diff --git a/.crow/build-all-versions-install-deps.yaml b/.crow/build-all-versions-install-deps.yaml
index ad51300..389b57b 100644
--- a/.crow/build-all-versions-install-deps.yaml
+++ b/.crow/build-all-versions-install-deps.yaml
@@ -4,19 +4,19 @@
 # they are merged with build-all-versions' identical declarations.
 variables:
   target_arch:
-    description: "Architecture to build."
+    description: 'Architecture to build.'
     options:
       - amd64
       - arm64
     default: amd64
   OS:
-    description: "Base OS image name (e.g. alpine, redhat, ubuntu)."
+    description: 'Base OS image name (e.g. alpine, redhat, ubuntu).'
     default: alpine
   OS_VERSION:
-    description: "OS version / image tag (e.g. 3.24, 9, jammy, noble)."
-    default: "3.24"
+    description: 'OS version / image tag (e.g. 3.24, 9, jammy, noble).'
+    default: '3.24'
   R_VERSION:
-    description: "Primary R version under /opt/R."
+    description: 'Primary R version under /opt/R.'
     options:
       - 4.5.3
       - 4.4.3
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ steps:
     commands:
       # one-time full wipe to fix corrupted .so files from previous failed builds
       # - rm -rf /mnt/cache/R-pkgs
+      # Clear churny pkgcache metadata left by a prior crashed run (the "patched"
+      # repo mints a new hash per PACKAGES change -> unbounded pkgs-*.rds/patched-*).
+      # Keep pkg/ downloads and the stable CRAN/BioC/INLA repo dirs.
+      - rm -rf /mnt/cache/pkgcache/R/pkgcache/_metadata/patched-* /mnt/cache/pkgcache/R/pkgcache/_metadata/pkgs-*.rds || true
       - mkdir -p /mnt/cache/pkgcache /mnt/cache/R-pkgs /mnt/cache/ccache /mnt/cache/packages
       - git clone -q https://pat-s:$$REPO_RO_TOKEN@git.devxy.io/devxy/build-cran-binaries.git .
       - git clone -q https://codefloe.com/rpkgs/bincraft.git /tmp/bincraft
diff --git a/.crow/build-all-versions.yaml b/.crow/build-all-versions.yaml
index 639ce80..1d4feee 100644
--- a/.crow/build-all-versions.yaml
+++ b/.crow/build-all-versions.yaml
@@ -5,19 +5,19 @@
 # Skip list lives in local/excluded-packages.json (read by local/build-all.R).
 variables:
   target_arch:
-    description: "Architecture to build."
+    description: 'Architecture to build.'
     options:
       - amd64
       - arm64
     default: amd64
   OS:
-    description: "Base OS image name (e.g. alpine, redhat, ubuntu)."
+    description: 'Base OS image name (e.g. alpine, redhat, ubuntu).'
     default: alpine
   OS_VERSION:
-    description: "OS version / image tag (e.g. 3.24, 9, jammy, noble)."
-    default: "3.24"
+    description: 'OS version / image tag (e.g. 3.24, 9, jammy, noble).'
+    default: '3.24'
   R_VERSION:
-    description: "Primary R version under /opt/R."
+    description: 'Primary R version under /opt/R.'
     options:
       - 4.5.3
       - 4.4.3
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ steps:
       - ${ARCH}-binaries-r-dep-cache-${OS}-${OS_VERSION//./}:/mnt/cache
     commands:
       - git clone -q https://pat-s:$$REPO_RO_TOKEN@git.devxy.io/devxy/build-cran-binaries.git .
+      # Clear churny pkgcache metadata left by a prior crashed run (the "patched"
+      # repo mints a new hash per PACKAGES change -> unbounded pkgs-*.rds/patched-*).
+      # Keep pkg/ downloads and the stable CRAN/BioC/INLA repo dirs. Within-run
+      # growth is bounded separately by trim_pkgcache_metadata() in build-all.R.
+      - rm -rf /mnt/cache/pkgcache/R/pkgcache/_metadata/patched-* /mnt/cache/pkgcache/R/pkgcache/_metadata/pkgs-*.rds || true
       - mkdir -p /mnt/cache/pkgcache /mnt/cache/R-pkgs /mnt/cache/ccache /mnt/cache/packages
       - XVFB=$(command -v xwfb-run 2>/dev/null || command -v xvfb-run); XVFB_ARGS=""; if command -v xwfb-run >/dev/null 2>&1; then dnf install -y -q weston 2>/dev/null; XVFB_ARGS="-c weston"; fi
       - $XVFB $XVFB_ARGS -n $SPLIT_INDEX -- /opt/R/$R_VERSION/bin/Rscript local/build-all.R $SPLIT_INTO $SPLIT_INDEX $NCPUS 2>&1
@@ -152,4 +157,4 @@ steps:
             cpu: 1000m
           limits:
             memory: 20Gi
-            cpu: 2000m
\ No newline at end of file
+            cpu: 2000m