diff --git a/app/lib/task/loops/delete_instances.dart b/app/lib/task/loops/delete_instances.dart
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f023cde8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/lib/task/loops/delete_instances.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025, the Dart project authors.  Please see the AUTHORS file
+// for details. All rights reserved. Use of this source code is governed by a
+// BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+import 'dart:async';
+
+import 'package:basics/basics.dart';
+import 'package:clock/clock.dart';
+import 'package:logging/logging.dart';
+import 'package:meta/meta.dart';
+import 'package:pub_dev/task/cloudcompute/cloudcompute.dart';
+
+final _log = Logger('pub.task.scan_instances');
+
+/// The internal state for scanning and deleting instances.
+final class DeleteInstancesState {
+  // Maps the `CloudInstance.instanceName` to the deletion
+  // start timestamp.
+  final Map<String, DateTime> deletions;
+
+  DeleteInstancesState({required this.deletions});
+
+  factory DeleteInstancesState.init() => DeleteInstancesState(deletions: {});
+}
+
+/// The result of the scan and delete instances operation.
+final class DeleteInstancesNextState {
+  /// The next state of the data.
+  final DeleteInstancesState state;
+
+  /// Completes when the microtask-scheduled deletion operations are completed.
+  ///
+  /// It is not feasible to wait for this in production, but can be used in tests.
+  @visibleForTesting
+  final Future<void> deletionsDone;
+
+  DeleteInstancesNextState({required this.state, required this.deletionsDone});
+}
+
+/// Calculates the next state of delete instances loop by processing
+/// the input [instances].
+Future<DeleteInstancesNextState> scanAndDeleteInstances(
+  DeleteInstancesState state,
+  List<CloudInstance> instances,
+  Future<void> Function(String zone, String instanceName) deleteInstanceFn,
+  bool Function() isAbortedFn, {
+  required int maxTaskRunHours,
+}) async {
+  final keepTreshold = clock.ago(minutes: 5);
+  final deletionInProgress = {
+    ...state.deletions.whereValue((v) => v.isAfter(keepTreshold)),
+  };
+
+  final futures = <Future>[];
+  for (final instance in instances) {
+    if (isAbortedFn()) {
+      break;
+    }
+
+    // Prevent multiple calls to delete the same instance.
+    if (deletionInProgress.containsKey(instance.instanceName)) {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // If terminated or older than maxInstanceAge, delete the instance...
+    final isTerminated = instance.state == InstanceState.terminated;
+    final isTooOld = instance.created
+        .add(Duration(hours: maxTaskRunHours))
+        .isBefore(clock.now());
+
+    if (isTooOld) {
+      // This indicates that something is wrong the with the instance,
+      // ideally it should have detected its own deadline being violated
+      // and terminated on its own. Of course, this can fail for arbitrary
+      // reasons in a distributed system.
+      _log.warning('terminating $instance for being too old!');
+    } else if (isTerminated) {
+      _log.info('deleting $instance as it has terminated.');
+    } else {
+      // Do not delete this instance
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    deletionInProgress[instance.instanceName] = clock.now();
+
+    final completer = Completer();
+    scheduleMicrotask(() async {
+      try {
+        await deleteInstanceFn(instance.zone, instance.instanceName);
+      } catch (e, st) {
+        _log.severe('Failed to delete $instance', e, st);
+      } finally {
+        completer.complete();
+      }
+    });
+    futures.add(completer.future);
+  }
+
+  return DeleteInstancesNextState(
+    state: DeleteInstancesState(deletions: deletionInProgress),
+    deletionsDone: futures.isEmpty ? Future.value() : Future.wait(futures),
+  );
+}
diff --git a/app/lib/task/scheduler.dart b/app/lib/task/scheduler.dart
index e69e87ad7..296b7eb98 100644
--- a/app/lib/task/scheduler.dart
+++ b/app/lib/task/scheduler.dart
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import 'package:pub_dev/task/backend.dart';
 import 'package:pub_dev/task/clock_control.dart';
 import 'package:pub_dev/task/cloudcompute/cloudcompute.dart';
 import 'package:pub_dev/task/global_lock.dart';
+import 'package:pub_dev/task/loops/delete_instances.dart';
 import 'package:pub_dev/task/models.dart';
 
 final _log = Logger('pub.task.schedule');
@@ -60,64 +61,35 @@ Future<void> schedule(
     }
   }
 
-  // Set of `CloudInstance.instanceName`s currently being deleted.
-  // This to avoid deleting instances where the deletion process is still
-  // running.
-  final deletionInProgress = <String>{};
+  var deleteInstancesState = DeleteInstancesState.init();
 
   // Create a fast RNG with random seed for picking zones.
   final rng = Random(Random.secure().nextInt(2 << 31));
 
+  bool isAbortedFn() => !claim.valid || abort.isCompleted;
+
   // Run scheduling iterations, so long as we have a valid claim
-  while (claim.valid && !abort.isCompleted) {
+  while (!isAbortedFn()) {
     final iterationStart = clock.now();
     _log.info('Starting scheduling cycle');
 
-    // Count number of instances, and delete old instances
-    var instances = 0;
-    await for (final instance in compute.listInstances()) {
-      instances += 1; // count the instance
-
-      // If terminated or older than maxInstanceAge, delete the instance...
-      final isTerminated = instance.state == InstanceState.terminated;
-      final isTooOld = instance.created
-          .add(Duration(hours: activeConfiguration.maxTaskRunHours))
-          .isBefore(clock.now());
-      // Also check deletionInProgress to prevent multiple calls to delete the
-      // same instance
-      final isBeingDeleted = deletionInProgress.contains(instance.instanceName);
-      if ((isTerminated || isTooOld) && !isBeingDeleted) {
-        if (isTooOld) {
-          // This indicates that something is wrong the with the instance,
-          // ideally it should have detected its own deadline being violated
-          // and terminated on its own. Of course, this can fail for arbitrary
-          // reasons in a distributed system.
-          _log.warning('terminating $instance for being too old!');
-        } else if (isTerminated) {
-          _log.info('deleting $instance as it has terminated.');
-        }
-
-        deletionInProgress.add(instance.instanceName);
-        scheduleMicrotask(() async {
-          final deletionStart = clock.now();
-          try {
-            await compute.delete(instance.zone, instance.instanceName);
-          } catch (e, st) {
-            _log.severe('Failed to delete $instance', e, st);
-          } finally {
-            // Wait at-least 5 minutes from start of deletion until we remove
-            // it from [deletionInProgress] that way we give the API some time
-            // reconcile state.
-            await sleepOrAborted(Duration(minutes: 5), since: deletionStart);
-            deletionInProgress.remove(instance.instanceName);
-          }
-        });
-      }
+    final instances = await compute.listInstances().toList();
+    final nextDeleteInstancesState = await scanAndDeleteInstances(
+      deleteInstancesState,
+      instances,
+      compute.delete,
+      isAbortedFn,
+      maxTaskRunHours: activeConfiguration.maxTaskRunHours,
+    );
+    deleteInstancesState = nextDeleteInstancesState.state;
+    if (isAbortedFn()) {
+      break;
     }
+
     _log.info('Found $instances instances');
 
     // If we are not allowed to create new instances within the allowed quota,
-    if (activeConfiguration.maxTaskInstances <= instances) {
+    if (activeConfiguration.maxTaskInstances <= instances.length) {
       _log.info('Reached instance limit, trying again in 30s');
       // Wait 30 seconds then list instances again, so that we can count them
       await sleepOrAborted(Duration(seconds: 30), since: iterationStart);
@@ -145,7 +117,7 @@ Future<void> schedule(
     var pendingPackagesReviewed = 0;
     final selectLimit = min(
       _maxInstancesPerIteration,
-      max(0, activeConfiguration.maxTaskInstances - instances),
+      max(0, activeConfiguration.maxTaskInstances - instances.length),
     );
 
     Future<void> scheduleInstance(({String package}) selected) async {
@@ -252,14 +224,14 @@ Future<void> schedule(
 
     // If there was no pending packages reviewed, and no instances currently
     // running, then we can easily sleep 5 minutes before we poll again.
-    if (instances == 0 && pendingPackagesReviewed == 0) {
+    if (instances.isEmpty && pendingPackagesReviewed == 0) {
       await sleepOrAborted(Duration(minutes: 5));
       continue;
     }
 
     // If more tasks is available and quota wasn't used up, we only sleep 10s
     if (pendingPackagesReviewed >= _maxInstancesPerIteration &&
-        activeConfiguration.maxTaskInstances > instances) {
+        activeConfiguration.maxTaskInstances > instances.length) {
       await sleepOrAborted(Duration(seconds: 10), since: iterationStart);
       continue;
     }
diff --git a/app/test/task/loops/delete_instances_test.dart b/app/test/task/loops/delete_instances_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f334c894
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/test/task/loops/delete_instances_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025, the Dart project authors.  Please see the AUTHORS file
+// for details. All rights reserved. Use of this source code is governed by a
+// BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+import 'package:clock/clock.dart';
+import 'package:pub_dev/task/cloudcompute/cloudcompute.dart';
+import 'package:pub_dev/task/loops/delete_instances.dart';
+import 'package:test/test.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  group('task scan: delete cloud instances', () {
+    final referenceNow = clock.now();
+
+    test('fresh instance is not deleted', () async {
+      await withClock(Clock.fixed(referenceNow), () async {
+        final deletions = <String, String>{};
+        final next = await scanAndDeleteInstances(
+          DeleteInstancesState.init(),
+          [
+            _CloudInstance(
+              instanceName: 'a',
+              created: referenceNow.subtract(Duration(minutes: 18)),
+            ),
+          ],
+          (zone, name) async {
+            deletions[name] = zone;
+          },
+          () => false,
+          maxTaskRunHours: 1,
+        );
+        expect(next.state.deletions, isEmpty);
+        expect(deletions, {});
+      });
+    });
+
+    test('old instance is deleted', () async {
+      await withClock(Clock.fixed(referenceNow), () async {
+        final deletions = <String, String>{};
+        final next = await scanAndDeleteInstances(
+          DeleteInstancesState.init(),
+          [
+            _CloudInstance(
+              instanceName: 'a',
+              created: referenceNow.subtract(Duration(minutes: 78)),
+            ),
+          ],
+          (zone, name) async {
+            deletions[name] = zone;
+          },
+          () => false,
+          maxTaskRunHours: 1,
+        );
+        expect(next.state.deletions, hasLength(1));
+        expect(next.state.deletions.containsKey('a'), isTrue);
+
+        // Wait for the async deletion to complete
+        await next.deletionsDone;
+        expect(deletions, {'a': 'z1'});
+      });
+    });
+
+    test('terminated instance is deleted', () async {
+      await withClock(Clock.fixed(referenceNow), () async {
+        final deletions = <String, String>{};
+        final next = await scanAndDeleteInstances(
+          DeleteInstancesState.init(),
+          [
+            _CloudInstance(
+              instanceName: 'a',
+              created: referenceNow.subtract(Duration(minutes: 18)),
+              state: InstanceState.terminated,
+            ),
+          ],
+          (zone, name) async {
+            deletions[name] = zone;
+          },
+          () => false,
+          maxTaskRunHours: 1,
+        );
+        expect(next.state.deletions, hasLength(1));
+        expect(next.state.deletions.containsKey('a'), isTrue);
+
+        // Wait for the async deletion to complete
+        await next.deletionsDone;
+        expect(deletions, {'a': 'z1'});
+      });
+    });
+
+    test('pending delete is kept within 5 minutes', () async {
+      await withClock(Clock.fixed(referenceNow), () async {
+        final deletions = <String, String>{};
+        final next = await scanAndDeleteInstances(
+          DeleteInstancesState(deletions: {'a': clock.ago(minutes: 3)}),
+          [
+            _CloudInstance(
+              instanceName: 'a',
+              created: referenceNow.subtract(Duration(minutes: 78)),
+            ),
+          ],
+          (zone, name) async {
+            deletions[name] = zone;
+          },
+          () => false,
+          maxTaskRunHours: 1,
+        );
+        expect(next.state.deletions, hasLength(1));
+        // Wait for the async deletion to complete
+        await next.deletionsDone;
+        expect(deletions, {});
+      });
+    });
+
+    test('pending delete is removed after 5 minutes', () async {
+      await withClock(Clock.fixed(referenceNow), () async {
+        final deletions = <String, String>{};
+        final next = await scanAndDeleteInstances(
+          DeleteInstancesState(deletions: {'a': clock.ago(minutes: 8)}),
+          [_CloudInstance(created: clock.now(), instanceName: 'b')],
+          (zone, name) async {
+            deletions[name] = zone;
+          },
+          () => false,
+          maxTaskRunHours: 1,
+        );
+        expect(next.state.deletions, isEmpty);
+        await next.deletionsDone;
+        expect(deletions, {});
+      });
+    });
+
+    test('pending delete is refreshed after 5 minutes', () async {
+      await withClock(Clock.fixed(referenceNow), () async {
+        final deletions = <String, String>{};
+        final next = await scanAndDeleteInstances(
+          DeleteInstancesState(deletions: {'a': clock.ago(minutes: 8)}),
+          [_CloudInstance(created: clock.ago(minutes: 78), instanceName: 'a')],
+          (zone, name) async {
+            deletions[name] = zone;
+          },
+          () => false,
+          maxTaskRunHours: 1,
+        );
+        expect(next.state.deletions, hasLength(1));
+        next.state.deletions['a']!.isAfter(clock.ago(minutes: 2));
+        await next.deletionsDone;
+        expect(deletions, {'a': 'z1'});
+      });
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+class _CloudInstance implements CloudInstance {
+  @override
+  final DateTime created;
+  @override
+  final String instanceName;
+  @override
+  final InstanceState state;
+  @override
+  final String zone = 'z1';
+
+  _CloudInstance({
+    required this.created,
+    required this.instanceName,
+    this.state = InstanceState.running,
+  });
+}