diff --git a/lib/galaxy/celery/tasks.py b/lib/galaxy/celery/tasks.py
index 61833ba2be6..5e48a1e7b12 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/celery/tasks.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/celery/tasks.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ from galaxy.model import (
     Job,
     User,
 )
+from galaxy.model.orm.now import now
 from galaxy.model.scoped_session import galaxy_scoped_session
 from galaxy.objectstore import BaseObjectStore
 from galaxy.objectstore.caching import check_caches
@@ -168,6 +169,9 @@ def purge_history_datasets(
     user = history.user
     if user:
         user.calculate_and_set_disk_usage(object_store)
+        if not request.preserve_owner_update_time:
+            user.update_time = now()
+            sa_session.commit()
     # Remove underlying dataset files from object store
     dataset_manager.purge_datasets(PurgeDatasetsTaskRequest(dataset_ids=dataset_ids))
 
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/managers/histories.py b/lib/galaxy/managers/histories.py
index 053d456e511..c357aef1af0 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/managers/histories.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/managers/histories.py
@@ -296,7 +296,11 @@ class HistoryManager(sharable.SharableModelManager[model.History], deletable.Pur
         if self.app.config.enable_celery_tasks:
             from galaxy.celery.tasks import purge_history_datasets
 
-            request = PurgeHistoryDatasetsTaskRequest(history_id=item.id)
+            preserve_owner_update_time = kwargs.get("preserve_owner_update_time", False)
+            request = PurgeHistoryDatasetsTaskRequest(
+                history_id=item.id,
+                preserve_owner_update_time=preserve_owner_update_time,
+            )
             user = item.user
             result = purge_history_datasets.delay(request=request, task_user_id=user.id if user else None)
         else:
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/schema/tasks.py b/lib/galaxy/schema/tasks.py
index 4ae0e7f10dc..8fd84f7fd84 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/schema/tasks.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/schema/tasks.py
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ class PurgeDatasetsTaskRequest(Model):
 
 class PurgeHistoryDatasetsTaskRequest(Model):
     history_id: int
+    preserve_owner_update_time: bool = False
 
 
 class TaskState(str, Enum):