diff --git a/pkg/localstore/migration.go b/pkg/localstore/migration.go
index 9679980c7eb..49922b2ed2e 100644
--- a/pkg/localstore/migration.go
+++ b/pkg/localstore/migration.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ var schemaMigrations = []migration{
 	{schemaName: DBSchemaBatchIndex, fn: migrateBatchIndex},
 	{schemaName: DBSchemaDeadPush, fn: migrateDeadPush},
 	{schemaName: DBSchemaSharky, fn: migrateSharky},
+	{schemaName: DBSchemaCatharsis, fn: migrateCatharsis},
 }
 
 func (db *DB) migrate(schemaName string) error {
diff --git a/pkg/localstore/migration_gc_reset.go b/pkg/localstore/migration_gc_reset.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..eecdfb0514d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/localstore/migration_gc_reset.go
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// Copyright 2022 The Swarm Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package localstore
+
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/pkg/postage"
+	"github.com/ethersphere/bee/pkg/shed"
+)
+
+// DBSchemaCatharsis is the bee schema identifier for resetting gcIndex.
+const DBSchemaCatharsis = "catharsis"
+
+// migrateCatharsis resets the gcSize to the count of gcIndex items.
+func migrateCatharsis(db *DB) error {
+	db.logger.Info("starting catharsis migration")
+	start := time.Now()
+	var err error
+
+	db.gcSize, err = db.shed.NewUint64Field("gc-size")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	db.gcIndex, err = db.shed.NewIndex("AccessTimestamp|BinID|Hash->BatchID|BatchIndex", shed.IndexFuncs{
+		EncodeKey: func(fields shed.Item) (key []byte, err error) {
+			b := make([]byte, 16, 16+len(fields.Address))
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(b[:8], uint64(fields.AccessTimestamp))
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(b[8:16], fields.BinID)
+			key = append(b, fields.Address...)
+			return key, nil
+		},
+		DecodeKey: func(key []byte) (e shed.Item, err error) {
+			e.AccessTimestamp = int64(binary.BigEndian.Uint64(key[:8]))
+			e.BinID = binary.BigEndian.Uint64(key[8:16])
+			e.Address = key[16:]
+			return e, nil
+		},
+		EncodeValue: func(fields shed.Item) (value []byte, err error) {
+			value = make([]byte, 40)
+			copy(value, fields.BatchID)
+			copy(value[32:], fields.Index)
+			return value, nil
+		},
+		DecodeValue: func(keyItem shed.Item, value []byte) (e shed.Item, err error) {
+			e.BatchID = make([]byte, 32)
+			copy(e.BatchID, value[:32])
+			e.Index = make([]byte, postage.IndexSize)
+			copy(e.Index, value[32:])
+			return e, nil
+		},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	count, err := db.gcIndex.Count()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	err = db.gcSize.Put(uint64(count))
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed updating gcSize: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	db.logger.Info("catharsis done", "elapsed", time.Since(start), "new_gc_size", count)
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/localstore/schema.go b/pkg/localstore/schema.go
index e42c306dd80..1bd8147a6b1 100644
--- a/pkg/localstore/schema.go
+++ b/pkg/localstore/schema.go
@@ -22,4 +22,4 @@ const DBSchemaCode = "code"
 
 // DBSchemaCurrent represents the DB schema we want to use.
 // The actual/current DB schema might differ until migrations are run.
-var DBSchemaCurrent = DBSchemaSharky
+var DBSchemaCurrent = DBSchemaCatharsis