diff --git a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/entity/db-volume-snapshot.ts b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/entity/db-volume-snapshot.ts
index 079006d3caec33..b9e5518a593b0c 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/entity/db-volume-snapshot.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/entity/db-volume-snapshot.ts
@@ -31,4 +31,8 @@ export class DBVolumeSnapshot implements VolumeSnapshot {
 
     @Column("varchar")
     volumeHandle: string;
+
+    // This column triggers the db-sync deletion mechanism. It's not intended for public consumption.
+    @Column()
+    deleted: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/workspace-db-impl.ts b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/workspace-db-impl.ts
index 88fcc39f907dee..451e46d0a30b6a 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/workspace-db-impl.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/workspace-db-impl.ts
@@ -764,7 +764,11 @@ export abstract class AbstractTypeORMWorkspaceDBImpl implements WorkspaceDB {
 
     public async findVolumeSnapshotById(volumeSnapshotId: string): Promise<VolumeSnapshot | undefined> {
         const volumeSnapshots = await this.getVolumeSnapshotRepo();
-        return volumeSnapshots.findOne(volumeSnapshotId);
+        return volumeSnapshots
+            .createQueryBuilder("vs")
+            .where("vs.deleted = 0")
+            .andWhere("vs.id = :id", { id: volumeSnapshotId })
+            .getOne();
     }
 
     public async storeVolumeSnapshot(volumeSnapshot: VolumeSnapshot): Promise<VolumeSnapshot> {
@@ -775,7 +779,7 @@ export abstract class AbstractTypeORMWorkspaceDBImpl implements WorkspaceDB {
 
     public async deleteVolumeSnapshot(volumeSnapshotId: string): Promise<void> {
         const volumeSnapshots = await this.getVolumeSnapshotRepo();
-        await volumeSnapshots.delete(volumeSnapshotId);
+        await volumeSnapshots.update(volumeSnapshotId, { deleted: true });
     }
 
     public async updateVolumeSnapshot(
@@ -792,6 +796,7 @@ export abstract class AbstractTypeORMWorkspaceDBImpl implements WorkspaceDB {
         const qb = volumeSnapshotRepo
             .createQueryBuilder("vs")
             .select("vs.workspaceId", "workspaceId")
+            .where("vs.deleted = 0")
             .groupBy("vs.workspaceId")
             .having("COUNT(*) > 1")
             .limit(limit);
@@ -805,6 +810,7 @@ export abstract class AbstractTypeORMWorkspaceDBImpl implements WorkspaceDB {
         const results = await volumeSnapshotRepo
             .createQueryBuilder("vs")
             .where("vs.workspaceId = :wsId", { wsId })
+            .andWhere("vs.deleted = 0")
             .orderBy("vs.creationTime", "DESC")
             .limit(limit)
             .getMany();
diff --git a/components/gitpod-db/src/workspace-db.spec.db.ts b/components/gitpod-db/src/workspace-db.spec.db.ts
index ae24c1a83e4d34..72d709aef9dd62 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-db/src/workspace-db.spec.db.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-db/src/workspace-db.spec.db.ts
@@ -663,6 +663,24 @@ class WorkspaceDBSpec {
         }
     }
 
+    @test(timeout(10000))
+    public async testCanFindVolumeSnapshotById() {
+        await this.threeVolumeSnapshotsForTwoWorkspaces();
+
+        const volSnapshot = await this.db.findVolumeSnapshotById("123");
+
+        expect(volSnapshot?.id).to.eq("123");
+    }
+
+    @test(timeout(10000))
+    public async testCantFindDeletedVolumeSnapshotById() {
+        await this.threeVolumeSnapshotsForTwoWorkspaces();
+
+        const volSnapshot = await this.db.findVolumeSnapshotById("456b");
+
+        expect(volSnapshot).to.be.undefined;
+    }
+
     @test(timeout(10000))
     public async testFindVolumeSnapshotWorkspacesForGC() {
         await this.threeVolumeSnapshotsForTwoWorkspaces();
@@ -682,12 +700,14 @@ class WorkspaceDBSpec {
         expect(vss).to.deep.equal([
             {
                 creationTime: "",
+                deleted: false,
                 id: "456",
                 volumeHandle: "some-handle2",
                 workspaceId: "ws-123",
             },
             {
                 creationTime: "",
+                deleted: false,
                 id: "123",
                 volumeHandle: "some-handle",
                 workspaceId: "ws-123",
@@ -717,6 +737,16 @@ class WorkspaceDBSpec {
             workspaceId,
         });
 
+        const longBeforeNow = new Date(2018, 2, 15, 10, 0, 0).toISOString();
+        const id2b = "456b";
+        await repo.save({
+            id: id2b,
+            creationTime: longBeforeNow,
+            volumeHandle: "some-handle2b",
+            workspaceId,
+            deleted: true,
+        });
+
         const someOtherTime = new Date(2018, 2, 10, 6, 5).toISOString();
         const id3 = "789";
         const workspaceId2 = "ws-789";
@@ -726,6 +756,16 @@ class WorkspaceDBSpec {
             volumeHandle: "some-handle3",
             workspaceId: workspaceId2,
         });
+
+        const yetAnotherTime = new Date(2018, 2, 10, 5, 5).toISOString();
+        const id4 = "012";
+        await repo.save({
+            id: id4,
+            creationTime: yetAnotherTime,
+            volumeHandle: "some-handle4",
+            workspaceId: workspaceId2,
+            deleted: true,
+        });
     }
 
     @test(timeout(10000))