diff --git a/deploy/reclaim-runner-disk.sh b/deploy/reclaim-runner-disk.sh
index 4f40f12e..3f6ea914 100755
--- a/deploy/reclaim-runner-disk.sh
+++ b/deploy/reclaim-runner-disk.sh
@@ -66,7 +66,21 @@ if [ -n "$STALE_IMAGES" ]; then
   printf '%s\n' "$STALE_IMAGES" | xargs -r docker image rm || true
 fi
 
-docker builder prune --force --all
+# BuildKit layer cache is what lets the publish job reuse the Dockerfile
+# `npm ci` layer instead of rebuilding it from scratch behind the mirror (a
+# 7-minute image build versus 47). `docker image prune --force` above removes
+# only dangling images; BuildKit cache records live in the builder store, not
+# in dangling images, so nothing before this point touches them. Reclaim them
+# in tiers: drop entries nobody has used for 72 hours, re-measure, and escalate
+# to `--all` only when the runner is still below the threshold.
+docker builder prune --force --filter until=72h
+
+TIERED_GIB="$(free_gib)"
+echo "docker root $DOCKER_ROOT has ${TIERED_GIB} GiB free after aged build-cache reclaim"
+if [ "$TIERED_GIB" -lt "$MINIMUM_FREE_GIB" ]; then
+  echo "still below ${MINIMUM_FREE_GIB} GiB; escalating to a full BuildKit cache prune"
+  docker builder prune --force --all
+fi
 
 AFTER_GIB="$(free_gib)"
 echo "docker root $DOCKER_ROOT has ${AFTER_GIB} GiB free after reclaim"
diff --git a/frontend/tests/staging-backend-workflows.test.ts b/frontend/tests/staging-backend-workflows.test.ts
index 47589d88..2cca69a0 100644
--- a/frontend/tests/staging-backend-workflows.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/tests/staging-backend-workflows.test.ts
@@ -398,6 +398,7 @@ test("both gate jobs reclaim runner disk before they need it, and only unheld re
   assert.match(script, /docker network rm "\$network"/);
   assert.match(script, /all predefined address pools have been fully subnetted/);
   assert.match(script, /docker image prune --force\n/);
+  assert.match(script, /docker builder prune --force --filter until=72h/);
   assert.match(script, /docker builder prune --force --all/);
   assert.match(script, /grep -v -F -e "api-\$KEEP_TAG_SHA" -e "web-\$KEEP_TAG_SHA"/);
   assert.match(script, /PostgreSQL fixtures and image builds need at least \$\{MINIMUM_FREE_GIB\} GiB/);
@@ -1224,3 +1225,28 @@ test("Gitea production schema migration is exact-SHA gated and isolated from ETL
   assert.doesNotMatch(runner, /migrate-supabase-production|docker-compose\.server\.yml|docker-compose\.production\.yml/);
   assert.doesNotMatch(runner, /\bup\b[^\n]*(?:api|web|caddy)|Caddyfile|PRODUCTION_URL|PRODUCTION_ADMIN_URL|mv -f[^\n]*deployed-revision/);
 });
+
+test("runner disk reclaim keeps BuildKit cache unless the runner is actually short on disk", () => {
+  const script = read(reclaimRunnerDiskScript);
+
+  // Unconditionally pruning the whole BuildKit store made every publish job
+  // rebuild the Dockerfile `npm ci` layer from scratch (47-minute image builds).
+  // Aged cache goes first; `--all` is reachable only after re-measuring and
+  // finding the runner still below MINIMUM_FREE_GIB.
+  assert.doesNotMatch(script, /^docker builder prune --force --all$/m);
+  assert.equal((script.match(/docker builder prune --force --all/g) ?? []).length, 1);
+  assertOrder(script, [
+    "docker image prune --force",
+    "docker builder prune --force --filter until=72h",
+    'TIERED_GIB="$(free_gib)"',
+    'if [ "$TIERED_GIB" -lt "$MINIMUM_FREE_GIB" ]; then',
+    "docker builder prune --force --all",
+    'AFTER_GIB="$(free_gib)"',
+  ]);
+  assert.match(
+    script,
+    /if \[ "\$TIERED_GIB" -lt "\$MINIMUM_FREE_GIB" \]; then\n\s+echo[^\n]+\n\s+docker builder prune --force --all\nfi\n/,
+  );
+  // The final threshold check still fails the job instead of silently proceeding.
+  assert.match(script, /if \[ "\$AFTER_GIB" -lt "\$MINIMUM_FREE_GIB" \]; then\n\s+echo[^\n]+\n\s+exit 1/);
+});