diff --git a/crates/pack-api/src/project.rs b/crates/pack-api/src/project.rs
index 0cc4f4ea8..1b4f070f6 100644
--- a/crates/pack-api/src/project.rs
+++ b/crates/pack-api/src/project.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ use pack_core::{
 };
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::{
-    fs,
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
     time::Duration,
 };
@@ -1375,18 +1374,6 @@ impl Project {
     ) -> Result<()> {
         let span = tracing::trace_span!("emitting");
         async move {
-            // clean dist director if configured
-            if self.config().output().await?.clean.is_some_and(|c| c) {
-                let this = self.await?;
-                let dist_dir = self.dist_dir().await?;
-
-                // Construct the complete absolute path by combining project_path and dist_dir
-                let dist_path = Path::new(&this.project_path).join(&*dist_dir);
-
-                if let Err(e) = clean_directory(&dist_path) {
-                    tracing::debug!("Failed to clean dist directory: {}", e);
-                }
-            }
             let client_root = self.client_root().owned().await?;
             let client_output = self.dist_root().owned().await?;
             let output_root = self.output_fs().root().owned().await?;
@@ -1824,35 +1811,6 @@ async fn all_assets_from_entries_operation(
     Ok(all_assets_from_entries(assets))
 }
 
-fn clean_directory(dist_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
-    let canonical_path = fs::canonicalize(dist_path)
-        .with_context(|| format!("Failed to canonicalize path: {}", dist_path.display()))?;
-
-    if canonical_path.exists() {
-        tracing::info!("Cleaning dist directory: {}", canonical_path.display());
-
-        // Read directory entries
-        for entry in fs::read_dir(&canonical_path)? {
-            let entry = entry?;
-            let path = entry.path();
-
-            if path.is_dir() {
-                if let Err(e) = fs::remove_dir_all(&path) {
-                    tracing::warn!("Failed to remove directory {}: {}", path.display(), e);
-                }
-            } else if let Err(e) = fs::remove_file(&path) {
-                tracing::warn!("Failed to remove file {}: {}", path.display(), e);
-            }
-        }
-
-        tracing::info!("Dist directory cleaned successfully");
-    } else {
-        tracing::debug!("Dist directory does not exist, skipping clean");
-    }
-
-    Ok(())
-}
-
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::strip_root_prefix;
diff --git a/packages/pack/src/commands/build.ts b/packages/pack/src/commands/build.ts
index 1485f9cde..63e1a7cd1 100644
--- a/packages/pack/src/commands/build.ts
+++ b/packages/pack/src/commands/build.ts
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@ import { BundleOptions } from "../config/types";
 import { resolveBundleOptions, WebpackConfig } from "../config/webpackCompat";
 import { projectFactory } from "../core/project";
 import { HtmlPlugin } from "../plugins/HtmlPlugin";
+import { cleanOutput, getOutputPath } from "../utils/cleanOutput";
 import { blockStdout, getPackPath } from "../utils/common";
 import { findRootDir } from "../utils/findRoot";
 import { getInitialAssetsFromStats } from "../utils/getInitialAssets";
 import { processHtmlEntry } from "../utils/htmlEntry";
-import { normalizePath } from "../utils/normalize-path";
+import { normalizePath } from "../utils/normalizePath";
 import { useWorkerThreads } from "../utils/runtimePluginStratety";
 import { validateEntryPaths } from "../utils/validateEntry";
 import { xcodeProfilingReady } from "../utils/xcodeProfile";
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ async function buildInternal(
   const persistentCaching = bundleOptions.config.persistentCaching ?? false;
   processHtmlEntry(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath);
   validateEntryPaths(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath);
+  await cleanOutput(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath);
 
   const createProject = projectFactory();
   const project = await createProject(
@@ -98,8 +100,7 @@ async function buildInternal(
   if (htmlConfigs.length > 0) {
     const assets = { js: [] as string[], css: [] as string[] };
 
-    const outputDir =
-      bundleOptions.config.output?.path || path.join(process.cwd(), "dist");
+    const outputDir = getOutputPath(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath);
 
     if (assets.js.length === 0 && assets.css.length === 0) {
       const discovered = getInitialAssetsFromStats(outputDir);
@@ -116,7 +117,9 @@ async function buildInternal(
   }
 
   if (process.env.ANALYZE) {
-    await analyzeBundle(bundleOptions.config.output?.path || "dist");
+    await analyzeBundle(
+      getOutputPath(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath),
+    );
   }
   await project.shutdown();
 
diff --git a/packages/pack/src/commands/dev.ts b/packages/pack/src/commands/dev.ts
index 172f652c6..8d72372d0 100644
--- a/packages/pack/src/commands/dev.ts
+++ b/packages/pack/src/commands/dev.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ import {
 } from "../config/webpackCompat";
 import type { HotReloaderInterface } from "../core/hmr";
 import { createHotReloader } from "../core/hmr";
-import { createHttpProxyMiddleware } from "../core/proxy-hono";
+import { createHttpProxyMiddleware } from "../core/proxyHono";
+import { getOutputPath } from "../utils/cleanOutput";
 import { blockStdout, getPackPath } from "../utils/common";
 import { findRootDir } from "../utils/findRoot";
 import { createSelfSignedCertificate } from "../utils/mkcert";
 import { printServerInfo } from "../utils/printServerInfo";
-import { useWorkerThreads } from "../utils/runtimePluginStratety";
 import { xcodeProfilingReady } from "../utils/xcodeProfile";
 
 // --- Path helpers (same logic as dev.ts, not exported) ---
@@ -242,10 +242,7 @@ async function runDev(
   );
   await hotReloader.start();
 
-  const distRoot = path.resolve(
-    projectPathResolved,
-    options.config?.output?.path || "./dist",
-  );
+  const distRoot = getOutputPath(options.config, projectPathResolved);
   const publicPath = options.config?.output?.publicPath;
   // Skip prefix stripping for "runtime" and when publicPath is absent (match dev.ts).
   const normalizedPrefix =
diff --git a/packages/pack/src/core/hmr.ts b/packages/pack/src/core/hmr.ts
index dae56a7a7..3cbcd7946 100644
--- a/packages/pack/src/core/hmr.ts
+++ b/packages/pack/src/core/hmr.ts
@@ -10,15 +10,15 @@ import {
 import { IncomingMessage } from "http";
 import { nanoid } from "nanoid";
 import type { Socket } from "net";
-import path from "path";
 import { Duplex } from "stream";
 import { WebSocketServer } from "ws";
 import { BundleOptions } from "../config/types";
 import { HtmlPlugin } from "../plugins/HtmlPlugin";
+import { cleanOutput, getOutputPath } from "../utils/cleanOutput";
 import { debounce, getPackPath, processIssues } from "../utils/common";
 import { getInitialAssetsFromStats } from "../utils/getInitialAssets";
 import { processHtmlEntry } from "../utils/htmlEntry";
-import { normalizePath } from "../utils/normalize-path";
+import { normalizePath } from "../utils/normalizePath";
 import { useWorkerThreads } from "../utils/runtimePluginStratety";
 import { validateEntryPaths } from "../utils/validateEntry";
 import { projectFactory } from "./project";
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ export async function createHotReloader(
   const resolvedRootPath = rootPath || projectPath || process.cwd();
   processHtmlEntry(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath);
   validateEntryPaths(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath);
+  await cleanOutput(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath);
 
   const createProject = projectFactory();
 
@@ -226,8 +227,7 @@ export async function createHotReloader(
       return;
     }
 
-    const outputDir =
-      bundleOptions.config.output?.path || path.join(process.cwd(), "dist");
+    const outputDir = getOutputPath(bundleOptions.config, resolvedProjectPath);
     const publicPath = bundleOptions.config.output?.publicPath;
     const assets = getInitialAssetsFromStats(outputDir);
 
diff --git a/packages/pack/src/core/project.ts b/packages/pack/src/core/project.ts
index 741172f75..eea45b32a 100644
--- a/packages/pack/src/core/project.ts
+++ b/packages/pack/src/core/project.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import {
   TurbopackRuleConfigItem,
 } from "../config/types";
 import { getPackPath, rustifyEnv } from "../utils/common";
-import { normalizePath } from "../utils/normalize-path";
+import { normalizePath } from "../utils/normalizePath";
 import { runLoaderWorkerPool } from "./loaderWorkerPool";
 import {
   Endpoint,
diff --git a/packages/pack/src/core/proxy-hono.ts b/packages/pack/src/core/proxyHono.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/pack/src/core/proxy-hono.ts
rename to packages/pack/src/core/proxyHono.ts
diff --git a/packages/pack/src/utils/cleanOutput.ts b/packages/pack/src/utils/cleanOutput.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e2aa42f65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/pack/src/utils/cleanOutput.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import fs from "fs";
+import path from "path";
+import type { ConfigComplete } from "../config/types";
+
+export function getOutputPath(config: ConfigComplete, projectPath: string) {
+  return path.resolve(projectPath, config.output?.path || "dist");
+}
+
+export async function cleanOutput(config: ConfigComplete, projectPath: string) {
+  if (!config.output?.clean) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const outputPath = getOutputPath(config, projectPath);
+  let entries: fs.Dirent[];
+
+  try {
+    entries = await fs.promises.readdir(outputPath, { withFileTypes: true });
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (isNodeError(error) && error.code === "ENOENT") {
+      return;
+    }
+    throw error;
+  }
+
+  await Promise.all(
+    entries.map((entry) =>
+      fs.promises.rm(path.join(outputPath, entry.name), {
+        force: true,
+        maxRetries: 3,
+        recursive: true,
+        retryDelay: 50,
+      }),
+    ),
+  );
+}
+
+function isNodeError(error: unknown): error is NodeJS.ErrnoException {
+  return error instanceof Error && "code" in error;
+}
diff --git a/packages/pack/src/utils/normalize-path.ts b/packages/pack/src/utils/normalizePath.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/pack/src/utils/normalize-path.ts
rename to packages/pack/src/utils/normalizePath.ts