diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 4bca9db..81122aa 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: checked
 Title: Systematically Run R CMD Checks
-Version: 0.2.3.9004
+Version: 0.2.3.9005
 Authors@R:
     c(
       person(
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index b327284..5294140 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 
 * Prettify output by stripping excessive new lines.
 
+* Force garbage collection before scheduling task, to make sure any already
+  finished processes are removed from the memory.
+
 # checked 0.2.3
 
 * Use custom `checked` `finisher`'s instead of the `processx` `finalizer`'s
diff --git a/R/check_design.R b/R/check_design.R
index fee59c9..222cb3e 100644
--- a/R/check_design.R
+++ b/R/check_design.R
@@ -162,6 +162,9 @@ check_design <- R6::R6Class( # nolint cyclocomp_linter
       if (self$is_done()) {
         return(-1L)
       }
+      
+      # force garbage collection to free memory from terminated processes
+      gc(verbose = FALSE, reset = FALSE, full = TRUE)
 
       # if all available processes are in use, terminate early
       n_active <- length(private$active)