diff --git a/common/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/conf/HiveConf.java b/common/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/conf/HiveConf.java
index e0e1bdbcb5cf..f94e5efb22e3 100644
--- a/common/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/conf/HiveConf.java
+++ b/common/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/conf/HiveConf.java
@@ -3822,6 +3822,11 @@ public static enum ConfVars {
         "To cleanup the Hive scratchdir when starting the Hive Server"),
     HIVE_SCRATCH_DIR_LOCK("hive.scratchdir.lock", false,
         "To hold a lock file in scratchdir to prevent to be removed by cleardanglingscratchdir"),
+    HIVE_SCRATCH_DIR_CLEANUP_GRACE_PERIOD("hive.scratchdir.cleanup.grace.period.hours","0h",
+        new TimeValidator(TimeUnit.HOURS),
+        "Prevents cleanup of scratch directories that have been modified within the specified time window. " +
+        "Useful for avoiding premature deletion while queries are still returning results." +
+        "Not enabled by default."),
     HIVE_INSERT_INTO_MULTILEVEL_DIRS("hive.insert.into.multilevel.dirs", false,
         "Where to insert into multilevel directories like\n" +
         "\"insert directory '/HIVEFT25686/china/' from table\""),
diff --git a/itests/hive-unit/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/session/TestClearDanglingScratchDir.java b/itests/hive-unit/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/session/TestClearDanglingScratchDir.java
index 8557946331c3..c336cf0969d6 100644
--- a/itests/hive-unit/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/session/TestClearDanglingScratchDir.java
+++ b/itests/hive-unit/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/session/TestClearDanglingScratchDir.java
@@ -72,8 +72,14 @@ static public void shutdown() throws Exception {
 
     // Need to make sure deleting in correct FS
     FileSystem fs = customScratchDir.getFileSystem(new Configuration());
-    fs.delete(customScratchDir, true);
-    fs.delete(customLocalTmpDir, true);
+
+    if (customScratchDir != null) {
+      fs.delete(customScratchDir, true);
+    }
+
+    if (customLocalTmpDir != null) {
+      fs.delete(customLocalTmpDir, true);
+    }
   }
 
   public void redirectStdOutErr() {
@@ -206,4 +212,36 @@ public void testLocalDanglingFilesCleaning() throws Exception {
     Assert.assertTrue("Local .pipeout file '" + localPipeOutFileFailRemove
             + "' does not exist, should have not been removed!", fs.exists(localPipeOutFileFailRemove));
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Unit test for ClearDanglingScratchDir.isWithinGracePeriod().
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testGracePeriodPreventsRemoval() throws Exception {
+    // Configuration
+    HiveConf conf = new HiveConfForTest(getClass());
+    conf.set("fs.default.name", "file:///");
+    String tmpDir = System.getProperty("test.tmp.dir");
+    conf.set("hive.exec.scratchdir", tmpDir + "/scratch-grace-test");
+    conf.set(String.valueOf(HiveConf.ConfVars.HIVE_SCRATCH_DIR_CLEANUP_GRACE_PERIOD), "1h");
+
+    // Simulating session dir and its inuse.lck file to make it eligible for removal normally
+    FileSystem fs = FileSystem.get(conf);
+    FsPermission allPermissions = new FsPermission((short)00777);
+    customScratchDir = new Path(HiveConf.getVar(conf, HiveConf.ConfVars.SCRATCH_DIR));
+    Path rootDir = new Path(customScratchDir, "user");
+    Path hdfsDir = new Path(rootDir, "hdfs");
+    Path sessionDir = new Path(hdfsDir, "session1");
+    Utilities.createDirsWithPermission(conf, sessionDir, allPermissions, true);
+    Path sessionLock = new Path(sessionDir + "/inuse.lck");
+    fs.create(sessionLock);
+
+    // Initialize cleaner and run the full cleanup logic
+    ClearDanglingScratchDir cleaner = new ClearDanglingScratchDir(false, true, true,
+            rootDir.toString(), conf);
+    cleaner.run();
+
+    // The directory should NOT be removed because it is within grace period
+    Assert.assertTrue("Directory should still exist due to grace period.", fs.exists(sessionDir));
+  }
 }
diff --git a/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/session/ClearDanglingScratchDir.java b/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/session/ClearDanglingScratchDir.java
index 305923023800..4a0f791e5475 100644
--- a/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/session/ClearDanglingScratchDir.java
+++ b/ql/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/ql/session/ClearDanglingScratchDir.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import org.apache.commons.cli.CommandLine;
 import org.apache.commons.cli.GnuParser;
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@ public void run() {
               consoleMessage(message);
             }
           }
-          if (removable) {
+          if (removable && !isWithinGracePeriod(scratchDir, conf, verbose)) {
             scratchDirToRemove.add(scratchDir.getPath());
           }
         }
@@ -264,4 +265,25 @@ private void removeLocalTmpFiles(String sessionName, String localTmpdir) {
       }
     }
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns true if the scratch directory was modified within the grace period,
+   * meaning it should be skipped from cleanup.
+   * Hive updates the directory’s last modified time when finalizing output streaming.
+   */
+  private boolean isWithinGracePeriod(FileStatus scratchDir, HiveConf conf, boolean verbose) throws IOException {
+    long lastModifiedTime = scratchDir.getModificationTime();
+    long currentTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
+
+    long gracePeriodMs = HiveConf.getTimeVar(conf,
+            HiveConf.ConfVars.HIVE_SCRATCH_DIR_CLEANUP_GRACE_PERIOD, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+
+    if (gracePeriodMs > 0 && (currentTime - lastModifiedTime) < gracePeriodMs) {
+      if (verbose) {
+        consoleMessage("Skipping " + scratchDir.getPath() + " because it was modified within the grace period.");
+      }
+      return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+  }
 }
\ No newline at end of file