diff --git a/paperweight-lib/src/main/kotlin/tasks/ApplyGitPatches.kt b/paperweight-lib/src/main/kotlin/tasks/ApplyGitPatches.kt
index b5264b7d0..f69d1b0a8 100644
--- a/paperweight-lib/src/main/kotlin/tasks/ApplyGitPatches.kt
+++ b/paperweight-lib/src/main/kotlin/tasks/ApplyGitPatches.kt
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ fun ControllableOutputTask.applyGitPatches(
             }
         }
     } finally {
+        git("prune").run() // cleanup old git objects
         tempDir.deleteRecursively()
     }
 }