diff --git a/python/python/lance/dataset.py b/python/python/lance/dataset.py
index 87bbfefe422..9aaf6502f23 100644
--- a/python/python/lance/dataset.py
+++ b/python/python/lance/dataset.py
@@ -2284,6 +2284,7 @@ def add_bases(
     def cleanup_old_versions(
         self,
         older_than: Optional[timedelta] = None,
+        retain_versions: Optional[int] = None,
         *,
         delete_unverified: bool = False,
         error_if_tagged_old_versions: bool = True,
@@ -2303,8 +2304,11 @@ def cleanup_old_versions(
         ----------
 
         older_than: timedelta, optional
-            Only versions older than this will be removed.  If not specified, this
-            will default to two weeks.
+            Only versions older than this will be removed.  If ``older_than`` and
+            ``retain_versions`` are not specified, this will default to two weeks.
+
+        retain_versions: int, optional
+            Retain the last N versions of the dataset.
 
         delete_unverified: bool, default False
             Files leftover from a failed transaction may appear to be part of an
@@ -2324,10 +2328,14 @@ def cleanup_old_versions(
             be ignored without any error and only untagged versions will be
             cleaned up.
         """
-        if older_than is None:
+        if older_than is None and retain_versions is None:
             older_than = timedelta(days=14)
+
         return self._ds.cleanup_old_versions(
-            td_to_micros(older_than), delete_unverified, error_if_tagged_old_versions
+            td_to_micros(older_than) if older_than else None,
+            retain_versions,
+            delete_unverified,
+            error_if_tagged_old_versions,
         )
 
     def create_scalar_index(
diff --git a/python/python/tests/test_dataset.py b/python/python/tests/test_dataset.py
index 1c8578c1cd6..9ddb6db6881 100644
--- a/python/python/tests/test_dataset.py
+++ b/python/python/tests/test_dataset.py
@@ -1181,6 +1181,44 @@ def test_cleanup_around_tagged_old_versions(tmp_path):
     assert stats.old_versions == 1
 
 
+def test_cleanup_with_retain_versions(tmp_path: Path):
+    base_dir = tmp_path / "cleanup_policy"
+    table = pa.Table.from_pydict({"a": range(100), "b": range(100)})
+    lance.write_dataset(table, base_dir, mode="create")
+    time.sleep(0.05)
+    lance.write_dataset(table, base_dir, mode="overwrite")
+    time.sleep(0.05)
+    lance.write_dataset(table, base_dir, mode="overwrite")
+    time.sleep(0.05)
+    ds = lance.write_dataset(table, base_dir, mode="append")
+
+    assert len(ds.versions()) == 4
+    stats = ds.cleanup_old_versions(retain_versions=3)
+    assert stats.old_versions == 1
+    assert len(ds.versions()) == 3
+    assert ds.count_rows() == len(ds.to_table())
+
+
+def test_cleanup_with_older_than_and_retain_versions(tmp_path: Path):
+    base_dir = tmp_path / "cleanup_policy"
+    table = pa.Table.from_pydict({"a": range(100), "b": range(100)})
+    lance.write_dataset(table, base_dir, mode="create")
+    time.sleep(0.05)
+    lance.write_dataset(table, base_dir, mode="overwrite")
+    time.sleep(0.05)
+    lance.write_dataset(table, base_dir, mode="overwrite")
+    moment = datetime.now()
+    time.sleep(0.05)
+    ds = lance.write_dataset(table, base_dir, mode="append")
+
+    stats = ds.cleanup_old_versions(
+        older_than=datetime.now() - moment, retain_versions=2
+    )
+    assert stats.old_versions == 2
+    assert len(ds.versions()) == 2
+    assert ds.count_rows() == len(ds.to_table())
+
+
 def test_auto_cleanup(tmp_path):
     table = pa.Table.from_pydict({"a": range(100), "b": range(100)})
     base_dir = tmp_path / "test"
diff --git a/python/src/dataset.rs b/python/src/dataset.rs
index ade2b4516ca..2afea042521 100644
--- a/python/src/dataset.rs
+++ b/python/src/dataset.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ use arrow_data::ArrayData;
 use arrow_schema::{DataType, Schema as ArrowSchema};
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use blob::LanceBlobFile;
-use chrono::{Duration, TimeDelta};
+use chrono::{Duration, TimeDelta, Utc};
 use futures::{StreamExt, TryFutureExt};
 use lance_index::vector::bq::RQBuildParams;
 use log::error;
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ use pyo3::{
 use pyo3::{prelude::*, IntoPyObjectExt};
 use snafu::location;
 
+use lance::dataset::cleanup::CleanupPolicyBuilder;
 use lance::dataset::index::LanceIndexStoreExt;
 use lance::dataset::refs::{Ref, TagContents};
 use lance::dataset::scanner::{
@@ -1496,23 +1497,33 @@ impl Dataset {
     }
 
     /// Cleanup old versions from the dataset
-    #[pyo3(signature = (older_than_micros, delete_unverified = None, error_if_tagged_old_versions = None))]
+    #[pyo3(signature = (older_than_micros = None, retain_versions = None, delete_unverified = None, error_if_tagged_old_versions = None))]
     fn cleanup_old_versions(
         &self,
-        older_than_micros: i64,
+        older_than_micros: Option<i64>,
+        retain_versions: Option<usize>,
         delete_unverified: Option<bool>,
         error_if_tagged_old_versions: Option<bool>,
     ) -> PyResult<CleanupStats> {
-        let older_than = Duration::microseconds(older_than_micros);
         let cleanup_stats = rt()
-            .block_on(
-                None,
-                self.ds.cleanup_old_versions(
-                    older_than,
-                    delete_unverified,
-                    error_if_tagged_old_versions,
-                ),
-            )?
+            .block_on(None, async {
+                let mut builder = CleanupPolicyBuilder::default();
+                if let Some(v) = older_than_micros {
+                    let older_than = Duration::microseconds(v);
+                    builder = builder.before_timestamp(Utc::now() - older_than);
+                }
+                if let Some(v) = retain_versions {
+                    builder = builder.retain_n_versions(self.ds.as_ref(), v).await?;
+                }
+                if let Some(v) = delete_unverified {
+                    builder = builder.delete_unverified(v);
+                }
+                if let Some(v) = error_if_tagged_old_versions {
+                    builder = builder.error_if_tagged_old_versions(v);
+                }
+
+                self.ds.cleanup_with_policy(builder.build()).await
+            })?
             .map_err(|err: lance::Error| PyIOError::new_err(err.to_string()))?;
         Ok(CleanupStats {
             bytes_removed: cleanup_stats.bytes_removed,