diff --git a/backend/routers/issues.py b/backend/routers/issues.py
index a9a270f6..ba2b42e1 100644
--- a/backend/routers/issues.py
+++ b/backend/routers/issues.py
@@ -215,6 +215,13 @@ async def create_issue(
         else:
             # Don't create new issue, just return deduplication info
             new_issue = None
+
+            # Clean up uploaded file if it was discarded as duplicate
+            if image_path and os.path.exists(image_path):
+                try:
+                    os.remove(image_path)
+                except OSError:
+                    pass  # Ignore cleanup errors
     except Exception as e:
         # Clean up uploaded file if DB save failed
         if image_path and os.path.exists(image_path):