diff --git a/app/models/publish_intent.rb b/app/models/publish_intent.rb
index b2b1085d..b59bcad9 100644
--- a/app/models/publish_intent.rb
+++ b/app/models/publish_intent.rb
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ def content_item
     ContentItem.where(base_path:).first
   end
 
+  # Called nightly from a cron job
+  def self.cleanup_expired
+    where("publish_time < ?", PUBLISH_TIME_LEEWAY.ago).delete_all
+  end
+
   def base_path_without_root
     base_path&.sub(%r{^/}, "")
   end
diff --git a/lib/tasks/housekeeping.rake b/lib/tasks/housekeeping.rake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b274c08b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tasks/housekeeping.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+namespace :housekeeping do
+  desc "Delete any publish intents in the past"
+  task cleanup_publish_intents: :environment do
+    PublishIntent.cleanup_expired
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/models/publish_intent_spec.rb b/spec/models/publish_intent_spec.rb
index 1e60ab78..150c6aac 100644
--- a/spec/models/publish_intent_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/publish_intent_spec.rb
@@ -155,4 +155,31 @@
       )
     end
   end
+
+  describe ".cleanup_expired" do
+    before :each do
+      create(:publish_intent, publish_time: 3.days.ago)
+      create(:publish_intent, publish_time: 2.days.ago)
+      create(:publish_intent, publish_time: 1.hour.ago)
+      create(:publish_intent, publish_time: 10.minutes.from_now)
+      create(:publish_intent, publish_time: 10.days.from_now)
+      create(:publish_intent, publish_time: 1.year.from_now)
+    end
+
+    it "deletes all publish_intents with publish_at in the past" do
+      PublishIntent.cleanup_expired
+
+      expect(PublishIntent.count).to eq(3)
+      expect(PublishIntent.where(:publish_time.gte => Time.zone.now).count).to eq(3)
+    end
+
+    it "does not delete very recently passed intents" do
+      recent = create(:publish_intent, publish_time: 30.seconds.ago)
+
+      PublishIntent.cleanup_expired
+
+      expect(PublishIntent.where(base_path: recent.base_path).first).to be
+      expect(PublishIntent.count).to eq(4)
+    end
+  end
 end