diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7a1bf3bb55..a4c3a8f966 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ coverage.txt
 .idea
 cmd/initContainer/kyvernopre
 cmd/kyverno/kyverno
+cmd/cleanup-controller/cleanup-controller
 /release
 .DS_Store
 .tools
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e3339d2575..56f6a1a131 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -25,9 +25,11 @@ BUILD_WITH           ?= ko
 KYVERNOPRE_IMAGE     := kyvernopre
 KYVERNO_IMAGE        := kyverno
 CLI_IMAGE            := kyverno-cli
+CLEANUP_IMAGE        := cleanup-controller
 REPO_KYVERNOPRE      := $(REGISTRY)/$(REPO)/$(KYVERNOPRE_IMAGE)
 REPO_KYVERNO         := $(REGISTRY)/$(REPO)/$(KYVERNO_IMAGE)
 REPO_CLI             := $(REGISTRY)/$(REPO)/$(CLI_IMAGE)
+REPO_CLEANUP         := $(REGISTRY)/$(REPO)/$(KYVERNO_CLEANUP)
 
 #########
 # TOOLS #
@@ -138,9 +140,11 @@ CMD_DIR        := ./cmd
 KYVERNO_DIR    := $(CMD_DIR)/kyverno
 KYVERNOPRE_DIR := $(CMD_DIR)/initContainer
 CLI_DIR        := $(CMD_DIR)/cli/kubectl-kyverno
+CLEANUP_DIR    := $(CMD_DIR)/cleanup-controller
 KYVERNO_BIN    := $(KYVERNO_DIR)/kyverno
 KYVERNOPRE_BIN := $(KYVERNOPRE_DIR)/kyvernopre
 CLI_BIN        := $(CLI_DIR)/kubectl-kyverno
+CLEANUP_BIN    := $(CLEANUP_DIR)/cleanup-controller
 PACKAGE        ?= github.com/kyverno/kyverno
 CGO_ENABLED    ?= 0 
 LD_FLAGS        = "-s -w -X $(PACKAGE)/pkg/version.BuildVersion=$(GIT_VERSION) -X $(PACKAGE)/pkg/version.BuildHash=$(GIT_HASH) -X $(PACKAGE)/pkg/version.BuildTime=$(TIMESTAMP)"
@@ -175,6 +179,10 @@ $(CLI_BIN): fmt vet
 	@echo Build cli binary... >&2
 	@CGO_ENABLED=$(CGO_ENABLED) GOOS=$(GOOS) go build -o $(CLI_BIN) -ldflags=$(LD_FLAGS) $(CLI_DIR)
 
+$(CLEANUP_BIN): fmt vet
+	@echo Build cleanup controller binary... >&2
+	@CGO_ENABLED=$(CGO_ENABLED) GOOS=$(GOOS) go build -o $(CLEANUP_BIN) -ldflags=$(LD_FLAGS) $(CLEANUP_DIR)
+
 .PHONY: build-kyvernopre
 build-kyvernopre: $(KYVERNOPRE_BIN) ## Build kyvernopre binary
 
@@ -184,7 +192,10 @@ build-kyverno: $(KYVERNO_BIN) ## Build kyverno binary
 .PHONY: build-cli
 build-cli: $(CLI_BIN) ## Build cli binary
 
-build-all: build-kyvernopre build-kyverno build-cli ## Build all binaries
+.PHONY: build-cleanup-controller
+build-cleanup-controller: $(CLEANUP_BIN) ## Build cleanup controller binary
+
+build-all: build-kyvernopre build-kyverno build-cli build-cleanup-controller ## Build all binaries
 
 ##############
 # BUILD (KO) #
@@ -210,8 +221,13 @@ ko-build-cli: $(KO) ## Build cli local image (with ko)
 	@echo Build cli local image with ko... >&2
 	@LD_FLAGS=$(LD_FLAGS_DEV) KOCACHE=$(KOCACHE) KO_DOCKER_REPO=ko.local $(KO) build $(CLI_DIR) --preserve-import-paths --tags=$(KO_TAGS_DEV) --platform=$(LOCAL_PLATFORM)
 
+.PHONY: ko-build-cleanup-controller
+ko-build-cleanup-controller: $(KO) ## Build cleanup controller local image (with ko)
+	@echo Build cleanup controller local image with ko... >&2
+	@LD_FLAGS=$(LD_FLAGS_DEV) KOCACHE=$(KOCACHE) KO_DOCKER_REPO=ko.local $(KO) build $(CLEANUP_DIR) --preserve-import-paths --tags=$(KO_TAGS_DEV) --platform=$(LOCAL_PLATFORM)
+
 .PHONY: ko-build-all
-ko-build-all: ko-build-kyvernopre ko-build-kyverno ko-build-cli ## Build all local images (with ko)
+ko-build-all: ko-build-kyvernopre ko-build-kyverno ko-build-cli ko-build-cleanup-controller ## Build all local images (with ko)
 
 ################
 # PUBLISH (KO) #
diff --git a/cmd/cleanup/logger/log.go b/cmd/cleanup-controller/logger/log.go
similarity index 100%
rename from cmd/cleanup/logger/log.go
rename to cmd/cleanup-controller/logger/log.go
diff --git a/cmd/cleanup-controller/main.go b/cmd/cleanup-controller/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..da29a2cadf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/cleanup-controller/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+package main
+
+func main() {
+}
diff --git a/cmd/cleanup/utils/utils.go b/cmd/cleanup-controller/utils/utils.go
similarity index 100%
rename from cmd/cleanup/utils/utils.go
rename to cmd/cleanup-controller/utils/utils.go
diff --git a/cmd/cleanup/validate/validate.go b/cmd/cleanup-controller/validate/validate.go
similarity index 98%
rename from cmd/cleanup/validate/validate.go
rename to cmd/cleanup-controller/validate/validate.go
index 62a4cbace2..b9c53fe1f5 100644
--- a/cmd/cleanup/validate/validate.go
+++ b/cmd/cleanup-controller/validate/validate.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
 	kyvernov1alpha1 "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/api/kyverno/v1alpha1"
-	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/cmd/cleanup/logger"
+	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/cmd/cleanup-controller/logger"
 	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/clients/dclient"
 	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/engine/variables"
 	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/logging"
diff --git a/cmd/cleanup/main.go b/cmd/cleanup/main.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 06ab7d0f9a..0000000000
--- a/cmd/cleanup/main.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-package main