diff --git a/internal/catalog/folder_delete_test.go b/internal/catalog/folder_delete_test.go
index 7133ccd9..280a3e01 100644
--- a/internal/catalog/folder_delete_test.go
+++ b/internal/catalog/folder_delete_test.go
@@ -90,3 +90,49 @@ func TestRetryOnDeadlockStopsOnCanceledContext(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected 1 call before cancel, got %d", calls)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestDeleteInBatchesLoopsUntilUnderBatchSize(t *testing.T) {
+	withFastDeadlockRetry(t, 5)
+	counts := []int64{5, 5, 2}
+	idx := 0
+	total, err := deleteInBatches(context.Background(), 5, func(context.Context) (int64, error) {
+		n := counts[idx]
+		idx++
+		return n, nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if total != 12 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected total 12, got %d", total)
+	}
+	if idx != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 3 batches, got %d", idx)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDeleteInBatchesStopsImmediatelyWhenFirstBatchUnderSize(t *testing.T) {
+	withFastDeadlockRetry(t, 5)
+	calls := 0
+	total, err := deleteInBatches(context.Background(), 5, func(context.Context) (int64, error) {
+		calls++
+		return 0, nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if total != 0 || calls != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected total 0 and 1 call, got total=%d calls=%d", total, calls)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDeleteInBatchesReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
+	withFastDeadlockRetry(t, 5)
+	sentinel := errors.New("delete failed")
+	_, err := deleteInBatches(context.Background(), 5, func(context.Context) (int64, error) {
+		return 0, sentinel
+	})
+	if !errors.Is(err, sentinel) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected sentinel, got %v", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/catalog/folder_repo.go b/internal/catalog/folder_repo.go
index fcf9859a..ea4a5e60 100644
--- a/internal/catalog/folder_repo.go
+++ b/internal/catalog/folder_repo.go
@@ -48,6 +48,31 @@ func retryOnDeadlock(ctx context.Context, op func() error) error {
 	}
 }
 
+// deleteInBatches repeatedly runs deleteBatch (each a single autocommit
+// statement) until a batch removes fewer than batchSize rows. Each batch is
+// retried on deadlock. It returns the total number of rows deleted.
+func deleteInBatches(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	batchSize int,
+	deleteBatch func(ctx context.Context) (int64, error),
+) (int64, error) {
+	var total int64
+	for {
+		var affected int64
+		if err := retryOnDeadlock(ctx, func() error {
+			n, e := deleteBatch(ctx)
+			affected = n
+			return e
+		}); err != nil {
+			return total, err
+		}
+		total += affected
+		if affected < int64(batchSize) {
+			return total, nil
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // Sentinel errors for folder repository operations.
 var (
 	ErrFolderNotFound = errors.New("folder not found")