diff --git a/manifest/layer.go b/manifest/layer.go
index 82d44953a..9698edb82 100644
--- a/manifest/layer.go
+++ b/manifest/layer.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type Layer struct {
@@ -60,6 +61,9 @@ func NewLayer(r io.Reader, mediatype string) (Layer, error) {
 			return Layer{}, err
 		}
 	}
+	if err := touchLayer(blob); err != nil {
+		return Layer{}, err
+	}
 
 	return Layer{
 		MediaType: mediatype,
@@ -83,6 +87,9 @@ func NewLayerFromLayer(digest, mediatype, from string) (Layer, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return Layer{}, err
 	}
+	if err := touchLayer(blob); err != nil {
+		return Layer{}, err
+	}
 
 	return Layer{
 		MediaType: mediatype,
@@ -93,6 +100,11 @@ func NewLayerFromLayer(digest, mediatype, from string) (Layer, error) {
 	}, nil
 }
 
+func touchLayer(path string) error {
+	now := time.Now()
+	return os.Chtimes(path, now, now)
+}
+
 func (l *Layer) Open() (io.ReadSeekCloser, error) {
 	if l.Digest == "" {
 		return nil, errors.New("opening layer with empty digest")
diff --git a/server/images.go b/server/images.go
index 110a7dc6e..35094fa55 100644
--- a/server/images.go
+++ b/server/images.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"slices"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/api"
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/envconfig"
@@ -33,6 +34,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/x/imagegen/transfer"
 )
 
+// Blobs newer than this may belong to another process that has not written its
+// manifest yet. They become eligible for the normal mark-and-sweep pass later.
+const layerPruneGracePeriod = time.Hour
+
 var (
 	errCapabilities         = errors.New("does not support")
 	errCapabilityCompletion = errors.New("completion")
@@ -478,10 +483,23 @@ func PruneLayers() error {
 	}
 
 	for _, blob := range blobs {
+		if blob.IsDir() {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		info, err := blob.Info()
+		if err != nil {
+			slog.Error("couldn't stat blob", "blob", blob.Name(), "error", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if time.Since(info.ModTime()) < layerPruneGracePeriod {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		name := blob.Name()
 		name = strings.ReplaceAll(name, "-", ":")
 
-		_, err := manifest.BlobsPath(name)
+		_, err = manifest.BlobsPath(name)
 		if err != nil {
 			if errors.Is(err, manifest.ErrInvalidDigestFormat) {
 				// remove invalid blobs (e.g. partial downloads)
diff --git a/server/images_test.go b/server/images_test.go
index d7f99afc8..19a479838 100644
--- a/server/images_test.go
+++ b/server/images_test.go
@@ -5,14 +5,58 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/fs/ggml"
+	"github.com/ollama/ollama/manifest"
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/template"
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/types/model"
 )
 
+func TestPruneLayersSkipsRecentOrphans(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("OLLAMA_MODELS", t.TempDir())
+
+	recentDigest := "sha256:0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001"
+	oldDigest := "sha256:0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000002"
+
+	for _, digest := range []string{recentDigest, oldDigest} {
+		p, err := manifest.BlobsPath(digest)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if err := os.WriteFile(p, nil, 0o644); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	oldPath, err := manifest.BlobsPath(oldDigest)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	oldTime := time.Now().Add(-layerPruneGracePeriod - time.Hour)
+	if err := os.Chtimes(oldPath, oldTime, oldTime); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if err := PruneLayers(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	recentPath, err := manifest.BlobsPath(recentDigest)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(recentPath); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("recent orphan was pruned: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(oldPath); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatalf("old orphan still exists: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestModelCapabilities(t *testing.T) {
 	// Create completion model (llama architecture without vision)
 	completionModelPath, _ := createBinFile(t, ggml.KV{