diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/objectStore/objectStore.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/objectStore/objectStore.ts
index 064cc630d8..33b42e0131 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/objectStore/objectStore.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/objectStore/objectStore.ts
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ export async function deleteFolder(
   if (existingObjectsResponse.Contents?.length === 0) {
     return
   }
-  const deleteParams: any = {
+  const deleteParams: { Bucket: string; Delete: { Objects: any[] } } = {
     Bucket: bucketName,
     Delete: {
       Objects: [],
@@ -489,10 +489,12 @@ export async function deleteFolder(
     deleteParams.Delete.Objects.push({ Key: content.Key })
   })
 
-  const deleteResponse = await client.deleteObjects(deleteParams)
-  // can only empty 1000 items at once
-  if (deleteResponse.Deleted?.length === 1000) {
-    return deleteFolder(bucketName, folder)
+  if (deleteParams.Delete.Objects.length) {
+    const deleteResponse = await client.deleteObjects(deleteParams)
+    // can only empty 1000 items at once
+    if (deleteResponse.Deleted?.length === 1000) {
+      return deleteFolder(bucketName, folder)
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/application.ts b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/application.ts
index a3b08b5ff9..867eb2881b 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/application.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/application.ts
@@ -635,6 +635,11 @@ async function unpublishApp(ctx: UserCtx) {
   return result
 }
 
+async function invalidateAppCache(appId: string) {
+  await cache.app.invalidateAppMetadata(dbCore.getDevAppID(appId))
+  await cache.app.invalidateAppMetadata(dbCore.getProdAppID(appId))
+}
+
 async function destroyApp(ctx: UserCtx) {
   let appId = ctx.params.appId
   appId = dbCore.getProdAppID(appId)
@@ -654,17 +659,21 @@ async function destroyApp(ctx: UserCtx) {
   await quotas.removeApp()
   await events.app.deleted(app)
 
-  if (!env.isTest()) {
+  if (!env.USE_LOCAL_COMPONENT_LIBS) {
     await deleteAppFiles(appId)
   }
 
   await removeAppFromUserRoles(ctx, appId)
-  await cache.app.invalidateAppMetadata(devAppId)
+  await invalidateAppCache(appId)
   return result
 }
 
 async function preDestroyApp(ctx: UserCtx) {
-  const { rows } = await getUniqueRows([ctx.params.appId])
+  // invalidate the cache immediately in-case they are leading to
+  // zombie appearing apps
+  const appId = ctx.params.appId
+  await invalidateAppCache(appId)
+  const { rows } = await getUniqueRows([appId])
   ctx.rowCount = rows.length
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/application.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/application.spec.ts
index 9480593c2a..cff205bbfa 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/application.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/application.spec.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { DEFAULT_TABLES } from "../../../db/defaultData/datasource_bb_default"
+import { setEnv } from "../../../environment"
 
 jest.mock("../../../utilities/redis", () => ({
   init: jest.fn(),
@@ -27,10 +28,16 @@ import path from "path"
 
 describe("/applications", () => {
   let config = setup.getConfig()
-  let app: App
+  let app: App, cleanup: () => void
 
-  afterAll(setup.afterAll)
-  beforeAll(async () => await config.init())
+  afterAll(() => {
+    setup.afterAll()
+    cleanup()
+  })
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    cleanup = setEnv({ USE_LOCAL_COMPONENT_LIBS: "0" })
+    await config.init()
+  })
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     app = await config.api.application.create({ name: utils.newid() })