diff --git a/internal/jobscheduler/jobs.go b/internal/jobscheduler/jobs.go
index 2838cc0..86945d1 100644
--- a/internal/jobscheduler/jobs.go
+++ b/internal/jobscheduler/jobs.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package jobscheduler
 import (
 	"context"
 	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -13,8 +14,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 type Config struct {
-	Concurrency int    `hcl:"concurrency" help:"The maximum number of concurrent jobs to run (0 means number of cores)." default:"4"`
-	SchedulerDB string `hcl:"scheduler-db" help:"Path to the scheduler state database." default:"${CACHEW_STATE}/scheduler.db"`
+	Concurrency         int    `hcl:"concurrency" help:"The maximum number of concurrent jobs to run (0 means number of cores)." default:"4"`
+	MaxCloneConcurrency int    `hcl:"max-clone-concurrency" help:"Maximum number of concurrent clone jobs. Remaining worker slots are reserved for fetch/repack/snapshot jobs. 0 means no limit." default:"0"`
+	SchedulerDB         string `hcl:"scheduler-db" help:"Path to the scheduler state database." default:"${CACHEW_STATE}/scheduler.db"`
 }
 
 type queueJob struct {
@@ -70,12 +72,14 @@ func (p *prefixedScheduler) WithQueuePrefix(prefix string) Scheduler {
 }
 
 type RootScheduler struct {
-	workAvailable chan bool
-	lock          sync.Mutex
-	queue         []queueJob
-	active        map[string]bool
-	cancel        context.CancelFunc
-	store         ScheduleStore
+	workAvailable       chan bool
+	lock                sync.Mutex
+	queue               []queueJob
+	active              map[string]string // queue -> job id
+	activeClones        int
+	maxCloneConcurrency int
+	cancel              context.CancelFunc
+	store               ScheduleStore
 }
 
 var _ Scheduler = &RootScheduler{}
@@ -102,10 +106,16 @@ func New(ctx context.Context, config Config) (*RootScheduler, error) {
 			return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "create schedule store")
 		}
 	}
+	maxClones := config.MaxCloneConcurrency
+	if maxClones == 0 && config.Concurrency > 1 {
+		// Default: reserve at least half the workers for non-clone jobs.
+		maxClones = max(1, config.Concurrency/2)
+	}
 	q := &RootScheduler{
-		workAvailable: make(chan bool, 1024),
-		active:        make(map[string]bool),
-		store:         store,
+		workAvailable:       make(chan bool, 1024),
+		active:              make(map[string]string),
+		maxCloneConcurrency: maxClones,
+		store:               store,
 	}
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
 	q.cancel = cancel
@@ -207,20 +217,36 @@ func (q *RootScheduler) worker(ctx context.Context, id int) {
 func (q *RootScheduler) markQueueInactive(queue string) {
 	q.lock.Lock()
 	defer q.lock.Unlock()
+	if isCloneJob(q.active[queue]) {
+		q.activeClones--
+	}
 	delete(q.active, queue)
 }
 
+// isCloneJob returns true for job IDs that represent long-running clone operations
+// which should be subject to concurrency limits.
+func isCloneJob(id string) bool {
+	return strings.HasSuffix(id, "clone") || strings.HasSuffix(id, "deferred-mirror-restore")
+}
+
 // Take the next job for any queue that is not already running a job.
 func (q *RootScheduler) takeNextJob() (queueJob, bool) {
 	q.lock.Lock()
 	defer q.lock.Unlock()
 	for i, job := range q.queue {
-		if !q.active[job.queue] {
-			q.queue = append(q.queue[:i], q.queue[i+1:]...)
-			q.workAvailable <- true
-			q.active[job.queue] = true
-			return job, true
+		if _, active := q.active[job.queue]; active {
+			continue
+		}
+		if q.maxCloneConcurrency > 0 && isCloneJob(job.id) && q.activeClones >= q.maxCloneConcurrency {
+			continue
+		}
+		q.queue = append(q.queue[:i], q.queue[i+1:]...)
+		q.workAvailable <- true
+		q.active[job.queue] = job.id
+		if isCloneJob(job.id) {
+			q.activeClones++
 		}
+		return job, true
 	}
 	return queueJob{}, false
 }
diff --git a/internal/jobscheduler/jobs_test.go b/internal/jobscheduler/jobs_test.go
index 12df2dd..6db5034 100644
--- a/internal/jobscheduler/jobs_test.go
+++ b/internal/jobscheduler/jobs_test.go
@@ -459,3 +459,70 @@ func FuzzJobScheduler(f *testing.F) {
 		}
 	})
 }
+
+func TestJobSchedulerCloneConcurrencyLimit(t *testing.T) {
+	_, ctx := logging.Configure(context.Background(), logging.Config{Level: slog.LevelError})
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	scheduler := newTestScheduler(ctx, t, jobscheduler.Config{
+		Concurrency:         8,
+		MaxCloneConcurrency: 2,
+	})
+
+	var (
+		cloneRunning       atomic.Int32
+		maxCloneConcurrent atomic.Int32
+		fetchCompleted     atomic.Int32
+		cloneCompleted     atomic.Int32
+		allClonesBlocking  sync.WaitGroup
+	)
+
+	// Submit 4 clone jobs that block until released.
+	allClonesBlocking.Add(1)
+	for i := range 4 {
+		queue := fmt.Sprintf("repo%d", i)
+		scheduler.Submit(queue, "git-clone", func(_ context.Context) error {
+			current := cloneRunning.Add(1)
+			defer cloneRunning.Add(-1)
+			for {
+				maxVal := maxCloneConcurrent.Load()
+				if current <= maxVal {
+					break
+				}
+				if maxCloneConcurrent.CompareAndSwap(maxVal, current) {
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			allClonesBlocking.Wait()
+			cloneCompleted.Add(1)
+			return nil
+		})
+	}
+
+	// Submit fetch jobs on different queues — these should NOT be blocked by clone limit.
+	for i := range 4 {
+		queue := fmt.Sprintf("fetch-repo%d", i)
+		scheduler.Submit(queue, "git-fetch", func(_ context.Context) error {
+			fetchCompleted.Add(1)
+			return nil
+		})
+	}
+
+	// Fetch jobs should complete even while clone jobs are blocking workers.
+	eventually(t, 2*time.Second, func() bool {
+		return fetchCompleted.Load() == 4
+	}, "fetch jobs should complete without being blocked by clone limit")
+
+	// Clone concurrency should be capped at 2.
+	assert.True(t, maxCloneConcurrent.Load() <= 2,
+		"max concurrent clones (%d) should not exceed MaxCloneConcurrency (2)",
+		maxCloneConcurrent.Load())
+
+	// Release clone jobs.
+	allClonesBlocking.Done()
+
+	eventually(t, 2*time.Second, func() bool {
+		return cloneCompleted.Load() == 4
+	}, "all clone jobs should eventually complete")
+}