diff --git a/admin/app/services/zim_service.ts b/admin/app/services/zim_service.ts
index 4cec723f..e7ac6c00 100644
--- a/admin/app/services/zim_service.ts
+++ b/admin/app/services/zim_service.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ import { SERVICE_NAMES } from '../../constants/service_names.js'
 import { CollectionManifestService } from './collection_manifest_service.js'
 import { KiwixCatalogService } from './kiwix_catalog_service.js'
 import { KiwixLibraryService } from './kiwix_library_service.js'
+import { RagService } from './rag_service.js'
+import { OllamaService } from './ollama_service.js'
 import type { CategoryWithStatus } from '../../types/collections.js'
 import CustomLibrarySource from '#models/custom_library_source'
 import { assertNotPrivateUrl } from '#validators/common'
@@ -745,6 +747,18 @@ export class ZimService {
 
     await deleteFileIfExists(fullPath)
 
+    // Purge this file's Qdrant points and KbIngestState row directly so a
+    // deleted ZIM stops surfacing as a stale search citation immediately,
+    // rather than waiting for the next scanAndSyncStorage reverse sweep to
+    // catch it (#1170). Never touched Qdrant here before — the file's points
+    // and state row would otherwise linger indefinitely.
+    try {
+      const ragService = new RagService(this.dockerService, new OllamaService())
+      await ragService.purgeIndexedSource(fullPath)
+    } catch (err) {
+      logger.error(`[ZimService] Failed to purge knowledge-base entries for ${fullPath}:`, err)
+    }
+
     // Remove from kiwix library XML so --monitorLibrary stops serving the deleted file
     const kiwixLibraryService = new KiwixLibraryService()
     await kiwixLibraryService.removeBook(fileName).catch((err) => {