diff --git a/.changeset/unlucky-rats-unite.md b/.changeset/unlucky-rats-unite.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cc4b3d59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/unlucky-rats-unite.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"counterfact": patch
+---
+
+delete the .cache directory at startup so old leftover files don't make trouble
diff --git a/src/server/app.ts b/src/server/app.ts
index 7817f867..4a4359f0 100644
--- a/src/server/app.ts
+++ b/src/server/app.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { rm } from "node:fs/promises";
 import nodePath from "node:path";
 
 import { createHttpTerminator, type HttpTerminator } from "http-terminator";
@@ -37,6 +38,8 @@ export async function counterfact(config: Config) {
     .join(modulesPath, ".cache")
     .replaceAll("\\", "/");
 
+  await rm(compiledPathsDirectory, { force: true, recursive: true });
+
   const registry = new Registry();
 
   const contextRegistry = new ContextRegistry();