diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1509e89..6bba8fe 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -44,4 +44,7 @@ yarn-error.log*
 *.tsbuildinfo
 
 # vscode
-./vscode
\ No newline at end of file
+./vscode
+
+# backups written by scripts/remove-ghost-papers.mjs
+ghost-papers-*.json
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1c86957..97d398a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "build": "next build",
     "dev": "next dev",
+    "ghost-papers": "node --env-file=.env scripts/remove-ghost-papers.mjs",
     "lint": "next lint",
     "start": "next start"
   },
diff --git a/scripts/remove-ghost-papers.mjs b/scripts/remove-ghost-papers.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f030e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/remove-ghost-papers.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+import { writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import mongoose from "mongoose";
+
+const collections = ["papers", "admins"];
+const parallelChecks = 8;
+const checkTimeoutMs = 15_000;
+
+const shouldDelete = process.argv.includes("--delete");
+const mongoUri = process.env.MONGODB_URI;
+
+if (!mongoUri) {
+  console.error(
+    "set MONGODB_URI, e.g. node --env-file=.env scripts/remove-ghost-papers.mjs",
+  );
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+async function fileStatus(url) {
+  if (typeof url !== "string" || !/^https?:\/\//.test(url)) {
+    return "unknown";
+  }
+  try {
+    const response = await fetch(url, {
+      method: "HEAD",
+      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(checkTimeoutMs),
+    });
+    if (response.ok) return "found";
+    if (response.status === 404) return "missing";
+    return "unknown";
+  } catch {
+    return "unknown";
+  }
+}
+
+async function auditCollection(db, name) {
+  const papers = await db
+    .collection(name)
+    .find(
+      {},
+      { projection: { file_url: 1, subject: 1, exam: 1, slot: 1, year: 1 } },
+    )
+    .toArray();
+
+  const missing = [];
+  const unknown = [];
+  let next = 0;
+
+  async function worker() {
+    while (next < papers.length) {
+      const paper = papers[next++];
+      const status = await fileStatus(paper.file_url);
+      if (status === "missing") missing.push(paper);
+      if (status === "unknown") unknown.push(paper);
+    }
+  }
+
+  await Promise.all(Array.from({ length: parallelChecks }, worker));
+  return { total: papers.length, missing, unknown };
+}
+
+function describe(paper) {
+  const details = [paper.subject, paper.exam, paper.slot, paper.year]
+    .filter(Boolean)
+    .join(" | ");
+  return `  ${String(paper._id)}  ${details}\n    ${String(paper.file_url)}`;
+}
+
+async function main() {
+  await mongoose.connect(mongoUri);
+  const db = mongoose.connection.db;
+  const report = {};
+  let ghostCount = 0;
+  let checkedCount = 0;
+
+  for (const name of collections) {
+    const result = await auditCollection(db, name);
+    report[name] = result;
+    ghostCount += result.missing.length;
+    checkedCount += result.total;
+
+    console.log(
+      `\n${name}: ${result.total} checked, ${result.missing.length} missing, ${result.unknown.length} could not be checked`,
+    );
+    if (result.missing.length) {
+      console.log("missing file (404):");
+      result.missing.forEach((paper) => console.log(describe(paper)));
+    }
+    if (result.unknown.length) {
+      console.log("could not be checked, left alone:");
+      result.unknown.forEach((paper) => console.log(describe(paper)));
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (!shouldDelete) {
+    console.log(
+      `\n${ghostCount} ghost records found. nothing was deleted, run again with --delete to remove them`,
+    );
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (ghostCount === 0) {
+    console.log("\nno ghost records to delete");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (ghostCount > checkedCount / 2) {
+    console.error(
+      `\n${ghostCount} of ${checkedCount} files are missing, which looks like a moved or renamed bucket rather than ghost records. nothing was deleted`,
+    );
+    process.exitCode = 1;
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const backup = {};
+  for (const name of collections) {
+    const ids = report[name].missing.map((paper) => paper._id);
+    backup[name] = ids.length
+      ? await db
+          .collection(name)
+          .find({ _id: { $in: ids } })
+          .toArray()
+      : [];
+  }
+  const backupFile = `ghost-papers-${new Date().toISOString().replace(/[:.]/g, "-")}.json`;
+  await writeFile(backupFile, JSON.stringify(backup, null, 2));
+  console.log(`\nsaved the full records to ${backupFile}`);
+
+  for (const name of collections) {
+    const missing = report[name].missing;
+    if (!missing.length) continue;
+    const { deletedCount } = await db.collection(name).deleteMany({
+      $or: missing.map((paper) => ({
+        _id: paper._id,
+        file_url: paper.file_url,
+      })),
+    });
+    console.log(`deleted ${deletedCount} from ${name}`);
+  }
+}
+
+try {
+  await main();
+} catch (error) {
+  console.error(error);
+  process.exitCode = 1;
+} finally {
+  await mongoose.disconnect();
+}