diff --git a/.github/workflows/clear_old_branches.yml b/.github/workflows/clear_old_branches.yml
index 76203b9ba..5e68a9f26 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/clear_old_branches.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/clear_old_branches.yml
@@ -32,7 +32,10 @@ jobs:
             --base main \
             --json number,state,mergedAt,closedAt,headRefName \
             --limit 500 |
-          jq -r '.[] | select(.state == "MERGED" or .state == "CLOSED") | .headRefName' |
+          jq -r --arg cutoff "$CUTOFF_DATE" '.[] |
+            select(.state == "MERGED" or .state == "CLOSED") |
+            select(((.mergedAt // .closedAt) | fromdateiso8601) < ($cutoff | tonumber)) |
+            .headRefName' |
           sort -u |
           while read -r branch; do
             # Schutz
@@ -45,17 +48,11 @@ jobs:
 
             echo "Checking if branch still exists: $branch"
             if gh api -X GET repos/${{ github.repository }}/git/refs/heads/$branch 2>/dev/null; then
-              CLOSED_OR_MERGED_TS=$(date -d "$branch" +%s 2>/dev/null || date +%s)
-
-              if [ "$CLOSED_OR_MERGED_TS" -lt "$CUTOFF_DATE" ]; then
-                echo "Deleting branch: $branch"
-                gh api \
-                  -X DELETE \
-                  repos/${{ github.repository }}/git/refs/heads/$branch \
-                  || echo "Failed to delete branch $branch"
-              else
-                echo "Keeping branch: $branch (recent)"
-              fi
+              echo "Deleting branch: $branch"
+              gh api \
+                -X DELETE \
+                repos/${{ github.repository }}/git/refs/heads/$branch \
+                || echo "Failed to delete branch $branch"
             else
               echo "Branch $branch does not exist (already deleted)"
             fi