+	}
+
+	metaClient := fake.NewSimpleMetadataClient(scheme, existingCatalog)
+
+	gc := &GarbageCollector{
+		CachePaths:     []string{t.TempDir(), storagePath},
+		Logger:         logr.Discard(),
+		MetadataClient: metaClient,
+		Interval:       0,
+	}
+	gc.runAndLog(ctx)
+
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(storagePath)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Only the real catalog dir should remain.
+	require.Len(t, entries, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, existingCatalog.Name, entries[0].Name())
+}
+
 func TestRunGarbageCollection(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tt := range []struct {
 		name             string
diff --git a/internal/catalogd/storage/localdir.go b/internal/catalogd/storage/localdir.go
index bbe708ca26..572ffbf363 100644
--- a/internal/catalogd/storage/localdir.go
+++ b/internal/catalogd/storage/localdir.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
@@ -53,6 +54,13 @@ func (s *LocalDirV1) Store(ctx context.Context, catalog string, fsys fs.FS) erro
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(s.RootDir, 0700); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	// Remove any orphaned temporary directories left by previously interrupted Store
+	// operations (e.g. after a process crash where deferred cleanup did not run).
+	if err := s.removeOrphanedTempDirs(catalog); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error removing orphaned temp directories: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	tmpCatalogDir, err := os.MkdirTemp(s.RootDir, fmt.Sprintf(".%s-*", catalog))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -107,6 +115,30 @@ func (s *LocalDirV1) Store(ctx context.Context, catalog string, fsys fs.FS) erro
 	)
 }
 
+// removeOrphanedTempDirs removes temporary staging directories that were created by a
+// previous Store call for the given catalog but were not cleaned up because the process
+// was interrupted (e.g. killed by the OOM killer) before the deferred RemoveAll could run.
+// Temp dirs use the prefix ".{catalog}-" as created by os.MkdirTemp.
+// This method must be called while the write lock is held.
+func (s *LocalDirV1) removeOrphanedTempDirs(catalog string) error {
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(s.RootDir)
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error reading storage directory: %w", err)
+	}
+	prefix := fmt.Sprintf(".%s-", catalog)
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(entry.Name(), prefix) {
+			if err := os.RemoveAll(filepath.Join(s.RootDir, entry.Name())); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("error removing orphaned temp directory %q: %w", entry.Name(), err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (s *LocalDirV1) Delete(catalog string) error {
 	s.m.Lock()
 	defer s.m.Unlock()
diff --git a/internal/catalogd/storage/localdir_test.go b/internal/catalogd/storage/localdir_test.go
index 72aafba1c7..44387cb845 100644
--- a/internal/catalogd/storage/localdir_test.go
+++ b/internal/catalogd/storage/localdir_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
@@ -138,6 +139,71 @@ func TestLocalDirStoraget(t *testing.T) {
 				}
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "orphaned temp dirs from a previous interrupted store are cleaned up",
+			setup: func(t *testing.T) (*LocalDirV1, fs.FS) {
+				rootDir := t.TempDir()
+				s := &LocalDirV1{RootDir: rootDir}
+
+				// Simulate temp dirs left behind by a previous crashed Store run.
+				for _, orphan := range []string{
+					".test-catalog-1234567890",
+					".test-catalog-9876543210",
+				} {
+					if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(rootDir, orphan), 0700); err != nil {
+						t.Fatal(err)
+					}
+				}
+				// A dir for a different catalog must not be removed.
+				if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(rootDir, ".other-catalog-1111111111"), 0700); err != nil {
+					t.Fatal(err)
+				}
+				return s, createTestFS(t)
+			},
+			test: func(t *testing.T, s *LocalDirV1, fsys fs.FS) {
+				const catalog = "test-catalog"
+
+				if err := s.Store(context.Background(), catalog, fsys); err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Store failed: %v", err)
+				}
+
+				entries, err := os.ReadDir(s.RootDir)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatal(err)
+				}
+
+				names := make([]string, 0, len(entries))
+				for _, e := range entries {
+					names = append(names, e.Name())
+				}
+
+				// Orphaned dirs for "test-catalog" must be gone.
+				for _, orphan := range []string{".test-catalog-1234567890", ".test-catalog-9876543210"} {
+					for _, name := range names {
+						if name == orphan {
+							t.Errorf("expected orphaned temp dir %q to be removed, but it still exists", orphan)
+						}
+					}
+				}
+
+				// The catalog dir itself must exist.
+				if !s.ContentExists(catalog) {
+					t.Error("catalog content should exist after store")
+				}
+
+				// The unrelated catalog temp dir must still be present.
+				found := false
+				for _, name := range names {
+					if name == ".other-catalog-1111111111" {
+						found = true
+						break
+					}
+				}
+				if !found {
+					t.Error("temp dir for a different catalog should not have been removed")
+				}
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name: "store with invalid permissions",
 			setup: func(t *testing.T) (*LocalDirV1, fs.FS) {