diff --git a/ansible/roles/registry/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/registry/tasks/main.yml
index 3862b29..4297c48 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/registry/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/registry/tasks/main.yml
@@ -38,3 +38,23 @@
     state: present
     pull: missing
   tags: registry
+
+- name: Deploy registry GC script
+  ansible.builtin.template:
+    src: registry-gc.sh.j2
+    dest: /usr/local/bin/registry-gc
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "0750"
+  tags: registry
+
+- name: Schedule weekly registry GC cron job
+  ansible.builtin.cron:
+    name: registry-gc
+    user: root
+    weekday: "0"
+    hour: "3"
+    minute: "0"
+    job: /usr/local/bin/registry-gc >> /var/log/registry-gc.log 2>&1
+    state: present
+  tags: registry
diff --git a/ansible/roles/registry/templates/registry-gc.sh.j2 b/ansible/roles/registry/templates/registry-gc.sh.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0f40fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ansible/roles/registry/templates/registry-gc.sh.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Managed by Ansible — do not edit manually
+# Weekly registry maintenance: remove stale uploads, run GC, prune dangling host images.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+LOG_TAG="registry-gc"
+REGISTRY_COMPOSE_DIR="{{ registry_data_dir }}"
+REGISTRY_DATA_DIR="{{ registry_data_dir }}/data"
+
+log() { logger -t "$LOG_TAG" -- "$*"; echo "$(date -Iseconds) $*"; }
+
+log "=== Registry cleanup started ==="
+
+# 1. Remove stale upload sessions (failed or abandoned pushes)
+find "{{ registry_data_dir }}/docker/registry/v2/repositories" \
+  -type d -name '_uploads' -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null || true
+log "Stale _uploads removed"
+
+# 2. Garbage-collect unreferenced blobs (stop → collect → start)
+cd "$REGISTRY_COMPOSE_DIR"
+docker compose stop registry
+docker run --rm \
+  -v "${REGISTRY_DATA_DIR}:/var/lib/registry" \
+  registry:2 garbage-collect /etc/docker/registry/config.yml
+docker compose start registry
+log "Registry GC complete, registry restarted"
+
+# 3. Remove dangling Docker images from the host
+PRUNED=$(docker image prune -f)
+RECLAIMED=$(echo "$PRUNED" | awk '/Total reclaimed/{print $NF}')
+log "Docker image prune complete: ${RECLAIMED:-0B} reclaimed"
+
+log "=== Registry cleanup done ==="
diff --git a/docs/runbook-configuration.md b/docs/runbook-configuration.md
index adff9fa..242b6c0 100644
--- a/docs/runbook-configuration.md
+++ b/docs/runbook-configuration.md
@@ -434,7 +434,32 @@ ansible-vault edit ansible/group_vars/all/vault.yml
 ansible-playbook -i ansible/inventory.ini ansible/site.yml --tags registry --ask-vault-pass
 ```
 
-### 8.2 Registry web UI
+### 8.2 Automated garbage collection
+
+A cleanup script runs every **Sunday at 03:00** via cron (deployed by the
+`registry` Ansible role). Each run:
+
+1. Deletes stale `_uploads/` sessions (failed or abandoned pushes)
+2. Stops the registry, runs `garbage-collect` to remove unreferenced blobs,
+   then restarts it
+3. Prunes dangling Docker images from the host
+
+Output is appended to `/var/log/registry-gc.log` and tagged `registry-gc` in
+syslog. To check recent runs:
+
+```bash
+tail -50 /var/log/registry-gc.log
+# or
+grep registry-gc /var/log/syslog
+```
+
+To run manually at any time:
+
+```bash
+sudo /usr/local/bin/registry-gc
+```
+
+### 8.3 Registry web UI
 
 A web dashboard is available at `https://cr.ladkau.de/`. Sign in with any
 `registry_users` credential from the vault. The UI allows browsing repositories