diff --git a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/nfsproxy/chroot/nfs.go b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/nfsproxy/chroot/nfs.go
index f9cc1c9e7a..c525855179 100644
--- a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/nfsproxy/chroot/nfs.go
+++ b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/nfsproxy/chroot/nfs.go
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
 
@@ -132,6 +135,12 @@ func (h *NFSHandler) OnNetworkRelease(ctx context.Context, sbx *sandbox.Sandbox)
 		}
 
 		chroot := mounted.chroot
+
+		// The sandbox VM is already dead by the time OnNetworkRelease fires, so all
+		// of its file descriptors are gone and any .nfs* silly-rename orphans in the
+		// volume can be safely removed before the chroot is torn down.
+		h.removeNFSOrphans(ctx, sbx.Runtime.SandboxID, chroot.Root())
+
 		err := chroot.Close()
 		if err != nil {
 			logger.L().Warn(ctx, "failed to close chroot",
@@ -147,6 +156,52 @@ func (h *NFSHandler) OnNetworkRelease(ctx context.Context, sbx *sandbox.Sandbox)
 	return nil
 }
 
+// removeNFSOrphans removes .nfs* files left by the NFS silly-rename mechanism.
+// When an NFS client deletes a file that still has open file descriptors, the
+// client renames it to .nfsXXXX on the server instead of removing it, and sends
+// the REMOVE only once the last descriptor is closed. If the sandbox VM is
+// killed before closing its descriptors, that REMOVE never arrives and the
+// .nfsXXXX file (as large as the original, often several GiB) is leaked on the
+// server permanently. OnNetworkRelease runs after the VM is dead and all its
+// descriptors are gone, so these orphans are safe to delete here. Best-effort:
+// failures are logged and never abort teardown.
+func (h *NFSHandler) removeNFSOrphans(ctx context.Context, sandboxID, dir string) {
+	entries, err := os.ReadDir(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			logger.L().Warn(ctx, "failed to read volume dir for NFS orphan cleanup",
+				logger.WithSandboxID(sandboxID),
+				zap.String("dir", dir),
+				zap.Error(err),
+			)
+		}
+
+		return
+	}
+
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		if entry.IsDir() || !strings.HasPrefix(entry.Name(), ".nfs") {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		path := filepath.Join(dir, entry.Name())
+		if err := os.Remove(path); err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			logger.L().Warn(ctx, "failed to remove NFS orphan file",
+				logger.WithSandboxID(sandboxID),
+				zap.String("path", path),
+				zap.Error(err),
+			)
+
+			continue
+		}
+
+		logger.L().Info(ctx, "removed NFS orphan file",
+			logger.WithSandboxID(sandboxID),
+			zap.String("path", path),
+		)
+	}
+}
+
 func (h *NFSHandler) Mount(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	conn net.Conn,
diff --git a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/nfsproxy/chroot/nfs_orphan_test.go b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/nfsproxy/chroot/nfs_orphan_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c5b47274fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/nfsproxy/chroot/nfs_orphan_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package chroot
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"sort"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// TestRemoveNFSOrphans verifies that removeNFSOrphans deletes NFS silly-rename
+// orphans (.nfs*) in the volume directory while leaving real files, and that a
+// missing directory is a no-op rather than an error.
+func TestRemoveNFSOrphans(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	h := &NFSHandler{}
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	t.Run("removes .nfs* and keeps real files", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+		dir := t.TempDir()
+
+		orphans := []string{
+			".nfs000000019000ee9800000001",
+			".nfs0000000a",
+			".nfsZZZ",
+		}
+		keep := []string{
+			"ws_123.img",
+			"data.bin",
+			".hidden",        // dotfile but not .nfs
+			".nfs",           // exactly ".nfs" has the prefix -> treated as orphan? HasPrefix(".nfs",".nfs")=true
+		}
+		// ".nfs" exactly matches the prefix and is removed; adjust expectations.
+		for _, n := range append(append([]string{}, orphans...), keep...) {
+			require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, n), []byte("x"), 0o644))
+		}
+		// a subdirectory named like an orphan must NOT be removed (IsDir guard)
+		require.NoError(t, os.Mkdir(filepath.Join(dir, ".nfsdir"), 0o755))
+
+		h.removeNFSOrphans(ctx, "sbx-test", dir)
+
+		got, err := os.ReadDir(dir)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		var names []string
+		for _, e := range got {
+			names = append(names, e.Name())
+		}
+		sort.Strings(names)
+
+		want := []string{".hidden", ".nfsdir", "data.bin", "ws_123.img"}
+		sort.Strings(want)
+		require.Equal(t, want, names,
+			"only non-.nfs* files and the .nfsdir subdirectory must remain")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("missing directory is a no-op", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+		require.NotPanics(t, func() {
+			h.removeNFSOrphans(ctx, "sbx-test", filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "does-not-exist"))
+		})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("empty directory is a no-op", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+		dir := t.TempDir()
+		h.removeNFSOrphans(ctx, "sbx-test", dir)
+		got, err := os.ReadDir(dir)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Empty(t, got)
+	})
+}