diff --git a/eth/backend.go b/eth/backend.go
index 05b9fa7adf..5b9721ad60 100644
--- a/eth/backend.go
+++ b/eth/backend.go
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ func (s *Ethereum) Start() error {
 	s.handler.Start(s.p2pServer.MaxPeers)
 
 	// Start the connection manager with inclusion-based peer protection.
-	s.dropper.Start(s.p2pServer, func() bool { return !s.Synced() }, s.handler.peerStats.GetAllPeerStats)
+	s.dropper.Start(s.p2pServer, func() bool { return !s.Synced() }, s.handler.peerStats.GetAllPeerStats, s.handler.peerStats.Prune)
 
 	// Subscribe to chain events for the filterMaps head updater.
 	s.fmHeadSub = s.blockchain.SubscribeChainEvent(s.fmHeadEventCh)
diff --git a/eth/dropper.go b/eth/dropper.go
index 0f80e1e5b0..b15d801bde 100644
--- a/eth/dropper.go
+++ b/eth/dropper.go
@@ -122,7 +122,8 @@ type dropper struct {
 	maxInboundPeers int // maximum number of inbound peers
 	peersFunc       getPeersFunc
 	syncingFunc     getSyncingFunc
-	peerStatsFunc   getPeerStatsFunc // optional: inclusion stats for protection
+	peerStatsFunc   getPeerStatsFunc      // optional: inclusion stats for protection
+	pruneStatsFunc  func(map[string]bool) // optional: reclaim stats for disconnected peers
 
 	// peerDropTimer introduces churn if we are close to limit capacity.
 	// We handle Dialed and Inbound connections separately
@@ -152,12 +153,13 @@ func newDropper(maxDialPeers, maxInboundPeers int) *dropper {
 	return cm
 }
 
-// Start the dropper. peerStatsFunc is optional (nil disables inclusion
-// protection).
-func (cm *dropper) Start(srv *p2p.Server, syncingFunc getSyncingFunc, peerStatsFunc getPeerStatsFunc) {
+// Start the dropper. peerStatsFunc and pruneStatsFunc are optional (nil
+// disables inclusion protection and stats pruning respectively).
+func (cm *dropper) Start(srv *p2p.Server, syncingFunc getSyncingFunc, peerStatsFunc getPeerStatsFunc, pruneStatsFunc func(map[string]bool)) {
 	cm.peersFunc = srv.Peers
 	cm.syncingFunc = syncingFunc
 	cm.peerStatsFunc = peerStatsFunc
+	cm.pruneStatsFunc = pruneStatsFunc
 	cm.wg.Add(1)
 	go cm.loop()
 }
@@ -217,6 +219,21 @@ func (cm *dropper) dropRandomPeer() bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+// pruneStats reclaims stats for peers that are no longer connected. It builds
+// the currently-connected id set and hands it to the stats pruner. No-op when
+// pruning is disabled (nil pruneStatsFunc).
+func (cm *dropper) pruneStats() {
+	if cm.pruneStatsFunc == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	peers := cm.peersFunc()
+	keep := make(map[string]bool, len(peers))
+	for _, p := range peers {
+		keep[p.ID().String()] = true
+	}
+	cm.pruneStatsFunc(keep)
+}
+
 // protectedPeers computes the set of peers that should not be dropped based
 // on inclusion stats. Each protection category independently selects its
 // top-N peers per inbound/dialed pool; the union is returned.
@@ -295,6 +312,11 @@ func (cm *dropper) loop() {
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-cm.peerDropTimer.C:
+			// Reclaim stats entries for peers that are no longer connected,
+			// covering the rare orphan left when a peer signal races with its
+			// NotifyPeerDrop. Done every tick (independent of syncing) since
+			// disconnects happen during sync too.
+			cm.pruneStats()
 			// Drop a random peer if we are not syncing and the peer count is close to the limit.
 			if !cm.syncingFunc() {
 				cm.dropRandomPeer()
diff --git a/eth/peerstats/peerstats.go b/eth/peerstats/peerstats.go
index 146226a187..4fa3e49fff 100644
--- a/eth/peerstats/peerstats.go
+++ b/eth/peerstats/peerstats.go
@@ -162,16 +162,35 @@ func (s *Stats) NotifyRequestResult(peer string, latency time.Duration, timeout
 	ps.lastLatencySample = time.Now()
 }
 
-// NotifyPeerDrop removes a peer's stats on disconnect. A rare stale
-// latency sample racing with the drop may recreate the peer entry with
-// one sample; that entry can never earn protection (MinLatencySamples
-// guard) and is harmless.
+// NotifyPeerDrop removes a peer's stats on disconnect.
+//
+// A signal (NotifyRequestResult or NotifyBlock) for the same peer can race
+// with the drop and land just after this deletion, recreating an orphan
+// entry that no future NotifyPeerDrop will ever clean. Such orphans are
+// never read — the dropper only looks up currently-connected peers — but
+// left alone they accumulate for the node's lifetime. Prune reclaims them.
 func (s *Stats) NotifyPeerDrop(peer string) {
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
 	delete(s.peers, peer)
 }
 
+// Prune removes stats for every peer not present in keep. The dropper calls
+// this periodically with the set of currently-connected peer IDs to reclaim
+// orphan entries left by a signal that raced with NotifyPeerDrop (see there).
+// Pruning a still-connected peer that only just gained an entry is harmless:
+// it resets a handful of early samples that self-heal on the peer's next
+// activity, and such a peer cannot yet meet the protection thresholds.
+func (s *Stats) Prune(keep map[string]bool) {
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	for id := range s.peers {
+		if !keep[id] {
+			delete(s.peers, id)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // GetAllPeerStats returns a snapshot of per-peer stats. Called by the
 // dropper every few minutes; allocation cost is negligible at that rate.
 func (s *Stats) GetAllPeerStats() map[string]PeerStats {
diff --git a/eth/peerstats/peerstats_test.go b/eth/peerstats/peerstats_test.go
index 3b242eac15..4a46155a9d 100644
--- a/eth/peerstats/peerstats_test.go
+++ b/eth/peerstats/peerstats_test.go
@@ -183,6 +183,38 @@ func TestNotifyPeerDropClearsStats(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestPruneRemovesDisconnectedPeers verifies Prune drops entries for peers
+// absent from the keep set (e.g. an orphan recreated by a signal that raced
+// with NotifyPeerDrop) while retaining still-connected peers.
+func TestPruneRemovesDisconnectedPeers(t *testing.T) {
+	s := New()
+	s.NotifyRequestResult("connected", 100*time.Millisecond, false)
+	s.NotifyRequestResult("orphan", 100*time.Millisecond, false)
+
+	s.Prune(map[string]bool{"connected": true})
+
+	stats := s.GetAllPeerStats()
+	if _, ok := stats["orphan"]; ok {
+		t.Fatal("orphan stats should be pruned when not in keep set")
+	}
+	if _, ok := stats["connected"]; !ok {
+		t.Fatal("connected peer stats should survive pruning")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestPruneEmptyKeepClearsAll verifies an empty keep set removes every entry.
+func TestPruneEmptyKeepClearsAll(t *testing.T) {
+	s := New()
+	s.NotifyRequestResult("peerA", 100*time.Millisecond, false)
+	s.NotifyRequestResult("peerB", 100*time.Millisecond, false)
+
+	s.Prune(map[string]bool{})
+
+	if n := len(s.GetAllPeerStats()); n != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected all entries pruned, got %d", n)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestStaleRequestLatencyAfterDrop documents the accepted behavior: a
 // late sample after NotifyPeerDrop recreates a 1-sample entry. The
 // dropper's MinLatencySamples=100 guard ensures this is harmless.