diff --git a/lib/__tests__/video-transcode-deploy-drain.test.ts b/lib/__tests__/video-transcode-deploy-drain.test.ts
index f43292e..04b9ef5 100644
--- a/lib/__tests__/video-transcode-deploy-drain.test.ts
+++ b/lib/__tests__/video-transcode-deploy-drain.test.ts
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ describe('production video transcode drain gate', () => {
     expect(directBody).toContain('create_container "$name" "$REGISTRY_COMMIT" 0')
     expect(directBody).toContain('fail_direct_replace_with_restore')
     expect(directBody).toContain('retire_inactive_direct_slot "$name"')
+    expect(directBody).toContain('rm -f -- "$(transcode_drain_file "$name")" "$(task_detail_drain_file "$name")"')
     expect(restoreBody).toContain('create_container "$name" "$previous_image" 0')
     expect(restoreBody).toContain('verify_proxy_target "$name"')
     expect(retireBody).toContain('docker stop --time 10 "$inactive_name"')
diff --git a/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.ps1 b/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.ps1
index 2c3d06e..de5fde4 100644
--- a/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.ps1
+++ b/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.ps1
@@ -2531,6 +2531,7 @@ direct_replace_active_container() {
   fi
   write_current_container "$name" || fail "Direct replacement traffic is healthy but the current-slot record could not be written"
   retire_inactive_direct_slot "$name" || warn "The inactive historical slot could not be removed; the active direct container remains healthy"
+  rm -f -- "$(transcode_drain_file "$name")" "$(task_detail_drain_file "$name")" || true
   ok "Direct replacement completed: $name"
 }