diff --git a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/create_actor.go b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/create_actor.go
index f19ee0d1b..996d671e0 100644
--- a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/create_actor.go
+++ b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/create_actor.go
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ func (s *Service) CreateActor(ctx context.Context, req *ateapipb.CreateActorRequ
 	stored, err := s.persistence.CreateActor(ctx, actor)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Cleanup created volumes if DB write fails
-		_ = s.deleteActorVolumes(ctx, actorRef, volumes)
+		s.cleanupActorVolumes(ctx, actorRef, volumes)
 		if errors.Is(err, store.ErrAlreadyExists) {
 			return nil, status.Errorf(codes.AlreadyExists, "Actor %s already exists", name)
 		}
diff --git a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/volumes.go b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/volumes.go
index 161c74e8c..5db8f6c28 100644
--- a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/volumes.go
+++ b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/volumes.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/agent-substrate/substrate/cmd/ateapi/internal/store"
 	"github.com/agent-substrate/substrate/internal/volume"
@@ -29,9 +30,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	globalVolumePlugin = volume.NewMockVolumePlugin()
+	globalVolumePlugin volume.VolumePluginControlPlane = volume.NewMockVolumePlugin()
 )
 
+// volumeCleanupTimeout bounds the best-effort deletion of volumes created for
+// an actor that failed to come up.
+const volumeCleanupTimeout = 30 * time.Second
+
 // TODO: Replace with actual volume plugin search
 func getVolumePlugin() volume.VolumePluginControlPlane {
 	return globalVolumePlugin
@@ -52,7 +57,7 @@ func (s *Service) createActorVolumes(ctx context.Context, ref *ateapipb.ObjectRe
 			storageVolumeID, err := getVolumePlugin().CreateVolume(ctx, uniqueVolName, vol.ExternalVolumeTemplate.Capacity.String(), vol.ExternalVolumeTemplate.StorageClassName)
 			if err != nil {
 				// TODO: need better system - best effort cleanup of already created volumes
-				_ = s.deleteActorVolumes(ctx, ref, volumes)
+				s.cleanupActorVolumes(ctx, ref, volumes)
 				return nil, status.Errorf(codes.Internal, "failed to create volume %q: %v", vol.Name, err)
 			}
 			volumes = append(volumes, &ateapipb.ExternalVolume{
@@ -66,6 +71,16 @@ func (s *Service) createActorVolumes(ctx context.Context, ref *ateapipb.ObjectRe
 	return volumes, nil
 }
 
+// cleanupActorVolumes deletes, on a best-effort basis, volumes created for an
+// actor that failed to come up. It runs on a fresh timeout detached from ctx,
+// because a canceled or expired ctx is itself a common reason for that failure:
+// reusing it would make every delete fail immediately and leak the volumes.
+func (s *Service) cleanupActorVolumes(ctx context.Context, ref *ateapipb.ObjectRef, volumes []*ateapipb.ExternalVolume) {
+	cleanupCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.WithoutCancel(ctx), volumeCleanupTimeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	_ = s.deleteActorVolumes(cleanupCtx, ref, volumes)
+}
+
 // deleteActorVolumes deletes all external volumes in the list.
 func (s *Service) deleteActorVolumes(ctx context.Context, ref *ateapipb.ObjectRef, volumes []*ateapipb.ExternalVolume) error {
 	var errs []error
diff --git a/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/volumes_test.go b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/volumes_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..48bd21a48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/ateapi/internal/controlapi/volumes_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package controlapi
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/agent-substrate/substrate/internal/volume"
+	"github.com/agent-substrate/substrate/pkg/proto/ateapipb"
+)
+
+// ctxCapturingPlugin records the context each DeleteVolume call is made with,
+// so a test can assert cleanup does not inherit a canceled context.
+type ctxCapturingPlugin struct {
+	*volume.MockVolumePlugin
+
+	deleteCtxErr error
+	deleted      []string
+}
+
+func (p *ctxCapturingPlugin) DeleteVolume(ctx context.Context, volumeID string) error {
+	p.deleteCtxErr = ctx.Err()
+	p.deleted = append(p.deleted, volumeID)
+	return p.MockVolumePlugin.DeleteVolume(ctx, volumeID)
+}
+
+// TestCleanupActorVolumesDetachesFromCanceledContext covers the case where the
+// caller's context is itself why actor creation failed: the volumes must still
+// be deleted rather than leaked.
+func TestCleanupActorVolumesDetachesFromCanceledContext(t *testing.T) {
+	plugin := &ctxCapturingPlugin{MockVolumePlugin: volume.NewMockVolumePlugin()}
+	prev := globalVolumePlugin
+	globalVolumePlugin = plugin
+	t.Cleanup(func() { globalVolumePlugin = prev })
+
+	volumeID, err := plugin.CreateVolume(context.Background(), "atespace-actor-data", "1Gi", "standard")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("CreateVolume() failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	cancel()
+
+	s := &Service{}
+	s.cleanupActorVolumes(ctx, &ateapipb.ObjectRef{Atespace: "atespace", Name: "actor"},
+		[]*ateapipb.ExternalVolume{{StorageVolumeId: volumeID}})
+
+	if got, want := len(plugin.deleted), 1; got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("DeleteVolume called %d times, want %d", got, want)
+	}
+	if plugin.deleteCtxErr != nil {
+		t.Errorf("DeleteVolume ran with a done context: %v", plugin.deleteCtxErr)
+	}
+}