diff --git a/pkg/hold/gc/aux_grace_test.go b/pkg/hold/gc/aux_grace_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd9dda2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/hold/gc/aux_grace_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,427 @@
+package gc
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"atcr.io/pkg/atproto"
+)
+
+// testRescanInterval is a hold configured well below gcRecordGracePeriod.
+// Nothing enforces a lower bound on scanner.rescan_interval, so this is a legal
+// configuration.
+const testRescanInterval = 6 * time.Hour
+
+// orphanedScanState is the analysis state for a scan record whose only owner
+// answered and no longer holds the manifest: a genuine, unambiguous orphan.
+func orphanedScanState() (recordKey, manifestURI string, state auxOrphanState) {
+	manifestURI = atproto.BuildManifestURI("did:plc:bob", regressionDigest)
+	digest := extractDigestFromManifestURI(manifestURI)
+	recordKey = auxRecordKey(atproto.ScanCollection, atproto.ScanRecordKey(regressionDigest))
+
+	return recordKey, manifestURI, auxOrphanState{
+		knownManifests: map[string]*manifestInfo{},
+		knownDigests:   map[string]bool{},
+		digestOwners:   map[string]map[string]bool{digest: {"did:plc:bob": true}},
+		fetchedUsers:   map[string]bool{"did:plc:bob": true},
+	}
+}
+
+// withClock returns a copy of state wired to one pass of the orphan clock:
+// judged at now, reading carried, writing into a fresh observation map.
+func withClock(state auxOrphanState, now time.Time, carried map[string]time.Time) (auxOrphanState, map[string]time.Time) {
+	observed := make(map[string]time.Time)
+	state.now = now
+	state.orphanSince = carried
+	state.orphanObserved = observed
+	return state, observed
+}
+
+// TestAuxRecordOrphaned_RescannedRecordIsEventuallyCollected pins the grace
+// clock to orphanhood rather than to the record body.
+//
+// io.atcr.hold.scan records carry exactly one timestamp, scannedAt, and the
+// stale-scan loop rewrites it on every rescan (pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster.go
+// requeues anything older than rescan_interval, and both the success and the
+// failure constructors stamp scannedAt with time.Now). A hold whose
+// rescan_interval is shorter than gcRecordGracePeriod therefore presents GC
+// with a record that is permanently "young", however long its manifest has
+// been gone. Reading grace off that timestamp made such a record immortal.
+//
+// Simulate it: a nightly GC pass, with the stale-scan loop rewriting the record
+// between every pair of passes. The manifest is gone throughout and its only
+// owner answered every time, so the record must eventually be collected.
+func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_RescannedRecordIsEventuallyCollected(t *testing.T) {
+	recordKey, manifestURI, base := orphanedScanState()
+
+	const passes = 30 // a month of nightly runs
+	start := time.Now()
+	carried := map[string]time.Time{}
+
+	for pass := range passes {
+		now := start.Add(time.Duration(pass) * gcInterval)
+
+		// The record's own scannedAt, restamped within the last rescan
+		// interval. It is deliberately not passed to auxRecordOrphaned any
+		// more; it is here to say what the record looks like on this pass.
+		if scannedAt := now.Add(-testRescanInterval / 2); pass > 0 && scannedAt.Before(start) {
+			t.Fatalf("test setup: scannedAt %v should track the pass clock", scannedAt)
+		}
+
+		state, observed := withClock(base, now, carried)
+		_, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state)
+		carried = observed
+
+		if orphan {
+			if pass == 0 {
+				t.Fatalf("collected on the first pass; a record must survive at least "+
+					"gcRecordGracePeriod (%v) of observed orphanhood", gcRecordGracePeriod)
+			}
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
+	t.Fatalf("an orphaned scan record rescanned every %v was never collected across %d "+
+		"nightly passes (%v of wall time); the grace clock is reading the record body, "+
+		"which every rescan resets, instead of how long the record has been orphaned",
+		testRescanInterval, passes, time.Duration(passes)*gcInterval)
+}
+
+// The clock must not expire early. One pass, however long the process has been
+// up, can never collect: grace is a duration of OBSERVED orphanhood, and a
+// single observation is a duration of zero.
+func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_FirstObservationNeverCollects(t *testing.T) {
+	recordKey, manifestURI, base := orphanedScanState()
+
+	state, _ := withClock(base, time.Now(), map[string]time.Time{})
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); orphan {
+		t.Fatal("a slot observed orphaned for the first time must be kept")
+	}
+}
+
+// A slot that stops looking orphaned loses its accrued age, and starts over if
+// it ever looks orphaned again. This is what protects a re-pushed image: the
+// pass that sees the manifest back does not observe the slot, commit drops it,
+// and any later deletion has to wait out a fresh grace period.
+func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_ClockResetsWhenManifestReturns(t *testing.T) {
+	recordKey, manifestURI, base := orphanedScanState()
+	start := time.Now()
+
+	// Pass 1: orphaned, clock starts.
+	state, observed := withClock(base, start, map[string]time.Time{})
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); orphan {
+		t.Fatal("first observation should not collect")
+	}
+	if _, tracked := observed[recordKey]; !tracked {
+		t.Fatal("first observation should have started the clock for the slot")
+	}
+	carried := observed
+
+	// Pass 2, a day later: the user re-pushed, so the manifest is live again.
+	// The slot must not be observed, and commit's replace semantics mean the
+	// entry is gone from what the next pass carries.
+	live := base
+	live.knownManifests = map[string]*manifestInfo{manifestURI: {URI: manifestURI, UserDID: "did:plc:bob"}}
+	live.knownDigests = map[string]bool{extractDigestFromManifestURI(manifestURI): true}
+	state, observed = withClock(live, start.Add(gcInterval), carried)
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); orphan {
+		t.Fatal("a slot whose manifest is live must never be collected")
+	}
+	if _, tracked := observed[recordKey]; tracked {
+		t.Fatal("a live slot must not accrue orphan age")
+	}
+	carried = observed
+
+	// Pass 3, a day after that: the manifest is gone again. Because pass 2
+	// dropped the entry, this is a first observation, not a day-old one.
+	state, observed = withClock(base, start.Add(2*gcInterval), carried)
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); orphan {
+		t.Fatal("grace must restart after the slot came back to life, not resume")
+	}
+	carried = observed
+
+	// And a day after THAT it is collectable, so the reset is a delay and not
+	// a permanent reprieve.
+	state, _ = withClock(base, start.Add(3*gcInterval), carried)
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); !orphan {
+		t.Fatal("a slot orphaned continuously for a full grace period should be collected")
+	}
+}
+
+// A record whose owner was unreachable this pass is not judged, and must not
+// accrue age either. The sweep's standing rule is that an unreachable PDS never
+// contributes to a deletion; a clock ticking in the background while a hold is
+// down would break that quietly, a run later.
+func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_UnreachableOwnerDoesNotAccrueAge(t *testing.T) {
+	recordKey, manifestURI, base := orphanedScanState()
+
+	offline := base
+	offline.fetchedUsers = map[string]bool{}
+
+	state, observed := withClock(offline, time.Now(), map[string]time.Time{})
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); orphan {
+		t.Fatal("a record whose owning PDS was unreachable must be kept")
+	}
+	if _, tracked := observed[recordKey]; tracked {
+		t.Fatal("an unreachable owner's record must not accrue orphan age")
+	}
+}
+
+// A restart empties the clock, so every surviving orphan starts its grace
+// period over. That costs a day of retention, which is the safe direction, and
+// it is the tradeoff for the clock being in-memory rather than persisted.
+func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_RestartRestartsGrace(t *testing.T) {
+	recordKey, manifestURI, base := orphanedScanState()
+	start := time.Now()
+
+	// A pass just before the restart, which would have collected on the next.
+	state, observed := withClock(base, start, map[string]time.Time{})
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); orphan {
+		t.Fatal("first observation should not collect")
+	}
+	if len(observed) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected the slot to be tracked, got %d entries", len(observed))
+	}
+
+	// Restart: a fresh process carries nothing, so the pass that would have
+	// collected instead re-observes from scratch.
+	state, observed = withClock(base, start.Add(gcInterval), map[string]time.Time{})
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); orphan {
+		t.Fatal("after a restart the clock must start over, not collect on the first pass")
+	}
+
+	// And it collects a grace period after the restart, so a restart delays
+	// collection rather than preventing it.
+	state, _ = withClock(base, start.Add(2*gcInterval), observed)
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); !orphan {
+		t.Fatal("a restarted clock should still collect a full grace period later")
+	}
+}
+
+// The image-config sweep changed along with the scan sweep, so this pins that
+// the change never collects one EARLIER than the old createdAt rule would have.
+// The old clock started when the record was written; the new one starts when GC
+// first observed it orphaned, which cannot be before it was written. So for the
+// collection whose timestamp did not reset, the general fix is strictly the
+// more conservative of the two.
+func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_ImageConfigIsNotCollectedEarlier(t *testing.T) {
+	manifestURI := atproto.BuildManifestURI("did:plc:bob", regressionDigest)
+	digest := extractDigestFromManifestURI(manifestURI)
+	recordKey := auxRecordKey(atproto.ImageConfigCollection, atproto.ScanRecordKey(regressionDigest))
+
+	base := auxOrphanState{
+		knownManifests: map[string]*manifestInfo{},
+		knownDigests:   map[string]bool{},
+		digestOwners:   map[string]map[string]bool{digest: {"did:plc:bob": true}},
+		fetchedUsers:   map[string]bool{"did:plc:bob": true},
+	}
+
+	// The record was written well before GC first looked at it. Under the old
+	// rule createdAt alone made it collectable on sight.
+	createdAt := time.Now().Add(-30 * 24 * time.Hour)
+	firstPass := time.Now()
+	if !firstPass.After(createdAt.Add(gcRecordGracePeriod)) {
+		t.Fatal("test setup: the record should be past grace by its createdAt")
+	}
+
+	state, observed := withClock(base, firstPass, map[string]time.Time{})
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); orphan {
+		t.Fatal("an image-config record must not be collected on the pass that first observed it, " +
+			"however old its createdAt")
+	}
+
+	state, _ = withClock(base, firstPass.Add(gcRecordGracePeriod), observed)
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI, state); !orphan {
+		t.Fatal("an image-config record orphaned across a full grace period should be collected")
+	}
+}
+
+// graceElapsed is the whole clock, so its edges are worth pinning directly:
+// every uncertain input must start the clock rather than expire it.
+func TestGraceElapsed(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	const key = "io.atcr.hold.scan/abc"
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name  string
+		since map[string]time.Time
+		want  bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:  "unseen slot starts the clock",
+			since: map[string]time.Time{},
+			want:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "seen a full grace period ago is elapsed",
+			since: map[string]time.Time{key: now.Add(-gcRecordGracePeriod)},
+			want:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "seen just inside the window is not elapsed",
+			since: map[string]time.Time{key: now.Add(-gcRecordGracePeriod + time.Minute)},
+			want:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "zero time starts the clock rather than expiring it",
+			since: map[string]time.Time{key: {}},
+			want:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			// A clock that jumped backwards would otherwise leave a future
+			// timestamp behind and expire it as soon as time.Now caught up.
+			name:  "a future observation restarts the clock",
+			since: map[string]time.Time{key: now.Add(time.Hour)},
+			want:  false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			observed := make(map[string]time.Time)
+			state := auxOrphanState{now: now, orphanSince: tt.since, orphanObserved: observed}
+			if got := state.graceElapsed(key); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("graceElapsed(%q) = %v, want %v", key, got, tt.want)
+			}
+			if _, tracked := observed[key]; !tracked {
+				t.Error("graceElapsed must record the observation it was asked about")
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// A nil orphanObserved map means nothing is carried forward, so no slot ever
+// accrues age. That has to be a keep-everything failure, not a panic and not a
+// delete-everything one.
+func TestGraceElapsedNilObservedIsSafe(t *testing.T) {
+	state := auxOrphanState{now: time.Now()}
+	if state.graceElapsed("io.atcr.hold.scan/abc") {
+		t.Error("with no clock wired up, no record may be judged past grace")
+	}
+}
+
+// The clock's own carry-forward semantics: commit replaces, so a slot the pass
+// did not observe is forgotten rather than left ticking.
+func TestAuxOrphanClockCommitPrunes(t *testing.T) {
+	var clock auxOrphanClock
+	now := time.Now()
+
+	clock.commit(map[string]time.Time{"a": now, "b": now})
+	if got := clock.snapshot(); len(got) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("snapshot after commit = %d entries, want 2", len(got))
+	}
+
+	// The next pass observed only "a".
+	clock.commit(map[string]time.Time{"a": now})
+	got := clock.snapshot()
+	if _, ok := got["b"]; ok {
+		t.Error("a slot the pass did not observe must be dropped, not carried")
+	}
+	if !got["a"].Equal(now) {
+		t.Errorf("an observed slot must keep its ORIGINAL first-seen time, got %v want %v", got["a"], now)
+	}
+
+	// snapshot hands out a copy: mutating it must not reach back into the clock.
+	got["c"] = now
+	if _, ok := clock.snapshot()["c"]; ok {
+		t.Error("snapshot must return a copy, not the live map")
+	}
+}
+
+// The zero-value clock is the one every GarbageCollector starts with, so it has
+// to work without a constructor.
+func TestAuxOrphanClockZeroValue(t *testing.T) {
+	var clock auxOrphanClock
+	if got := clock.snapshot(); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("zero-value clock snapshot = %d entries, want 0", len(got))
+	}
+}
+
+// TestScanAuxRecords_RescanDoesNotResetGrace is the same bug at the level the
+// sweep actually runs at: a real embedded PDS, a real scan record, and a real
+// rewrite of that record between passes.
+//
+// The unit test above proves the decision function times orphanhood. This
+// proves the sweep feeds it a slot key that survives a rescan — key it by CID,
+// or by anything the rewrite changes, and the clock silently restarts on every
+// rescan exactly as reading scannedAt did.
+func TestScanAuxRecords_RescanDoesNotResetGrace(t *testing.T) {
+	gc, holdPDS, ctx := newRegressionGC(t)
+
+	manifestURI := atproto.BuildManifestURI("did:plc:bob", regressionDigest)
+	digest := extractDigestFromManifestURI(manifestURI)
+	rkey := atproto.ScanRecordKey(regressionDigest)
+
+	writeScan := func(scannedAt time.Time) string {
+		t.Helper()
+		_, cid, err := holdPDS.CreateScanRecord(ctx, &atproto.ScanRecord{
+			Type:      atproto.ScanCollection,
+			Manifest:  manifestURI,
+			UserDID:   "did:plc:bob",
+			ScannedAt: scannedAt.Format(time.RFC3339),
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("writing scan record: %v", err)
+		}
+		return cid.String()
+	}
+
+	// Bob's manifest is gone from his PDS, and his PDS answered.
+	newState := func(now time.Time, carried map[string]time.Time) (auxOrphanState, map[string]time.Time) {
+		observed := make(map[string]time.Time)
+		return auxOrphanState{
+			knownManifests: map[string]*manifestInfo{},
+			knownDigests:   map[string]bool{},
+			digestOwners:   map[string]map[string]bool{digest: {"did:plc:bob": true}},
+			fetchedUsers:   map[string]bool{"did:plc:bob": true},
+			now:            now,
+			orphanSince:    carried,
+			orphanObserved: observed,
+		}, observed
+	}
+
+	sweep := func(state auxOrphanState) []orphanRef {
+		t.Helper()
+		result := &analysisResult{referenced: map[string]bool{}}
+		if err := gc.scanAuxRecords(ctx, atproto.ScanCollection, state, result); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("scanAuxRecords: %v", err)
+		}
+		return result.orphanedRefs
+	}
+
+	start := time.Now()
+
+	// Pass 1: first sighting. Nothing may be collected yet.
+	firstCID := writeScan(start.Add(-testRescanInterval / 2))
+	state, observed := newState(start, map[string]time.Time{})
+	if refs := sweep(state); len(refs) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("pass 1 reported %d orphans; a first sighting must collect nothing", len(refs))
+	}
+	if _, tracked := observed[auxRecordKey(atproto.ScanCollection, rkey)]; !tracked {
+		t.Fatal("pass 1 should have started the orphan clock for the scan record")
+	}
+	carried := observed
+
+	// Between passes the stale-scan loop rescans and rewrites the record: same
+	// slot, new revision, freshly stamped scannedAt.
+	secondCID := writeScan(start.Add(gcInterval).Add(-testRescanInterval / 2))
+	if secondCID == firstCID {
+		t.Fatal("test setup: the rescan should have produced a different record revision")
+	}
+
+	// Pass 2, a grace period later. The rewrite must not have bought the record
+	// another day.
+	state, _ = newState(start.Add(gcRecordGracePeriod), carried)
+	refs := sweep(state)
+	if len(refs) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("pass 2 reported %d orphans, want 1: a rescan must not reset the grace clock", len(refs))
+	}
+	if refs[0].Rkey != rkey || refs[0].Collection != atproto.ScanCollection {
+		t.Errorf("orphan ref = %s/%s, want %s/%s", refs[0].Collection, refs[0].Rkey, atproto.ScanCollection, rkey)
+	}
+	// The ref must pin the revision the sweep actually looked at, so the delete
+	// path can still refuse a slot rewritten after this pass.
+	if refs[0].CID != secondCID {
+		t.Errorf("orphan ref CID = %q, want the revision this pass read (%q)", refs[0].CID, secondCID)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/hold/gc/aux_records_test.go b/pkg/hold/gc/aux_records_test.go
index 1269cfa..e10ba66 100644
--- a/pkg/hold/gc/aux_records_test.go
+++ b/pkg/hold/gc/aux_records_test.go
@@ -9,16 +9,27 @@ import (
 )
 
 // pastGrace is comfortably older than gcRecordGracePeriod; inGrace is newer.
+// They are first-observed-orphaned times now, not record timestamps: grace runs
+// from when the sweep first saw a slot orphaned, because a scan record's own
+// scannedAt is restamped by every rescan and never ages. See
+// TestAuxRecordOrphaned_RescannedRecordIsEventuallyCollected.
 var (
 	pastGrace = time.Now().Add(-gcRecordGracePeriod - 24*time.Hour)
 	inGrace   = time.Now().Add(-1 * time.Minute)
 )
 
+// orphanedSince builds the carried-forward orphan clock for a single slot, as
+// if an earlier pass had first observed it orphaned at t.
+func orphanedSince(recordKey string, t time.Time) map[string]time.Time {
+	return map[string]time.Time{recordKey: t}
+}
+
 func TestAuxRecordOrphaned(t *testing.T) {
 	const (
 		knownURI   = "at://did:plc:alice/io.atcr.manifest/abc123"
 		deletedURI = "at://did:plc:alice/io.atcr.manifest/def456"
 		offlineURI = "at://did:plc:bob/io.atcr.manifest/ghi789"
+		recordKey  = "io.atcr.hold.scan/def456"
 	)
 
 	knownManifests := map[string]*manifestInfo{
@@ -35,61 +46,67 @@ func TestAuxRecordOrphaned(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name        string
 		manifestURI string
-		createdAt   time.Time
-		wantOrphan  bool
-		wantDID     string
+		// orphanedAt is when an earlier pass first observed this slot orphaned.
+		// The zero value means no earlier pass did — this is a first sighting.
+		orphanedAt time.Time
+		wantOrphan bool
+		wantDID    string
 	}{
 		{
 			name:        "manifest deleted on reachable PDS is orphaned",
 			manifestURI: deletedURI,
-			createdAt:   pastGrace,
+			orphanedAt:  pastGrace,
 			wantOrphan:  true,
 			wantDID:     "did:plc:alice",
 		},
 		{
 			name:        "manifest still present is kept",
 			manifestURI: knownURI,
-			createdAt:   pastGrace,
+			orphanedAt:  pastGrace,
 			wantOrphan:  false,
 		},
 		{
-			name:        "record inside grace window is kept",
+			name:        "slot first seen orphaned inside the grace window is kept",
+			manifestURI: deletedURI,
+			orphanedAt:  inGrace,
+			wantOrphan:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "slot never observed orphaned before is kept",
 			manifestURI: deletedURI,
-			createdAt:   inGrace,
 			wantOrphan:  false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:        "unreachable PDS is kept even though manifest is unknown",
 			manifestURI: offlineURI,
-			createdAt:   pastGrace,
-			wantOrphan:  false,
-		},
-		{
-			name:        "zero timestamp is kept",
-			manifestURI: deletedURI,
-			createdAt:   time.Time{},
+			orphanedAt:  pastGrace,
 			wantOrphan:  false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:        "unparseable manifest URI is kept",
 			manifestURI: "not-an-at-uri",
-			createdAt:   pastGrace,
+			orphanedAt:  pastGrace,
 			wantOrphan:  false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:        "empty manifest URI is kept",
 			manifestURI: "",
-			createdAt:   pastGrace,
+			orphanedAt:  pastGrace,
 			wantOrphan:  false,
 		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			parts, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(tt.manifestURI, tt.createdAt, auxOrphanState{
+			since := map[string]time.Time{}
+			if !tt.orphanedAt.IsZero() {
+				since = orphanedSince(recordKey, tt.orphanedAt)
+			}
+			parts, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, tt.manifestURI, auxOrphanState{
 				knownManifests: knownManifests,
 				knownDigests:   knownDigests,
 				fetchedUsers:   fetchedUsers,
+				orphanSince:    since,
 			})
 			if orphan != tt.wantOrphan {
 				t.Errorf("auxRecordOrphaned(%q) = %v, want %v", tt.manifestURI, orphan, tt.wantOrphan)
@@ -107,22 +124,32 @@ func TestAuxRecordOrphaned(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// A record exactly at the grace boundary must be collected, not kept — the
-// boundary test is `< gcRecordGracePeriod`, so equal-or-older is eligible.
+// A slot first observed orphaned exactly a grace period ago must be collected,
+// not kept — the boundary test is `< gcRecordGracePeriod`, so equal-or-older is
+// eligible.
 func TestAuxRecordOrphanedGraceBoundary(t *testing.T) {
-	const uri = "at://did:plc:alice/io.atcr.manifest/gone"
+	const (
+		uri       = "at://did:plc:alice/io.atcr.manifest/gone"
+		recordKey = "io.atcr.hold.scan/gone"
+	)
 	fetchedUsers := map[string]bool{"did:plc:alice": true}
 
 	// A hair past the boundary, to avoid flaking on the clock ticking forward
-	// between constructing the timestamp and evaluating time.Since.
+	// between constructing the timestamp and evaluating the comparison.
 	justPast := time.Now().Add(-gcRecordGracePeriod - time.Second)
-	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(uri, justPast, auxOrphanState{fetchedUsers: fetchedUsers}); !orphan {
-		t.Error("record just past the grace period should be orphaned")
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, uri, auxOrphanState{
+		fetchedUsers: fetchedUsers,
+		orphanSince:  orphanedSince(recordKey, justPast),
+	}); !orphan {
+		t.Error("slot orphaned since just past the grace period should be collected")
 	}
 
 	justInside := time.Now().Add(-gcRecordGracePeriod + time.Minute)
-	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(uri, justInside, auxOrphanState{fetchedUsers: fetchedUsers}); orphan {
-		t.Error("record just inside the grace period should be kept")
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, uri, auxOrphanState{
+		fetchedUsers: fetchedUsers,
+		orphanSince:  orphanedSince(recordKey, justInside),
+	}); orphan {
+		t.Error("slot orphaned since just inside the grace period should be kept")
 	}
 }
 
@@ -273,10 +300,16 @@ func TestDecodeAuxRecordBytes(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// A record whose timestamp doesn't parse must decode without error but yield
-// the zero time, so auxRecordOrphaned keeps it rather than collecting it.
-func TestDecodeAuxRecordBytesBadTimestampIsKept(t *testing.T) {
-	const manifestURI = "at://did:plc:alice/io.atcr.manifest/abc123"
+// A record whose timestamp doesn't parse must decode without error and yield
+// the zero time. The timestamp is diagnostic only — it is logged beside an
+// orphan, not used to judge one — so a malformed date must neither fail the
+// decode (which would skip the record) nor change the verdict: the slot is
+// judged purely on how long it has looked orphaned.
+func TestDecodeAuxRecordBytesBadTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
+	const (
+		manifestURI = "at://did:plc:alice/io.atcr.manifest/abc123"
+		recordKey   = "io.atcr.hold.scan/abc123"
+	)
 
 	scan := &atproto.ScanRecord{
 		Type:      atproto.ScanCollection,
@@ -300,7 +333,21 @@ func TestDecodeAuxRecordBytesBadTimestampIsKept(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	fetchedUsers := map[string]bool{"did:plc:alice": true}
-	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(uri, ts, auxOrphanState{fetchedUsers: fetchedUsers}); orphan {
-		t.Error("record with an unparseable timestamp should be kept, not orphaned")
+
+	// Not yet observed orphaned for long enough: kept, as any record would be.
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, uri, auxOrphanState{
+		fetchedUsers: fetchedUsers,
+		orphanSince:  orphanedSince(recordKey, inGrace),
+	}); orphan {
+		t.Error("record inside the grace window should be kept regardless of its timestamp")
+	}
+
+	// Observed orphaned across a full grace period: collected. A record does
+	// not become immortal by carrying a date nobody can parse.
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, uri, auxOrphanState{
+		fetchedUsers: fetchedUsers,
+		orphanSince:  orphanedSince(recordKey, pastGrace),
+	}); !orphan {
+		t.Error("an unparseable timestamp must not exempt a sustained orphan from collection")
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/hold/gc/config.go b/pkg/hold/gc/config.go
index c848e41..26e18ee 100644
--- a/pkg/hold/gc/config.go
+++ b/pkg/hold/gc/config.go
@@ -21,14 +21,24 @@ const (
 	// content a client is still pushing or a takedown may yet reverse.
 	gcBlobGracePeriod = 7 * 24 * time.Hour
 
-	// gcRecordGracePeriod is how old a record must be before GC treats a
-	// missing manifest as an intentional deletion rather than a race.
+	// gcRecordGracePeriod is how long a record must have looked collectable
+	// before GC treats a missing manifest as an intentional deletion rather
+	// than a race.
 	//
 	// Records are metadata, not content, so they don't need the blob window.
 	// What they do need is to outlast a push: blobs and layer records are
-	// written before the manifest reaches the user's PDS, so a record younger
-	// than this may name a manifest that simply hasn't landed yet. A day is
-	// far longer than any push and still collects on the next nightly run.
+	// written before the manifest reaches the user's PDS, so a record that has
+	// looked orphaned for less than this may name a manifest that simply
+	// hasn't landed yet. A day is far longer than any push and still collects
+	// on the next nightly run.
+	//
+	// The two sweeps start the clock differently, because only one of them has
+	// a write time it can trust. Layer records have unique per-write TID rkeys,
+	// so the rkey dates the write and the sweep measures from it. Scan and
+	// image-config records live at a rkey derived from the manifest digest and
+	// are rewritten in place — a rescan restamps io.atcr.hold.scan's only
+	// timestamp — so their sweep measures from the first pass that observed
+	// them orphaned instead. See auxOrphanState.graceElapsed.
 	gcRecordGracePeriod = 24 * time.Hour
 
 	// maxPreviewAgeForDelete bounds how stale a preview may be when the admin
diff --git a/pkg/hold/gc/gc.go b/pkg/hold/gc/gc.go
index 79e18fa..54890db 100644
--- a/pkg/hold/gc/gc.go
+++ b/pkg/hold/gc/gc.go
@@ -65,6 +65,99 @@ type auxOrphanState struct {
 	digestOwners map[string]map[string]bool
 	// fetchedUsers are the DIDs whose PDS answered completely this run.
 	fetchedUsers map[string]bool
+
+	// now is the wall clock for this analysis pass, held once so every record
+	// in the pass is judged against the same instant. The zero value means
+	// time.Now(), which is what unit tests that don't care about the clock get.
+	now time.Time
+	// orphanSince carries forward, per auxRecordKey slot, the first time an
+	// earlier pass in this process observed that slot orphaned. Reading it is
+	// what makes grace measure orphanhood rather than record age.
+	orphanSince map[string]time.Time
+	// orphanObserved collects this pass's observations, keyed the same way, for
+	// the caller to carry into the next pass. A nil map means "carry nothing
+	// forward", which fails safe: no slot accrues age, so nothing is collected.
+	orphanObserved map[string]time.Time
+}
+
+// auxRecordKey identifies one auxiliary record slot for the orphan clock.
+//
+// Deliberately collection+rkey with no CID: the clock times how long the SLOT
+// has been orphaned, and a rewrite that leaves it orphaned — a rescan
+// restamping io.atcr.hold.scan — must not restart it. A rewrite that makes the
+// slot live again needs no special handling here; the orphan test stops
+// observing it and commit drops the entry.
+func auxRecordKey(collection, rkey string) string {
+	return collection + "/" + rkey
+}
+
+// graceElapsed records that recordKey looks orphaned as of this pass, and
+// reports whether it has looked that way for at least gcRecordGracePeriod.
+//
+// Every uncertain input starts the clock at now rather than expiring it: an
+// unrecorded slot (first pass, or first pass after a restart), a zero time, and
+// a time in the future all mean "we cannot show this has been orphaned for a
+// full grace period", so the record survives at least one more pass.
+//
+// Call this LAST, after a record has already failed every other test. Observing
+// a slot that is not actually orphaned accrues age against it, and the entry
+// would then already be stale the moment its manifest genuinely disappeared.
+func (s auxOrphanState) graceElapsed(recordKey string) bool {
+	now := s.now
+	if now.IsZero() {
+		now = time.Now()
+	}
+
+	since, ok := s.orphanSince[recordKey]
+	if !ok || since.IsZero() || since.After(now) {
+		since = now
+	}
+	if s.orphanObserved != nil {
+		s.orphanObserved[recordKey] = since
+	}
+	return now.Sub(since) >= gcRecordGracePeriod
+}
+
+// auxOrphanClock is the process-lifetime memory behind that calculation: which
+// auxiliary record slots looked orphaned, and since when.
+//
+// It is in-memory only, so a restart forgets every observation and each
+// surviving orphan starts its grace period over. That is the conservative
+// direction — a restart delays collection and never advances it — and it is
+// why commit replaces rather than merges.
+type auxOrphanClock struct {
+	mu    sync.Mutex
+	since map[string]time.Time
+}
+
+// snapshot copies the recorded first-observation times for one analysis pass.
+func (c *auxOrphanClock) snapshot() map[string]time.Time {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+
+	out := make(map[string]time.Time, len(c.since))
+	for k, v := range c.since {
+		out[k] = v
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// commit replaces the recorded times with a completed pass's observations.
+//
+// Replacing rather than merging is the point: a slot the pass did not observe
+// orphaned loses its accrued age. That covers the record coming back to life,
+// the record being deleted, and the record's owner being unreachable — the last
+// of which is why this is a replace. An owner we could not reach is an owner we
+// cannot judge, and the sweep's standing rule is that an unreachable PDS never
+// contributes to a deletion, not even by letting a clock run in the background.
+//
+// Only call this for a pass that completed. A pass that failed partway has
+// observed only a prefix of the collection, and committing it would reset the
+// clock on everything past that point.
+func (c *auxOrphanClock) commit(observed map[string]time.Time) {
+	c.mu.Lock()
+	defer c.mu.Unlock()
+	c.since = observed
 }
 
 // recordDigestOwner notes that the DID in manifestURI owns a manifest at that
@@ -260,6 +353,11 @@ type GarbageCollector struct {
 	// still serving on the predecessor's behalf.
 	predecessorCache map[string]bool
 
+	// auxOrphans times how long each scan / image-config record slot has looked
+	// orphaned, across analysis passes. See auxOrphanClock: it is the grace
+	// clock for those two collections, and it lives only as long as the process.
+	auxOrphans auxOrphanClock
+
 	// predecessorUnresolved holds the DIDs whose predecessor status could not be
 	// determined during the current analysis. It exists only so that one
 	// unreachable hold costs a single 5s timeout per run rather than one per
@@ -1022,22 +1120,40 @@ func (gc *GarbageCollector) analyzeRecords(ctx context.Context) (*analysisResult
 	gc.logger.Info("Scanned layer records", "total", result.totalRecords, "coveredPairs", len(coveredPairs))
 
 	// Step 3b: Scan scan and image-config records. These are keyed by manifest
-	// digest rather than TID and hold no blob references of their own, so the
-	// only question is whether their manifest still exists. Without this sweep
-	// they survive forever when a user deletes a manifest record directly on
-	// their PDS — the purgeManifest XRPC only fires on appview-driven deletes.
+	// digest rather than TID, so the only question is whether their manifest
+	// still exists. Without this sweep they survive forever when a user deletes
+	// a manifest record directly on their PDS — the purgeManifest XRPC only
+	// fires on appview-driven deletes.
+	//
+	// Their blob references are NOT part of the referenced set this sweep
+	// builds. io.atcr.hold.scan carries sbomBlob and vulnReportBlob, but those
+	// live in the hold's own PDS blob store at /repos/<safe-did>/blobs/<cid>,
+	// while the blob sweep walks the registry prefix /docker/registry/v2/blobs.
+	// The two spaces do not overlap, so deleting a scan record here neither
+	// frees its SBOM nor risks orphaning a blob this sweep could delete. That
+	// blob space is currently never collected at all; a sweep for it would have
+	// to read these two fields before the record goes.
 	gc.setProgress("records", "Scanning scan and image config records...", gc.operationType)
 	auxState := auxOrphanState{
 		knownManifests: knownManifests,
 		knownDigests:   knownDigests,
 		digestOwners:   digestOwners,
 		fetchedUsers:   fetchedUsers,
+		now:            time.Now(),
+		orphanSince:    gc.auxOrphans.snapshot(),
+		orphanObserved: make(map[string]time.Time),
 	}
 	for _, collection := range []string{atproto.ScanCollection, atproto.ImageConfigCollection} {
 		if err := gc.scanAuxRecords(ctx, collection, auxState, result); err != nil {
+			// Deliberately not committing: a pass that stopped partway saw only
+			// part of the collection, and committing it would reset the grace
+			// clock on every slot it never reached.
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("scan %s records: %w", collection, err)
 		}
 	}
+	// Both collections walked end to end, so this pass's observations are a
+	// complete picture and can replace the previous one.
+	gc.auxOrphans.commit(auxState.orphanObserved)
 
 	// Step 4: Identify missing layer records (uncovered manifest+layer pairs)
 	for _, m := range knownManifests {
@@ -1067,10 +1183,13 @@ func (gc *GarbageCollector) analyzeRecords(ctx context.Context) (*analysisResult
 // the same test the layer sweep applies, so an unreachable PDS never causes a
 // deletion.
 //
-// Grace is taken from the record body (scannedAt / createdAt) rather than the
-// rkey, because these collections use deterministic digest rkeys, not TIDs.
-// An unparseable or absent timestamp is treated as in-grace, so a malformed
-// record is kept rather than collected.
+// Grace comes from state's orphan clock, not from the record. These
+// collections use deterministic digest rkeys rather than TIDs, so there is no
+// write time in the rkey to read, and the timestamps in the body cannot stand
+// in for one: io.atcr.hold.scan's scannedAt is restamped by every rescan, so on
+// a hold whose rescan_interval is shorter than gcRecordGracePeriod it never
+// ages past grace and the record is immortal. The clock times orphanhood
+// instead, which is what grace was always meant to measure.
 func (gc *GarbageCollector) scanAuxRecords(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	collection string,
@@ -1094,14 +1213,14 @@ func (gc *GarbageCollector) scanAuxRecords(
 			scanned++
 			result.totalRecords++
 
-			manifestURI, createdAt, recCID, err := gc.decodeAuxRecord(ctx, collection, rec)
+			manifestURI, writtenAt, recCID, err := gc.decodeAuxRecord(ctx, collection, rec)
 			if err != nil {
 				gc.logger.Warn("Failed to decode record",
 					"collection", collection, "rkey", rec.Rkey, "error", err)
 				continue
 			}
 
-			parts, isOrphan := auxRecordOrphaned(manifestURI, createdAt, state)
+			parts, isOrphan := auxRecordOrphaned(auxRecordKey(collection, rec.Rkey), manifestURI, state)
 			if !isOrphan {
 				continue
 			}
@@ -1122,8 +1241,13 @@ func (gc *GarbageCollector) scanAuxRecords(
 					UserDID:     parts.DID,
 				})
 			}
+			// writtenAt is the record body's own timestamp (scannedAt /
+			// createdAt). It is diagnostic only — a scan record's is restamped
+			// by every rescan, which is exactly why it no longer gates grace.
 			gc.logger.Debug("Found orphaned record",
-				"collection", collection, "rkey", rec.Rkey, "manifest", manifestURI)
+				"collection", collection, "rkey", rec.Rkey, "manifest", manifestURI,
+				"recordWrittenAt", writtenAt,
+				"orphanedSince", state.orphanSince[auxRecordKey(collection, rec.Rkey)])
 		}
 
 		if nextCursor == "" {
@@ -1138,17 +1262,20 @@ func (gc *GarbageCollector) scanAuxRecords(
 }
 
 // auxRecordOrphaned decides whether a scan or image-config record should be
-// collected, given the manifest it names and its creation time. It returns the
-// parsed AT-URI alongside the verdict so the caller can record the owning DID.
+// collected, given the slot it occupies and the manifest it names. It returns
+// the parsed AT-URI alongside the verdict so the caller can record the owning
+// DID.
 //
-// Every uncertain case resolves to "keep": a record still inside the grace
-// window, one whose timestamp couldn't be parsed (zero time), one whose
-// manifest URI is unparseable, and one whose owning PDS was unreachable this
-// run. Only a reachable PDS that demonstrably lacks the manifest orphans it.
-func auxRecordOrphaned(manifestURI string, createdAt time.Time, state auxOrphanState) (*atURIParts, bool) {
-	if createdAt.IsZero() || time.Since(createdAt) < gcRecordGracePeriod {
-		return nil, false
-	}
+// Every uncertain case resolves to "keep": a record whose manifest URI is
+// unparseable, one whose owning PDS was unreachable this run, one a co-owner
+// might still need, and one that has not yet looked orphaned for a full grace
+// period. Only a record whose every reachable owner demonstrably lacks the
+// manifest, sustained across grace, is orphaned.
+//
+// The grace test comes last, and deliberately so. It both reads and advances
+// the orphan clock, so it must only ever see records that have already failed
+// every other test — a record judged live must not accrue orphan age.
+func auxRecordOrphaned(recordKey, manifestURI string, state auxOrphanState) (*atURIParts, bool) {
 	if _, known := state.knownManifests[manifestURI]; known {
 		return nil, false
 	}
@@ -1181,6 +1308,14 @@ func auxRecordOrphaned(manifestURI string, createdAt time.Time, state auxOrphanS
 	if state.knownDigests[digest] {
 		return nil, false
 	}
+
+	// The record looks orphaned right now. Grace runs from the first pass that
+	// saw it this way — not from any timestamp inside the record, which a
+	// rescan would reset — so a slot that has only just started looking
+	// orphaned survives to be re-judged next pass.
+	if !state.graceElapsed(recordKey) {
+		return nil, false
+	}
 	return parts, true
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/hold/gc/orphan_regression_test.go b/pkg/hold/gc/orphan_regression_test.go
index 3840fd7..b82a367 100644
--- a/pkg/hold/gc/orphan_regression_test.go
+++ b/pkg/hold/gc/orphan_regression_test.go
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ import (
 
 const regressionDigest = "sha256:e692418e4cbaf90ca69d05a66403747baa33ee08806650b51fab815ad7fc331f"
 
+// regressionScanKey is the orphan-clock slot for that digest's scan record.
+// These tests are about WHICH records the sweep judges collectable, not about
+// how long it waits, so they seed the clock past grace (see orphanedSince) and
+// let the co-ownership checks do the work.
+var regressionScanKey = auxRecordKey(atproto.ScanCollection, atproto.ScanRecordKey(regressionDigest))
+
 // TestAuxRecordOrphaned_DigestSharedAcrossUsers covers two users who pushed the
 // identical image to one hold. Content-addressed dedup means both manifests have
 // the same digest, so both users' scan and image-config records collapse onto the
@@ -62,12 +68,15 @@ func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_DigestSharedAcrossUsers(t *testing.T) {
 		extractDigestFromManifestURI(aliceURI): {"did:plc:alice": true, "did:plc:bob": true},
 	}
 
-	// The record at hex(digest) names Bob, the last writer.
-	_, isOrphan := auxRecordOrphaned(bobURI, pastGrace, auxOrphanState{
+	// The record at hex(digest) names Bob, the last writer, and has looked that
+	// way since well before the grace period, so only the co-ownership check
+	// can save it.
+	_, isOrphan := auxRecordOrphaned(regressionScanKey, bobURI, auxOrphanState{
 		knownManifests: knownManifests,
 		knownDigests:   knownDigests,
 		digestOwners:   digestOwners,
 		fetchedUsers:   fetchedUsers,
+		orphanSince:    orphanedSince(regressionScanKey, pastGrace),
 	})
 
 	if isOrphan {
@@ -105,11 +114,12 @@ func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_DigestUniqueToUser(t *testing.T) {
 		extractDigestFromManifestURI(bobURI): {"did:plc:bob": true},
 	}
 
-	parts, isOrphan := auxRecordOrphaned(bobURI, pastGrace, auxOrphanState{
+	parts, isOrphan := auxRecordOrphaned(regressionScanKey, bobURI, auxOrphanState{
 		knownManifests: knownManifests,
 		knownDigests:   knownDigests,
 		digestOwners:   digestOwners,
 		fetchedUsers:   fetchedUsers,
+		orphanSince:    orphanedSince(regressionScanKey, pastGrace),
 	})
 	if !isOrphan {
 		t.Fatal("record whose only referencing manifest was deleted should be collected")
@@ -292,9 +302,10 @@ func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_UnreachableCoOwnerIsKept(t *testing.T) {
 			digest: {"did:plc:alice": true, "did:plc:bob": true},
 		},
 		fetchedUsers: map[string]bool{"did:plc:bob": true},
+		orphanSince:  orphanedSince(regressionScanKey, pastGrace),
 	}
 
-	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(bobURI, pastGrace, state); orphan {
+	if _, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(regressionScanKey, bobURI, state); orphan {
 		t.Fatalf("record at digest %s judged orphaned while co-owner did:plc:alice "+
 			"was unreachable this run; an unreachable PDS must never cause a deletion "+
 			"(alice's manifest URI would be %s)", digest, aliceURI)
@@ -316,9 +327,10 @@ func TestAuxRecordOrphaned_AllOwnersReachableAndGoneIsCollected(t *testing.T) {
 			digest: {"did:plc:alice": true, "did:plc:bob": true},
 		},
 		fetchedUsers: map[string]bool{"did:plc:alice": true, "did:plc:bob": true},
+		orphanSince:  orphanedSince(regressionScanKey, pastGrace),
 	}
 
-	parts, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(bobURI, pastGrace, state)
+	parts, orphan := auxRecordOrphaned(regressionScanKey, bobURI, state)
 	if !orphan {
 		t.Fatal("record whose every owner was reached and no longer holds the manifest should be collected")
 	}