diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index 53195008707..5e81dfc10f1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -273,6 +273,7 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v7.0.0-alpha2...master[Check the HEAD d
 - Fix integer overflow in S3 offsets when collecting very large files. {pull}22523[22523]
 - Fix CredentialsJSON unpacking for `gcp-pubsub` and `httpjson` inputs. {pull}23277[23277]
 - Fix issue with m365_defender, when parsing incidents that has no alerts attached: {pull}25421[25421]
+- Improve inode reuse handling by removing state for removed files more eagerly from the internal state table in the logs inputs. {pull}25756[25756]
 - Mitigate deadlock is aws-s3 input when SQS visibility timeout is exceeded. {issue}25750[25750]
 - Fix httpjson cursor override with empty values by adding `ignore_empty_value` option. {pull}25802[25802]
 
diff --git a/filebeat/input/log/input.go b/filebeat/input/log/input.go
index b5a5cc7543f..919c66396cb 100644
--- a/filebeat/input/log/input.go
+++ b/filebeat/input/log/input.go
@@ -231,14 +231,13 @@ func (p *Input) Run() {
 
 	// It is important that a first scan is run before cleanup to make sure all new states are read first
 	if p.config.CleanInactive > 0 || p.config.CleanRemoved {
-		beforeCount := p.states.Count()
-		cleanedStates, pendingClean := p.states.Cleanup()
-		logger.Debugf("input states cleaned up. Before: %d, After: %d, Pending: %d",
-			beforeCount, beforeCount-cleanedStates, pendingClean)
+		p.cleanupStates()
 	}
 
-	// Marking removed files to be cleaned up. Cleanup happens after next scan to make sure all states are updated first
+	// Marking removed files to be cleaned up.
 	if p.config.CleanRemoved {
+		var removed uint
+
 		for _, state := range p.states.GetStates() {
 			stateLogger := loggerWithState(logger, state)
 
@@ -246,6 +245,7 @@ func (p *Input) Run() {
 			stat, err := os.Stat(state.Source)
 			if err != nil {
 				if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+					removed++
 					p.removeState(stateLogger, state)
 					stateLogger.Debugf("Remove state for file as file removed: %s", state.Source)
 				} else {
@@ -259,14 +259,27 @@ func (p *Input) Run() {
 					state.Id, state.IdentifierName = p.fileStateIdentifier.GenerateID(state)
 				}
 				if !state.IsEqual(&newState) {
+					removed++
 					p.removeState(stateLogger, state)
 					stateLogger.Debugf("Remove state of file as its identity has changed: %s", state.Source)
 				}
 			}
 		}
+
+		if removed > 0 {
+			logger.Debugf("%v entries marked as removed. Trigger state cleanup.", removed)
+			p.cleanupStates()
+		}
 	}
 }
 
+func (p *Input) cleanupStates() {
+	beforeCount := p.states.Count()
+	cleanedStates, pendingClean := p.states.Cleanup()
+	p.logger.Debugf("input states cleaned up. Before: %d, After: %d, Pending: %d",
+		beforeCount, beforeCount-cleanedStates, pendingClean)
+}
+
 func (p *Input) removeState(logger *logp.Logger, state file.State) {
 	// Only clean up files where state is Finished
 	if !state.Finished {
diff --git a/filebeat/registrar/registrar.go b/filebeat/registrar/registrar.go
index fa07048d205..27c292886ca 100644
--- a/filebeat/registrar/registrar.go
+++ b/filebeat/registrar/registrar.go
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ func (r *Registrar) Run() {
 			// flush timeout configured. Only update internal state and track pending
 			// updates to be written to registry.
 			r.onEvents(states)
+			r.gcStates()
 			if flushC == nil && len(states) > 0 {
 				timer = time.NewTimer(r.flushTimeout)
 				flushC = timer.C
@@ -197,14 +198,12 @@ func (r *Registrar) commitStateUpdates() {
 	statesCurrent.Set(int64(len(states)))
 
 	registryWrites.Inc()
-
-	r.log.Debugf("Registry file updated. %d active states.", len(states))
-	registrySuccess.Inc()
-
 	if err := writeStates(r.store, states); err != nil {
 		r.log.Errorf("Error writing registrar state to statestore: %v", err)
 		registryFails.Inc()
 	}
+	r.log.Debugf("Registry file updated. %d active states.", len(states))
+	registrySuccess.Inc()
 
 	if r.out != nil {
 		r.out.Published(r.bufferedStateUpdates)