diff --git a/Sources/tart/Commands/Clone.swift b/Sources/tart/Commands/Clone.swift
index 8b4016c7..799c57bc 100644
--- a/Sources/tart/Commands/Clone.swift
+++ b/Sources/tart/Commands/Clone.swift
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ struct Clone: AsyncParsableCommand {
       // APFS is doing copy-on-write so the above cloning operation (just copying files on disk)
       // is not actually claiming new space until the VM is started and it writes something to disk.
       // So once we clone the VM let's try to claim a little bit of space for the VM to run.
-      try Prune.reclaimIfNeeded(UInt64(sourceVM.sizeBytes()))
+      try Prune.reclaimIfNeeded(UInt64(sourceVM.sizeBytes()), sourceVM)
     }, onCancel: {
       try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: tmpVMDir.baseURL)
     })
diff --git a/Sources/tart/Commands/Prune.swift b/Sources/tart/Commands/Prune.swift
index ca9dadcc..0521c29f 100644
--- a/Sources/tart/Commands/Prune.swift
+++ b/Sources/tart/Commands/Prune.swift
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ struct Prune: AsyncParsableCommand {
     try prunablesToDelete.forEach { try $0.delete() }
   }
 
-  static func reclaimIfNeeded(_ requiredBytes: UInt64) throws {
+  static func reclaimIfNeeded(_ requiredBytes: UInt64, _ initiator: Prunable? = nil) throws {
     SentrySDK.configureScope { scope in
       scope.setContext(value: ["requiredBytes": requiredBytes], key: "Prune")
     }
@@ -114,10 +114,10 @@ struct Prune: AsyncParsableCommand {
       return
     }
 
-    try Prune.reclaimIfPossible(requiredBytes - volumeAvailableCapacityCalculated)
+    try Prune.reclaimIfPossible(requiredBytes - volumeAvailableCapacityCalculated, initiator)
   }
 
-  private static func reclaimIfPossible(_ reclaimBytes: UInt64) throws {
+  private static func reclaimIfPossible(_ reclaimBytes: UInt64, _ initiator: Prunable? = nil) throws {
     let transaction = SentrySDK.startTransaction(name: "Pruning cache", operation: "prune", bindToScope: true)
     defer { transaction.finish() }
 
@@ -141,6 +141,11 @@ struct Prune: AsyncParsableCommand {
         break
       }
 
+      if prunable.url == initiator?.url.resolvingSymlinksInPath() {
+        // do not prune the initiator
+        continue
+      }
+
       try SentrySDK.span?.setData(value: prunable.sizeBytes(), key: prunable.url.path)
 
       cacheReclaimedBytes += try prunable.sizeBytes()