diff --git a/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore.go b/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore.go
index 10063b6fe07..5a3cf83285b 100644
--- a/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore.go
+++ b/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore.go
@@ -524,6 +524,34 @@ func (gbs *GitBlobstore) CleanupOwnedLocalRef(ctx context.Context) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+// Close best-effort deletes this instance's UUID-owned refs.
+func (gbs *GitBlobstore) Close() error {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	gbs.mu.Lock()
+	defer gbs.mu.Unlock()
+
+	deleteIfExists := func(ref string) error {
+		if ref == "" {
+			return nil
+		}
+		_, ok, err := gbs.api.TryResolveRefCommit(ctx, ref)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if !ok {
+			return nil
+		}
+		_, err = gbs.runner.Run(ctx, git.RunOptions{}, "update-ref", "-d", ref)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return errors.Join(
+		deleteIfExists(gbs.localRef),
+		deleteIfExists(gbs.remoteTrackingRef),
+	)
+}
+
 func (gbs *GitBlobstore) syncForRead(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if err := gbs.validateRemoteManaged(); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -1034,15 +1062,11 @@ func (gbs *GitBlobstore) buildCommitForKeyWrite(ctx context.Context, parent git.
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	var parentPtr *git.OID
-	if hasParent && parent != "" {
-		p := parent
-		parentPtr = &p
-	}
-
-	commitOID, err := gbs.api.CommitTree(ctx, treeOID, parentPtr, msg, gbs.identity)
+	// Snapshot-only semantics: create commits with no parent so old snapshots become unreachable
+	// once refs advance (enables pruning / avoids cache history growth).
+	commitOID, err := gbs.api.CommitTree(ctx, treeOID, nil, msg, gbs.identity)
 	if err != nil && gbs.identity == nil && isMissingGitIdentityErr(err) {
-		commitOID, err = gbs.api.CommitTree(ctx, treeOID, parentPtr, msg, defaultGitBlobstoreIdentity())
+		commitOID, err = gbs.api.CommitTree(ctx, treeOID, nil, msg, defaultGitBlobstoreIdentity())
 	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore_test.go b/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore_test.go
index 80a0359552e..cba2a0cf255 100644
--- a/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore_test.go
+++ b/go/store/blobstore/git_blobstore_test.go
@@ -282,6 +282,43 @@ func TestGitBlobstore_CleanupOwnedLocalRef_DeletesRef(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, bs.localRef, rnf.Ref)
 }
 
+func TestGitBlobstore_Close_DeletesOwnedLocalAndTrackingRefs(t *testing.T) {
+	requireGitOnPath(t)
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	remoteRepo, localRepo, localRunner := newRemoteAndLocalRepos(t, ctx)
+	_, err := remoteRepo.SetRefToTree(ctx, DoltDataRef, map[string][]byte{
+		"manifest": []byte("seed\n"),
+	}, "seed")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	bs, err := NewGitBlobstoreWithOptions(localRepo.GitDir, DoltDataRef, GitBlobstoreOptions{RemoteName: "origin"})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Force refs to be created via a remote-managed read.
+	ok, err := bs.Exists(ctx, "manifest")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, ok)
+
+	localAPI := git.NewGitAPIImpl(localRunner)
+	_, err = localAPI.ResolveRefCommit(ctx, bs.localRef)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	_, err = localAPI.ResolveRefCommit(ctx, bs.remoteTrackingRef)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.NoError(t, bs.Close())
+
+	_, err = localAPI.ResolveRefCommit(ctx, bs.localRef)
+	var rnf *git.RefNotFoundError
+	require.ErrorAs(t, err, &rnf)
+	require.Equal(t, bs.localRef, rnf.Ref)
+
+	_, err = localAPI.ResolveRefCommit(ctx, bs.remoteTrackingRef)
+	rnf = nil
+	require.ErrorAs(t, err, &rnf)
+	require.Equal(t, bs.remoteTrackingRef, rnf.Ref)
+}
+
 func TestGitBlobstore_RemoteManaged_PutPushesToRemote(t *testing.T) {
 	requireGitOnPath(t)
 
@@ -439,14 +476,11 @@ func TestGitBlobstore_RemoteManaged_PutRetriesOnLeaseFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	remoteHead, err := remoteAPI.ResolveRefCommit(ctx, DoltDataRef)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	// Verify we rebuilt on top of the advanced remote head (i.e. parent is externalHead).
+	// Snapshot-only semantics: new remote head should be a non-merge commit with no parent.
 	if v := externalHead.Load(); v != nil {
-		wantParent := v.(git.OID)
-		out, err := remoteRunner.Run(ctx, git.RunOptions{}, "rev-parse", remoteHead.String()+"^")
+		out, err := remoteRunner.Run(ctx, git.RunOptions{}, "cat-file", "-p", remoteHead.String())
 		require.NoError(t, err)
-		require.Equal(t, wantParent.String(), string(bytes.TrimSpace(out)))
-		_, err = remoteRunner.Run(ctx, git.RunOptions{}, "rev-parse", remoteHead.String()+"^2")
-		require.Error(t, err) // not a merge commit
+		require.NotContains(t, string(out), "\nparent ")
 	}
 
 	oid, typ, err := remoteAPI.ResolvePathObject(ctx, remoteHead, "k")
@@ -628,12 +662,10 @@ func TestGitBlobstore_RemoteManaged_PutOverwritesDivergedLocalRef_NoMergeCommit(
 	remoteHeadAfter, err := remoteAPI.ResolveRefCommit(ctx, DoltDataRef)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	// New remote head is a normal (non-merge) commit built on remoteHeadBefore.
-	out, err := remoteRunner.Run(ctx, git.RunOptions{}, "rev-parse", remoteHeadAfter.String()+"^")
+	// Snapshot-only semantics: new remote head should be a non-merge commit with no parent.
+	out, err := remoteRunner.Run(ctx, git.RunOptions{}, "cat-file", "-p", remoteHeadAfter.String())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, remoteHeadBefore.String(), string(bytes.TrimSpace(out)))
-	_, err = remoteRunner.Run(ctx, git.RunOptions{}, "rev-parse", remoteHeadAfter.String()+"^2")
-	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.NotContains(t, string(out), "\nparent ")
 
 	// Local-only divergence should not be present on remote.
 	_, _, err = remoteAPI.ResolvePathObject(ctx, remoteHeadAfter, "local")
diff --git a/go/store/nbs/bs_persister.go b/go/store/nbs/bs_persister.go
index 0333f7b728c..86e586b19a0 100644
--- a/go/store/nbs/bs_persister.go
+++ b/go/store/nbs/bs_persister.go
@@ -234,6 +234,9 @@ func (bsp *blobstorePersister) PruneTableFiles(ctx context.Context, keeper func(
 }
 
 func (bsp *blobstorePersister) Close() error {
+	if c, ok := bsp.bs.(io.Closer); ok {
+		return c.Close()
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/go/store/nbs/no_conjoin_bs_persister.go b/go/store/nbs/no_conjoin_bs_persister.go
index 126330dcfa6..811d8f55f78 100644
--- a/go/store/nbs/no_conjoin_bs_persister.go
+++ b/go/store/nbs/no_conjoin_bs_persister.go
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ func (bsp *noConjoinBlobstorePersister) PruneTableFiles(ctx context.Context, kee
 }
 
 func (bsp *noConjoinBlobstorePersister) Close() error {
+	if c, ok := bsp.bs.(io.Closer); ok {
+		return c.Close()
+	}
 	return nil
 }