diff --git a/.changeset/grumpy-apes-repeat.md b/.changeset/grumpy-apes-repeat.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc47b0d422
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/grumpy-apes-repeat.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/backend-common': patch
+---
+
+DockerContainerRunner.runContainer now automatically removes the container when its execution terminates
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/util/DockerContainerRunner.test.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/util/DockerContainerRunner.test.ts
index 8833e4518b..3208679d1f 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/util/DockerContainerRunner.test.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/util/DockerContainerRunner.test.ts
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ describe('DockerContainerRunner', () => {
         Env: envVarsArray,
         WorkingDir: workingDir,
         HostConfig: {
+          AutoRemove: true,
           Binds: expect.arrayContaining([
             `${path.join(rootDir, 'input')}:/input`,
             `${path.join(rootDir, 'output')}:/output`,
@@ -207,6 +208,7 @@ describe('DockerContainerRunner', () => {
       logStream,
       expect.objectContaining({
         HostConfig: {
+          AutoRemove: true,
           Binds: [],
         },
         Volumes: {},
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/util/DockerContainerRunner.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/util/DockerContainerRunner.ts
index 522328c2ec..4d4684c814 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/util/DockerContainerRunner.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/util/DockerContainerRunner.ts
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ export class DockerContainerRunner implements ContainerRunner {
       await this.dockerClient.run(imageName, args, logStream, {
         Volumes,
         HostConfig: {
+          AutoRemove: true,
           Binds,
         },
         ...(workingDir ? { WorkingDir: workingDir } : {}),